What you need to know before you take Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films
Do not take Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films if you:
- do not have an erection problem
- take any nitrate medicine for chest pain or heart failure (such as glyceryl trinitrate, isosorbide mononitrate, isosorbide dinitrate) or “poppers” (nitric oxide donors such as amyl nitrite, nicorandil or sodium nitroprusside). This can lead to a dangerous fall in blood pressure.
- take riociguat (or other guanylate cyclase stimulators) for high blood pressure in the lungs, as this can lead to a dangerous fall in blood pressure.
- take ritonavir for the treatment of HIV.
- have been advised by your doctor to avoid sexual activity because of a problem with your heart or blood vessels.
- have a severe heart problem such as a recent heart attack or stroke (within the last 6 months), unstable angina (chest pain) or severe cardiac failure.
- have a severe liver problem.
- have low blood pressure (below 90/50 mmHg) which can cause symptoms such as tiredness, dizziness, light-headedness, feeling sick, clammy skin, depression, loss of consciousness, or blurry vision.
- have ever had severe vision loss because of nerve damage in the eyes, such as non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION); or have a rare inherited eye disease, such as retinitis pigmentosa.
- have a deformed penis.
- are a woman.
- are under 18 years of age.
- are allergic to sildenafil or any of the other ingredients of this medicine (listed in section 6).
Warnings and precautions
You should schedule a health check-up with your doctor as soon as possible within the first 6 months of starting to use Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films to ensure that your erection problems are not caused by any serious health condition.
Erectile dysfunction may be an early sign of:
- cardiovascular disease
- diabetes
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol
Tell your doctor about your problems if you have not already done so.
Cardiovascular risk factors
Sexual activity can put a strain on your heart. Talk to your doctor before taking Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films if you:
- get very breathless or feel any pain in the chest with light or moderate activity (e.g. walking briskly for 20 minutes or climbing two flights of stairs). Your doctor may need to check whether your heart can take the additional strain of having sex.
- have a problem with a valve in your heart (valvular heart disease).
- have a disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and does not work as well as it should (cardiomyopathy).
- have an irregular heart beat (arrhythmia).
- you have had surgery to improve blood flow to your heart, or you have high blood pressure which is now adequately treated.
- have high blood pressure that is not controlled.
Other risk factors
Talk to your doctor before taking Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films if you:
- have ever had an erection that lasted more than 4 hours (priapism). Some conditions can increase the probability of having a persistent erection, such as sickle cell anaemia, leukaemia, or multiple myeloma. Use of impotence medicines may increase the risk of priapism. Long lasting erection may cause damage to the tissue in the penis and permanent loss of ability to have an erection.
- have a stomach ulcer or a bleeding disorder (such as haemophilia).
- have previously been diagnosed with mild to moderate liver disease, or severe kidney problems. Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films may not be suitable for you, you should consult your doctor before taking Viagra Connect Melts.
You should not use Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films with treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) containing sildenafil or any other PDE5 inhibitors.
If you experience any sudden visual defects you should stop taking Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films and contact your doctor immediately. Cases of visual effects have been reported when using sildenafil.
Other medicines and Viagra Connect Melts
Tell your pharmacist or doctor if you are taking, have recently taken or might take any other medicines. Some medicines may be affected by Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films or they may affect how Viagra Connect Melts work and this may result in side effects.
Do not use Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films if you take:
- Nitrate medicines: Do not take if you are taking nitrate medicines (such as glyceryl trinitrate, isosorbide mononitrate, isosorbide dinitrate) against chest pain (angina pectoris) or heart failure or “poppers” as recreational drugs (nitric oxide donors such as amyl nitrite), nicorandil or sodium nitroprusside). These substances could lead to a dangerous fall in blood pressure.
- Riociguat: Do not take if you are taking a medicine called riociguat (or other medicines of a group called guanylate cyclase stimulators). Riociguat is used to treat high blood pressure in the lungs and can lead to a dangerous fall in blood pressure.
- Medicines to treat HIV-infections: Ritonavir is a medicine used to treat HIV-infections. Do not take if you are taking ritonavir since this combination can lead to a dangerous fall in blood pressure.
Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films if you are taking:
- Medicines to treat fungal infections and antibiotics: Medicines to treat fungal infections called itraconazole or ketoconazole and an antibiotic called erythromycin increase the concentration of Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films in the body and may result in side effects.
- Heartburn treatment: The medicine to treat heartburn, cimetidine, increases the concentration of Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films in the body and may result in side effects.
- Other treatments for erectile dysfunction: The safety and efficacy of combinations of Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films with other treatments for erectile dysfunction have not been studied and this combination is therefore not recommended.
- Alpha-blockers used to treat urinary problems or high blood pressure: Alpha-blockers used to treat urinary problems due to enlarged prostate (such as alfuzosin, doxazocin or tamsulosin) may lead to dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, fainting, lack of concentration, or blurred vision due to low blood pressure (symptomatic hypotension).
- Medicines containing sacubitril/valsartan, used to treat heart failure.
Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films with food and drink
Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films can be taken with or without food. When this medicine is taken after a high-fat meal, it may take a little longer to start working.
Do not take Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films with grapefruit or grapefruit juice, because this can affect how the medicine works.
Drinking excessive alcohol can temporarily reduce your ability to achieve an erection. To get a benefit from the medicine, you are advised not to drink large amounts of alcohol before sexual activity.
Pregnancy, breast-feeding and fertility
This medicine should not be used by women.
Driving and using machines
Viagra Connect Melts 50 mg Orodispersible Films can cause dizziness and can affect your vision. Do not drive or use machines if you suffer from these side effects after taking this medicine.
Possible side effects
Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects although not everybody gets them. These side effects are usually mild to moderate and of a short duration. Seek medical attention immediately if you experience any of the following serious side effects:
- Chest pains: If this occurs before, during or after sexual activity: Get in a semi-sitting position and try to relax. Do NOT use nitrates to treat your chest pain.
- A prolonged and sometimes painful erection lasting longer than 4 hours: This occurs rarely.
- A sudden decrease or loss of vision: This occurs rarely.
- An allergic reaction: Symptoms include sudden wheeziness, difficulty breathing or dizziness, swelling of the eyelids, face, lips or throat.
- Serious skin reactions such as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and Toxic Epidermal Syndrome (TEN): Symptoms may include severe peeling and swelling of the skin, blistering of the mouth, genitals and around the eyes and fever.
- Seizures or fits: This occurs rarely.
Other side effects:
- Very common (may affect more than 1 in 10 people): headache.
- Common (may affect up to 1 in 10 people): nausea, indigestion, stuffy nose, dizziness, facial flushing, hot flush, colour tinge to vision, blurred vision, visual disturbance.
- Uncommon (may affect up to 1 in 100 people): vomiting, upper abdominal pain, acid reflux (including heartburn), skin rash, pain in the arms or legs, nosebleed, feeling hot, feeling tired (fatigue), eye irritation, bloodshot eyes /red eyes, eye pain, seeing flashes of light, visual brightness, light sensitivity, watery eyes, pounding heartbeat, rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, low blood pressure (typical signs are dizziness, fainting, blurred vision, nausea and tiredness), muscle pain, feeling sleepy, reduced sense of touch, vertigo, ringing in the ears, dry mouth, blocked or stuffy sinuses, inflammation of the lining of the nose (can be experienced as runny nose, sneezing and stuffy nose), presence of blood in urine.
- Rare (may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people): fainting, dry nose, swelling of the inside of the nose, feeling irritable and sudden decrease or loss of hearing, sudden unexpected death caused by loss of heart function (sudden cardiac arrest), stroke, heart attack, chest pains (angina), irregular heartbeat, temporary decreased blood flow to parts of the brain, feeling of tightening of the throat, numb mouth, bleeding at the back of the eye, double vision, reduced sharpness of vision, abnormal sensation in the eye, swelling of the eye or eyelid, small particles or spots in your vision, seeing halos around lights, dilation of the pupil of the eye, discolouration of the white of the eye, penile bleeding, presence of blood in semen.
Reporting of side effects: If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme at: www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard or search for MHRA Yellow Card in the Google Play or Apple App Store. By reporting side effects you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.
