LA Weekly*Brand Partner Content*
If you are searching for the best alternative to Viagra we have compared the 4 most popular and most effective erectile dysfunction treatments. These natural ED pills are available over the counter or online via the manufacturers website.
Did you know some studies suggest erectile dysfunction (ED) may affect up to 76.5% of men? The estimates and statistics vary considerably but all the data shows ED is more common than most people think. So, if you are struggling with sexual dysfunction in the bedroom, rest assured you are not alone.
Best Over the Counter Alternative to Viagra – OTC Erectile Dysfunction Pills
Here are the top 4 supplements and pills to treat erectile dysfunction that work like Viagra.
Many men treat ED by taking Viagra. The famous “blue pill” is probably the most commonly used male performance enhancer and erectile dysfunction drug in the world.
But Viagra is not the only erectile dysfunction treatment available to men who have difficulties getting or maintaining an erection. Nor is it always the most preferable one.
Although there can be no doubt that Viagra is a sex pill that works, a lot of men prefer to tackle erectile dysfunction by using alternative treatments that are available to buy over-the-counter (OTC).
There are many reasons why this is so. One problem is the side effects. However, although Viagra side effects can be quite nasty and using the blue pill can present certain dangers, many men only experience mild side effects. Some experience no side effects at all.
Viagra is a drug though (sildenafil citrate). It’s chemical-based. These days, there is a growing preference for natural erectile dysfunction products. That’s another one of the reasons so many men are seeking good Viagra alternatives.
Availability is often an issue too. Some men cannot obtain Viagra via prescription. For others, it may be an option but they are too embarrassed to visit their doctor.
We’ve written this article to help men who are suffering from erectile dysfunction but prefer to treat the condition with pills that offer a safer or an easy to obtain alternative to Viagra.
How Viagra Works
A man’s ability to get an erection is dependent on several physical and mental factors. If any one of them fails it has the potential to turn even the most bull-like lover into a flop.
Viagra compensates for the physical issues that cause severe erectile dysfunction. It does this by stimulating the flow of blood into the penis, giving it a kind of jump start. However, it doesn’t help when ED is due to anxiety or other psychological problems.
You need to take a pill around 30–60 minutes before you plan to have sex.
Most men find Viagra works very well but it may not be capable of taking away all your frustrations. You can only take Viagra once per day. However, research suggests the benefits may last up to 12 hours
Viagra is a branded prescription medication . The actual drug name is sildenafil citrate. It’s a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor– a PDE5 inhibitor, for short.
PDE5 is an enzyme that’s present in the blood vessel walls. Most of it is located in the blood vessels in and around the corpus cavernosum (erectile tissue). PDE5 breaks down cyclic GMP (cGMP)
cGMP is a messenger that’s present in the blood vessel walls. It works alongside Nitric Oxide to produce an effect known as vasodilation. This is a relaxing of the blood vessel walls.
When the walls of the blood vessels relax, they increase slightly in diameter. This improves circulation. [source]
When PDE5 breaks down cGMP, it prevents it from doing its job. This restricts blood flow to the erectile tissue, preventing the penis from becoming erect.
So, by inhibiting PDE5, Viagra elevates cGMP so the erectile tissues can get more blood. However, for it to work you will still need to be sexually aroused.
Is there anything over the counter that works like Viagra?
Pills Like Viagra that are Easy to Buy Over the Counter
Although many manufacturers claim to have created pills that work like Viagra, here are the most effective. Based on ingredient potency and customer reviews, we’ve compiled a list of the top four dietary supplements for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
Performer 8 – Naturally Treats Erectile Dysfunction
CLICK HERE – to visit Performer8 website and view special offers
Performer 8 is still pretty new to the market but it’s already made a pretty big splash. The manufacturers of competing products will probably be still feeling the ripples for some years to come.
Performer 8 is manufactured by Wolfson Brands, so its pedigree is as good as you can get. Wolfson Brands is a world-class manufacturer that has more than 30 years experience producing high-quality supplements.
Wolfson Brands say Performer 8 can boost sexual performance by eight times. It is an excellent ed treatment for erectile dysfunction.
The dose is three capsules per day and each bottle provides a 30-day supply of pills.
Performer 8 Benefits & Ingredients
Performer 8 boosts potency and performance in the following ways:
- Boosts Natural Testosterone Production
- Improves Sexual Focus
- Revitalizes Sexual Stamina
- Improves Erection Quality
- Increases Penis Girth
- Skyrockets Sexual Desire
- Prevents Premature Ejaculation
- Increases Confidence and Self-Esteem
These benefits are attributable to nine natural ingredients, most of which are plant extracts.
