When it comes to talking about meth and Viagra, surprisingly a lot of the information you’ll find online is very old.
Studies from 2004, old newspaper articles from 2006, there’s not a lot of current info out there. But what has been established beyond any doubt is that Viagra and meth do have a link. But it’s not completely linear, and so I want to explain to you exactly what the problem is here.
Let’s talk about the meth first.
Crystal meth, methamphetamine, is highly addictive. But more than that, it also raises libido (sex drive) dramatically. It does this through a chemical interaction in the brain. But it also raises levels of adrenaline, which leads from more physical and aggressive outlook in both sexes, but notably men.
It’s a well-known fact and long established that crystal meth improves sex drive. In fact, that’s how some people get into using it. The problem is that any initial benefit is quickly steamrolled by the addiction which caused a breakdown in physical and mental structure.
When you take it, it makes you feel exhilarated, happy, and blissful. Increased sex drive effect leads to notable encounters and promiscuous behavior.
Methamphetamines have long been used on their own and teamed up to create polydrugs have been used to emphasize sexual performance and satisfaction. On the downside though, crystal meth use can lead to an increasing lack of ability for men to have sex. Just as with alcohol, it destroys the ability to keep an erection.
That’s when a lot of men turned to Viagra, the brand name for a generic chemical called sildenafil. It opens up blood flow to the penis and encourages erections with stimulation (and sometimes even just by thinking sexual).
Together this produces incredible sexual experiences. The higher the meth, the increased aggression, and sex drive, the desire, the feeling, mixed with the ability to get an erection (even though it becomes very tough to actually orgasm).
The use of Viagra and meth went unnoticed for some time. But especially amongst men who have sex with men (MSM), the risk has skyrocketed into a spiraling addiction and the spread of HIV.
Meth + Viagra = Trouble
When you take meth and Viagra the bliss stage doesn’t last very long. The meth addiction will kick in and destroy your ability to physically perform. Lack of food, breakdown in musculoskeletal structure, and cognitive decline, it all starts to take its toll very fast.
In that phase where you can use meth and Viagra, or if you are just managing to keep its use under control over the longer term, you are going to be at risk of secondary infections through sexual contact.
Whether you are hetero or gay, it’s been shown to lead to a dramatic increase in the likelihood of getting serious sexual infections, including HIV.
One study in 2006 that looked at other studies to reach a larger conclusion, found an indisputable link between people using meth and Viagra with higher rates than normal of HIV seroconversion (where the body is producing detectable antibodies in the initial fight against infection).
So it’s not that the two combined create any different chemical reaction, it’s not usual in that way. But what happens is that Viagra allows you to overcome the lack of an erection that meth brings, despite increased sexual desire.
The result is risky behavior with a follow-through, literally. It allows men to have sex with women and men in a risky pattern that they simply couldn’t manage before.
That’s why there’s growing evidence that men taking meth and Viagra have got almost double the chance of getting AIDS.
It is not just about aids. The problem is that a lot of diseases can be transferred, including more recently, things like monkeypox. Because the immune system is suppressed through meth use as well, it can lead to rapid infection.
Plus, there’s also the pressure it puts on the heart. Meth use speeds up the heart and makes it regular, it bursts blood vessels in the brain, and creates all sorts of problems for the cardiovascular system.
Viagra can make some things worse. It makes you feel hot for example, and meth users tend to overheat quickly. That can be problematic alongside not using enough water and being energized sexually.
Compulsive Behavior Overdrive
Meth makes you horny. The problem is that when you are then capable of having sex it leads to overdrive in sexual desire and the compulsive behavior that accompanies meth use.
So overall, you are driving yourself into incredibly risky situations on a regular basis if you are using meth, especially if you are using it to increase sexual feelings.
Also, meth turns sex into a marathon. It retards ejaculation and can extend erection time. A 2016 study confirmed this by suggesting that meth users have sex that sometimes lasts for hours before they collapse or it peaks. Again, that puts massive pressure on an increasingly stressed cardiovascular system, and can also increase the risk of stroke.
Even if an erection is unobtainable through prolonged meth use, Viagra can help overcome this, increasing the ability to have compulsive dangerous sexual behavior well into the addiction when you are even more vulnerable to infection and other related problems of significant drug use.
Chemsex Is Just So Dangerous With Meth
What we are talking about is extreme chemsex. People abuse substances to heighten sexual desire and performance for millennia, but this modern take is incredibly dangerous.
The combination of meth and Viagra allows people to pursue extreme sexual behavior and compulsive desires in a way that they simply couldn’t even two decades ago.
Unfortunately, we still don’t have much evidence on how much this increases your risk. But especially if you’re homosexual, this increase in risk can lead to a significant chance of getting an infection.
But it’s not just about getting something. Because it’s compulsive it’s going to be unprotected, relentless, and frequent.
That means you are going to potentially infect people far more readily than normal. More partners, more risky sex, more extreme situations, mean more chance of infection for you and others.
That’s exactly why HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases are far higher in drug using communities, especially crystal meth, and especially amongst homosexuals using it.
Enabling it through taking Viagra makes it even worse. So you are supercharging the chances of becoming fatally unwell. Although not 100% established, there is now a large body of evidence that HIV spiked in the early 2000’s amongst meth users when Viagra became more widely available.
In fact, the link is well known. That’s why some drug dealers (there was a story about a Brazilian drug ring that did this), are selling meth with a side order Viagra if you want it.
So it’s deliberately being sold as a chemsex product by some dealers. That makes it even more dangerous because some of the people who will be tempted are not entering the arena via the more traditional methods of acquisition, use, and addiction.
What starts as an occasional recreational centerpiece quickly becomes established behavior high addictiveness and stimulant quality of meth, mixed with the ability of Viagra to sexually perform in a way you simply couldn’t naturally.
