Difference between Cialis and Viagra

Both Cialis and Viagra are the branded medicines prescribed for treating Erectile Dysfunction (ED). Erectile Dysfunction is a type of sexual dysfunction in men in which a man is not able to obtain or maintain an erection for extended period of time.

The outcome is unsatisfactory sexual intercourse and lack of sexual pleasure. Men over 40 years of age are commonly affected by ED. But today even a lot of young men suffer from ED. The cause of developing ED can be physical or psychological. The treatment is given according to the cause of ED. Treatment with medicines is the commonest and easiest way to treat erectile dysfunction. 

Both Cialis and Viagra belong to class of PDE-5 inhibitors. These medicines have same mechanism of action, side effects, contraindications, they have same set of warnings and same precautions are to be taken while consuming Cialis and Viagra.

Both are extensively prescribed PDE-5 inhibitors

Viagra and Cialis differ in active ingredient, FDA approval, dose, onset of action, duration of action, and interaction with food. All PDE-5 inhibitors have almost same efficacy.

Cialis

Cialis consists of Tadalafil as the active ingredient. It is the third most accepted drug after sildenafil citrate (Viagra) and Vardenafil (Levitra) for treatment of erectile dysfunction. It was approved for use in treatment of erectile dysfunction by FDA on 21^st November 2003. The widely prescribed dose is 20mg. The highest amount of dose which can be consumed in a day is 40mg.

The action of this medicine is observed within 30-60 minutes after oral administration and it persists for a period of about 36-40 hours. It exhibits an efficacy of about 81%.Its efficacy is not reduced in presence of food. So, Cialis can be taken along with food or without food. Its distinguishing characteristic is its long half-life of 17.5 hours.

Thus, most of the men prefer taking Cialis than other PDE-5 inhibitors due its longer half-life. Approximately 61% of the dose is eliminated through feces and 36% is eliminated through urine. Its generic version named Generic Cialis is also available these days.

Viagra

It consists Sildenafil citrate as the active component. Sildenafil citrate was the first effective and safe drug accepted for the use in treatment of erectile dysfunction. It was accepted for use in erectile dysfunction by FDA on 27^th March 1998.

Within a period six months of its approval, millions of prescriptions were written for Generic Sildenafil Citrate. The discovery of Viagra was breakthrough discovery in the field of sexual medicine. The widely prescribed dose is 100mg once a day in most cases. A maximum dose of 200 mg can be consumed in a day.

The effect of this medicine is observed within 30-120 minutes after taking the medicine. The action persists for an average duration of 4 hours. The absorption of this medicines is decreases by 50% in presence of food rich in fat content.

This medicine exhibits efficacy of 84%.  Approximately 80% of the administered dose is eliminated through feces and approximately 13% of the administered dose is eliminated through urine. Its generic version named Generic Viagra is also available these days.