- Panax Ginseng (6,000 mg)
- Muira Puama Extract (3,000 mg)
- Horny Goat Weed (1,000 mg)
- Glucuronolactone (600 mg)
- KSM-66 (500 mg)
- Pine Bark Extract (300 mg)
- Grape Seed Extract (30 mg)
- Maca Root Extract (30 mg)
- Ferrous Bisglycinate (12 mg)
As you can see, Performer 8 provides a hefty helping of Horny Goat Weed but that’s not surprising, healers in China have been using it to treat erectile dysfunction for thousands of years. Thanks to modern-day research, we now know this ability is due to a compound called icariin that pumps up the penis by inhibiting PDE5.
Ginseng is another excellent inclusion. It’s one of the most famous aphrodisiacs in the world and it provides so many health benefits Chinese herbalists consider it a life-giving herb.
Ginseng alleviates ED by relaxing the blood vessels so the erectile tissues can fill up with blood. It also fights ED on a psychological level by reducing stress and putting you in a better state of mind.
There are several forms of ginseng but Panax ginseng (Korean ginseng) is the most potent.
All the ingredients in Performer 8 work have a lot to offer. This is a very impressive formulation that doesn’t carry any dead weight.
Performer 8 User Experience, Comments, and Testimonials
Customer reviews are first-rate. Some of the best feedback comes from men who have previously used products with less potency and are so happy with the results there is no going back.
Buying Performer 8: What You Need to Know
A 30-day supply of Performer 8 costs $64.99. You can only buy it from the official website, it’s available worldwide, shipping is always free, and Wolfson Brands offers a lifetime money-back guarantee.
As is the norm with all the best Viagra alternatives, it’s possible to snag a better deal by placing a larger order.
- Buy 2 Bottles, Get 1 Bottle Free
- Buy 3 Bottles, Get 3 Bottles Free
CLICK HERE – to visit Performer8 website and view special offers
Making a multi-bottle purchase also gets you a couple of downloadable ebooks. The ebooks provide diet and lifestyle tips that will help you increase testosterone and boost your libido.
Viasil – for Erectile Dysfunction and Performance
CLICK HERE – to visit Viasil website and view special offers
Viasil is a male potency product manufactured by Swiss Research Labs. It’s a reputable company that offers an excellent level of customer support.
Easily one of the most potent Viagra substitutes available without a prescription, Viasil is 100% natural, gets to work fast, and has no known side effects. You take one tablet per day, 30 minutes before sex.
Viasil Benefits & Ingredients
Viasil is specially formulated to provide several key benefits:
- Provides powerful, rock hard, long-lasting erection
- Boosts energy and vitality
- Increases stamina and endurance
- Revitalizes sexual desire and confidence
These highly desirable benefits are made possible by six potent ingredients. One Viasil tablet provides each of them in the following quantities:
- Zinc Picolinate(1. 5 mg)
- Actiful (700 mg)
- Horny Goat Weed [10:1 Extract] (100 mg)
- Tribulus Terrestris [12:1 Extract] (25 mg)
- Panax Ginseng [20:1 Extract] (20 mg)
- Ginkgo Biloba [50:1 Extract] (4.8 mg)
Horny Goat Weed is an excellent ingredient. It provides a natural PDE5 inhibitor that works in the same way as Viagra.
Actiful is an interesting addition. It’s a branded ingredient that consists of pomegranate and citrus fruit extracts. Actiful functions as a vitality enhancer.
The pomegranate extract improves blood flow and the citrus compounds assist energy production at the cellular level by increasing ATP. The ingredient is often used in sports supplements but it’s an equally good match for a male potency product.
Viasil User Experience, Comments, and Testimonials
Men love this product. As well as praising it for its ability to make them hard, many existing Viasil users say it gives them more energy and stamina in bed. That’s something you won’t get from Viagra.
Buying Viasil: What You Need to Know
Viasil is only available from the manufacturer’s website. Each pack contains enough pills to provide a 30-day treatment and generally costs around $75. Shipping costs add a further $7.95.
That’s an overall cost of just under $83, making Viasil, a tad more expensive than most of the other top-ranking alternatives to Viagra. However, Viasil has an astounding erectile dysfunction success rate, so it’s hard to quibble about the price and Swiss Research Labs backs its male potency pill with a 100-day money-back guarantee.
