Challenge Dose – Tadalafil: Any Advice? Experiences?

I have never heard of the term "challenge" dose? What is that for? Do you just take 4 times the normal dose if you are going to have sex? How soon before do you take that larger dose? Just one time? Thanks.

My 5mg dose does nothing for ED. FYI the lowest cost source is Mark Cuban's Low Cost Drugs site.

Yes, I do the 20mg twice a week. I get more of a partial erection if I take it. But I think the main goal is to provide additional oxygenation. 20mg is what is usually recommended for intercourse.

I also hadn't heard the term challenge dose. But a Mayo urologist told me to take 20mg tadalafil on days I wanted to try having sex. I didn't have any side effects and it did seem to help, but it wasn't as effective as I'd hoped (for me). My urologist then told me that I could take the 5mg tadalafil daily and also take 100mg sidenafil on days I try to have sex, and that seemed to work better for me. In all fairness to tadalafil, at the same time as switching I also experimented with improved prepping by ensuring I had an empty stomach and waiting a full hour for it to work before trying, so maybe that made the sidenafil appear more effective. I had also read on this board that someone's PT had them take L-Citrulline, so I took that as well. I also took vitamins and magnesium, and regular exercise. I have no idea if the L-Citrulline, vitamins, magnesium, or exercise helped, but I'm pretty sure the cialis and viagra were very important to my recovery. I did get back to normal at about 15 months, but it was so very very slow progress. Sounds like you're already further along than I was, so that's very encouraging for you. Best wishes.

Is this to take 20mg daily or only for sex. If only for sex you can just take 4 5mg pills and see if that does anything for you. I used 20mg tadalafil in the past to increase my ability to sustain erections. With 5mg daily I do not need it anymore. As mentioned, if 20mg tadalafil does not work for you then try sildenafil at 100mg. It acts faster than tadalafil but does not last as long (8 vs 24+ hours) which is why low dose tadalafil is used for daily treatment.

@bobgolf Hey Bob, it's lingo the sexual function docs all seem to understand. Yeah, it's the full 20mg dose if you want some extra action.

Don't know about timing and that stuff. I just have the prescription, but no experience with it yet. I was trying to find out from others.

@bajjerfan I'm no doc, so don't listen to me. But, my sexual function doc is suggesting I try a 20mg dose of Tadalafil to see if I get a better response.

Good to know about Mark Cuban's site. It looks like my co-pay with insurance at Costco is $21.

@topf Good to know! I wonder the max that you can do in a week. I'm planning on just doing a test run and see if I get side effects or not.

I suppose it would help with oxygenation at the 20mg dose.

@retireditguy Wow-back to normal. That's amazing concept. I didn't know if that was possible. Congrats to you.

OK-good point about using sidenafil as an alternative. I now remember reading that some people respond better to one over the other. But, yeah, shorter window.

I remember a program by Dr. John Mulhal (Saving your Sex Life book fame) who said that heart health is penis health. Meaning, getting good blood pressure, lots of exercise and all the rest helps penis function. He even joked that taking blood pressure meds and the vasodilator drugs were great ideas for all men over a certain age.

So, yeah, exercise and the rest probably does help. Need to get on that. (still recovering from post-surgery fatigue-but getting much better)

@jim18 Yep, that's the concept. Since he offered a new prescription with the 20mg dose, I was like, OK, I'm game. Also, I wouldn't have to use up my 90 day supply since my pharmacy is uptight about picking up refills early.

That's awesome you are doing well with the 5mg dose and don't need the 20 anymore-congrats!

Candidly, my pharmacy now has three prescriptions for 5 mg Tadalafil and then one new one for 20mg. They probably think I'm selling pills on the street.

Thanks for the advice on Viagra. Wil explore if this doesn't work.