- This topic has 1 reply, 2 voices, and was last updated 1 day, 15 hours ago by
.
-
Posts
-
For those in the “Peat-o-sphere,” there has been a generally negative view of the ED medications, like tadalafil/Cialis and sildenafil/Viagra. I think there have been mainly two reasons for this. First, it was widely thought that these drugs increase nitric oxide (indeed, this is a claim repeated by many doctors). Second, they were relatively new drugs, and Dr. Peat always recommended against taking drugs that had been on the market less than 20 years. His reasoning was that long term side effects aren’t known until that long.
Well, tadalafil (and sildenafil) have both passed that mark recently. Viagra came to market in the late 90s, Cialis in 2004. They are both now over 20 years old, so we have much better ideas about their side effects, as well as numerous testimonials.
So, back to the first (and main) objection. After looking into it more, these drugs are actually PDE-5 inhibitors. The official claim from drug companies is that they “enhance the effects of nitric oxide.” This isn’t the same as raising it, and in fact, may just be the given explanation for their main effect, which seems to be increasing blood flow. Some studies do show some increase in nitric oxide levels, but most do not.
For me personally, I have begun to take a more objective view of these drugs. I am more interested in tadalafil, as it has a longer half life, and can be taken daily in very low amounts. The listed side effects of these drugs are mostly fairly minor and transient, and when taken in lower doses, can be largely avoided.
Having said all of that, there are a lot of interesting positives claimed for these drugs, beyond the ED effect. They seem to also lower blood pressure, improve prostate health, are a potential treatment for diseases like Raynaud’s, and may even have some “life” and health extension properties. There are many positive, long term reviews both on all sorts of health forums, and even in studies and articles on pubmed. There don’t seem to be as many negative reviews, and most of those are of the listed and generally minor side effects, or just noticing no effect. A wildly different story than drugs like finasteride or the SSRIs. Physionic did an indepth youtube review, showing how it can lower estrogen and boost testosterone.
One of the most interesting case studies I came across was in wound healing. This was a case of a patient who had a chronic wound for 50 years, that healed up in 8 weeks after being prescribed tadalafil for ED, and the wound remained healed after 2 years. Quite remarkable- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25649683/
There was even a very glowing testimonial on the old RPF by Nokoni, although he did run into some issues after a couple years of use.
I write all this not as an endorsement of these drugs, but more as a challenge to some of my own biases, and also as a credit to the principles that Dr. Peat laid down, especially the wisdom of his 20 year rule in regards to drugs. I don’t know if Peat would change his stance on these drugs with this new info were he still alive, but I appreciate even more that he taught principles such as this, so that we can examine new evidence through those principles, and continue to “Perceive, Think, Act” in our own lives.
As full disclosure, I have started to experiment with a low daily dose of tadalafil personally (2.5mg at the moment), and have noticed some positive changes in just a couple weeks time, some that manifested in just a couple days.
That all sounds reasonable. I, too, particularly appreciate Ray’s principles on so many topics! I do wonder about Ray’s discouraging DMSO and if that would be different now with all the info coming out about it from The Midwestern Doctor.
My husband noticed at age 50 that he was losing his “manliness” and experiencing symptoms of menopause: pouch, slumped shoulders, moody. This was LOOONG before we discovered Ray Peat. He did a ton of research and started supplementing with small doses of injectable testosterone which fixed everything. He passed away last year at 75, never had a problem with the supplement.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Author