If you want more bang for your buck, ordering an extra bottle or two will do the trick. In addition to bagging you free shipping, it will get you some freebies too.
- Buy 2 Boxes Get 1 Free
- Buy 3 Boxes Get 2 Free
- Buy 5 Boxes Get 3 Free
CLICK HERE – to visit Viasil website and view special offers
Buying two or more boxes will also allow you to get some free erection gels.
VigRx Plus – for Male Enhancement
CLICK HERE – to visit VIGRX Plus website and view special offers
VigRx Plus is an incredibly popular Viagra alternative and has been for many years. However, breaking with tradition, the pills are red, not blue.
VigRX Plus is manufactured by Leading Edge Health Inc. It’s a multi-national supplement supplier that has offices in Canada and Cyprus.
VigRX Plus has been available since 2007 and, with sales of over 1.2 million boxes, there’s been a lot of good feedback. It is a natural dietary supplement for erectile dysfunction.
The results of an 84-day clinical study are very good as well. Among other things, the results show the formulation gave the study participants a 71.4% increase in sexual intercourse satisfaction.
VigRx Plus Benefits & Ingredients
Taking the regular dose of two tablets per day should banish ED and provide the following additional benefits:
- Amaze your partner with bigger, better erections
- Supercharge your libido and sexual desire
- Control over erections
- Enjoy more intense orgasms
These things are made possible by a cutting-edge formulation that consists of 12 powerful ingredients. Each 2-tablet serving provides them in the following quantities:
- Korean Ginseng Root (100 mg)
- Saffron Extract (10 mg)
- Hawthorn Berry (100 mg)
- Ginkgo Biloba Leaves(100 mg)
- Damiana Leaves (100 mg)
- Maca (100 mg)
- Pomegranate Extract (100 mg)
- Luteolin (20 mg)
- Cactus Seed Ext.41 PE (25 mg)
- Turmeric (50 mg)
- Zinc (75 mg)
- Bioperine (5 mg)
As with all or top picks, VigRX Plus provides some very credible male potency boosters and we’ve got Korean ginseng right at the top of the list.
It’s nice to see some pomegranate included as well. Apart from helping the penis get more blood, pomegranate is also good for the heart. You need to have a strong heart if you are regularly going to find yourself in a situation of too much bed and not enough sleep.
Hawthorn berry is another ingredient that can pump up your penis while protecting your heart and the antioxidants and flavonoids it provides are reputed to help prolong your erection.
Bioperine doesn’t directly influence erection quality but it’s still a valuable ingredient. This patented black pepper extract provides an alkaloid that enhances the absorption of the other ingredients.
VigRx Plus User Experience, Comments, and Testimonials
Customer comments are amazingly good. Men with experience of the product confirm it does the things they hoped it would. In fact, a lot of them are surprised how well it works.
There are plenty of boasts about all-night sessions, along with comments about improvements in orgasm quality, semen volume, and penis size and girth.
Ordering VigRx Plus: What You Need to Know
VigRX Plus penis enhancement pills cost $69.95 per box. You can only buy them from the VigRX Plus website.
As with all the best Viagra alternatives, each box of VigRX provides a 30-day supply of pills.
As far as the price goes, there’s not a lot to grumble about. VigRX Plus used to cost $20 more per box but, due to the popularity of the product, the increase in sales revenue has allowed Leading Edge Health to make its male potency product a little cheaper.
Leading Edge Health also offers additional discounts and rewards to customers who buy more than a 1-month supply of VigRX Plus:
- Buy 2 Boxes, Save $49.95
- Buy 3 Boxes, Save $89.95
CLICK HERE – to visit VIGRX Plus website and view special offers
However, the best deal goes to customers who buy a 6 or 12-month supply of pills. When you do so, the discounts are greater and you also get free global shipping and complementary products.
Regardless of the size of your order, when you buy VigRX you also get the protection of a 67-day money-back guarantee.
Male Extra – Natural Performance Enhancer
CLICK HERE – to visit Male Extra website and view special offers
Male Extra is a blue sex pill that’s shipped in a black bottle. It’s made in the USA by Ssshh Limited.
Right from the start, Male Extra was a good product that won an army of fans in the face of some stiff competition in the erectile dysfunction treatment industry. But just being good wasn’t “good” enough for Ssshh so it improved the formulation to make it even better.
