Around half of men aged 40–70 experience some degree of erectile difficulty — it is one of the most common conditions we see, and still the one men are least likely to raise with anyone. Two facts are worth holding before anything else: for most men ED is very treatable, and occasionally it is the first visible sign of something else that deserves a check. This guide compares every option we offer — honestly, including the tablet-free ones — and explains what safe, legitimate supply looks like, because ED medicines are among the most counterfeited in the world.
An erection is a vascular event — it depends on healthy blood flow. That is why new or worsening ED, particularly in your 40s and 50s, can occasionally be an early indicator of cardiovascular disease, diabetes or low testosterone, sometimes years before other symptoms. This is not a reason to panic; it is a reason not to buy tablets from an unregulated website and ignore the question. Any good consultation — ours included — asks about heart health, blood pressure and your other medicines precisely because of this link. If your ED is new, changing, or comes with other symptoms, a conversation with your GP about underlying causes is worth having alongside treatment.
All the main ED tablets belong to one family — PDE5 inhibitors — and work the same way: they improve blood flow in response to arousal. They do not cause an erection on their own and do not change desire. NHS prescribing guidance treats sildenafil, tadalafil and vardenafil as probably equally effective, so the real choice is about timing, duration and how your body responds. Around 60–70% of men respond to a PDE5 inhibitor; in trials, sildenafil produced effective erections in 77–84% of attempts at the 50–100 mg doses. If the first tablet disappoints at the right dose, switching to a different one is evidence-based practice, not wishful thinking.
Viagra®, Cialis® and Levitra® are the original brands of sildenafil, tadalafil and vardenafil. The generic versions are therapeutically equivalent — same active ingredient, same licensing standards — at a fraction of the price, which is why UK guidance treats generic sildenafil as the usual first choice. Some men simply prefer the manufacturer’s own pack, and we stock both routes. There are also pharmacy-medicine (P) versions that need no prescription at all — Viagra Connect® and its Melts film (sildenafil 50 mg), the pharmacy generic sildenafil, and the pharmacy tadalafils Cialis Together® and Avarante® (10 mg) — supplied after a shorter pharmacist suitability check rather than a prescription-level consultation.
Every option we supply, side by side. Same active ingredient = same medicine; the brand is your choice.
| SildenafilLowest-cost option | Viagra®The original brand | Viagra Connect®Pharmacy medicine (P) | TadalafilWorks up to 36 hours | Cialis®The original 36-hour brand | VardenafilFast onset | Levitra®The original brand | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pack |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Prices from per tablet | from £2.50 per tablet | from £7.50 per tablet | from £4.50 per tablet | from £5.00 per tablet | from £10.00 per tablet | from £7.50 per tablet | from £5.99 per tablet |
| Active ingredient | Sildenafil | Sildenafil | Sildenafil | Tadalafil | Tadalafil | Vardenafil | Vardenafil |
| When to take it | About 1 hour before | About 1 hour before | About 1 hour before | 30–60 min before · up to 36 h window | 30–60 min before · up to 36 h window | 25–60 min before | 25–60 min before |
| View treatment → | View treatment → | View treatment → | View treatment → | View treatment → | View treatment → | View treatment → |
Timings are from each medicine’s SPC. Generic and branded versions contain the same active ingredient and are therapeutically equivalent — our pharmacist confirms what’s suitable at your free consultation. Images are for illustration purposes only — generic brand may vary.
Two of our options involve no medicine entering the bloodstream at all. Eroxon® StimGel is a topical gel that works within about 10 minutes and is a general-sale product — no prescription and no consultation needed. A vacuum erection device (we stock the VaxAid® Deluxe) is a drug-free, clinically recognised option — often the right answer where tablets aren’t suitable, for example alongside nitrate heart medicines. Neither is a lesser choice; they are different tools for different situations.
Before any supply, we check for nitrate medicines (GTN spray, isosorbide) and nicorandil — combining them with any PDE5 inhibitor can cause a dangerous drop in blood pressure — plus recent heart events, interacting medicines, and whether the requested dose is the right starting point. Legitimate services ask these questions every time; a site that will sell you ED tablets without a single health question is not a shortcut, it is the warning sign.
ED tablets are among the most faked medicines sold online — wrong doses, no active ingredient, or worse. Two checks: a legitimate UK online pharmacy displays its GPhC registration number (look it up on the GPhC register — ours is 9011727), and it will always run a health questionnaire before supplying medicine. No questionnaire and no registration number? Close the tab.
Our pharmacist can check what suits you. Every treatment is supplied only after a pharmacy consultation confirms it is appropriate.
Sildenafil (generic Viagra) →Tadalafil (generic Cialis) →Vardenafil (generic Levitra) →Viagra® (branded sildenafil) →Cialis® (branded tadalafil) →Levitra® (branded vardenafil) →Cialis Together® (pharmacy tadalafil) →Viagra Connect →Viagra Connect Melts →Sildenafil Perrigo →Avarante →Eroxon Stimgel →VaxAid Deluxe →Erectile Dysfunction treatments →