Male Extra Benefits & Ingredients
Male Extra is specially formulated to deliver the following sexual function benefits:
- Bigger, harder erections
- Better performance
- Improve sexual function
- More sexual stamina
- Alternative to medical treatments
- Increasing blood flow
- Greater libido
- Powerful orgasms
The formulation that provides these sex benefits consists of seven key ingredients.
Three capsules per day will provide:
- Pomegranate (500 mg)
- L-Arginine HCL (600 mg)
- Cordyceps (25 mg)
- Zinc Citrate (45 mg)
- Niacin (18 mg)
- MSM (100 mg)
- L-Methionine (100 mg)
Like a lot of natural products that aim to replace Viagra, Male Extra provides a hefty dose of pomegranate to help the penis become engorged with blood.
L-Arginine is a good addition to the mix. It’s an amino acid that aids vasodilation by helping your body produce nitric oxide.
Like ginseng, cordyceps is a Chinese herb with a longstanding reputation for being an aphrodisiac. It’s good for increasing sexual desire and stopping erectile dysfunction. Scientists believe this is due to the compounds deoxyadenosine and cordycepic acid, which appear to affect the part of the brain that is responsible for signaling the penis to prepare it for sex.
Zinc citrate provides zinc in an easily absorbable form. It’s a good inclusion because zinc is a natural testosterone booster. Testosterone is the male sex hormone so this is an addition that brings a lot to the table.
Every heard about people eating oysters before having sex? Many people will tell you oysters are an aphrodisiac. Experts believe the reason oysters work in this way could be due to their high levels of zinc.
Male Extra User Experience, Comments, and Testimonials
Customer reviews are very good and confirm Male Extra’s ability to bring out the hard man in you.
The improvements appear to take a week or two to show “up”, but everyone says they are worth waiting for. Some men even say they believe Male Extra may have saved their marriage.
Ordering Male Extra: What You Need to Know
A 30-day supply of Male Extra costs $64.95. There is nothing extra to pay for shipping and the manufacturer offers a no-quibble, 100-day money-back guarantee.
You probably won’t be surprised to learn you can only buy Male Extra from its official site. That’s no bad thing though. When you buy direct from a manufacturer, you can be sure you are getting the genuine product.
Interested in a special deal? The Male Extra website has several to choose from. As is typical with all the top Viagra alternatives, larger orders result in greater savings:
- Buy 4 Bottles, Get 1 Free Tube of Erection Gel (Savings: $194.80)
- Buy 6 Bottles, Get 2 Free Bottles of Male Extra & 2 Free Erection Gels (Savings: $349.70)
- Buy 12 Bottles, Get 4 Free Erection Gels (Savings: $803.30)
CLICK HERE – to visit Male Extra website and view special offers
Why There’s a Need for OTC Viagra Substitutes
Although Viagra can be very effective at treating erectile dysfunction, there are several reasons why there’s a demand for alternatives.
One reason is it’s only a viable treatment for ED that has a physical cause. When erectile dysfunction is psychological, PDE5 inhibitors won’t be able to help pump things up.
Viagra is also unsuitable for men who have certain medical conditions, such as heart or liver problems. It’s equally unsuitable for men who have low blood pressure and also has the potential to clash with certain medications.
Some men who try Viagra have to stop using it due to side effects.
The most common Viagra side effects are pretty mild:
- Headache
- Upset stomach
- Nausea
- Runny nose
- Dizziness
- Muscle pain
- Rash
- Blurred vision
Some men find these problems acceptable, others do not. However, Viagra can also cause more serious side effects such as sudden loss of hearing or vision or cardiovascular issues such as heart attack or stroke.
Although such reactions are not so common, a lot of men prefer not to take risks and seek safer Viagra alternatives and herbal remedies instead of prescription medications.
How Well Do the Best OTC Viagra Alternatives Compare?
Although not all Viagra substitutes are as good as their manufacturers would have you believe, some of them work very well. The four products featured on this page are particularly good.
Viagra’s main failing is it can only do one thing–inhibit PDE5. All the best Viagra alternatives are more versatile. They tackle the problem of ED (erectile dysfunction) by the use of safe, natural ingredients to treat sexual health and sexual function.
Some of the ingredients in Viagra alternatives are PDE5 inhibitors but the best formulations have ingredients that boost blood flow in other ways as well. They also include ingredients that have the potential to be an ED remedy that has a psychological cause. In that way, they could be seen as being superior to the little blue pill.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.