Viagra, Cialis and Alcohol: Can You Drink on ED Tablets?

Short answer: Sildenafil (Viagra) and tadalafil (Cialis) can be taken if you have had a drink, but heavy drinking works against them: alcohol can make it harder to get an erection, and their leaflets advise against excessive drinking. With tadalafil or avanafil, alcohol can also make low blood pressure more likely, which can make you feel dizzy or light-headed. The dangerous mix is not alcohol but poppers (amyl nitrite) and nitrate medicines, which must never be taken with any of these tablets. In a study in healthy volunteers reported in the Viagra product information (SmPC, section 4.5), sildenafil 50mg did not add to the fall in blood pressure that alcohol causes; each tablet was studied separately, so these studies cannot show that one is safer to drink with than another. Drinking less alcohol can help your erections. Keep within the UK Chief Medical Officers' guideline of no more than 14 units a week, spread over 3 or more days. Stop and call 999 if you get chest pain, dizziness or fainting during or after sexual activity. Do not take another dose.

This guide sets out what the UK product information for each erectile dysfunction tablet, the NHS and the UK Chief Medical Officers say about alcohol, as of October 2026. A GPhC-registered pharmacist reviews every Solira consultation before anything is supplied.

Can you take Viagra (sildenafil) with alcohol?

Yes, if you keep it light: nothing in the UK product information for Viagra says you must not drink, but its leaflet advises against drinking excessive amounts of alcohol before you take it. Sildenafil, the medicine in Viagra, was tested with alcohol in healthy volunteers, and the product information reports that sildenafil 50mg "did not potentiate the hypotensive effects of alcohol" at a peak blood alcohol averaging 80mg per 100ml (SmPC, section 4.5): it did not make the fall in blood pressure that alcohol causes any bigger. That was a test in healthy people, not a guide to how much is safe to drink.

The reason to keep it light is the erection itself: the Viagra leaflet (section 2) says drinking alcohol can temporarily impair your ability to get an erection, and the NHS says drinking too much can make getting an erection more difficult. Each tablet we supply has its own UK product information, and each says something different about alcohol:

Source: the UK Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) for each medicine and the Viagra and Cialis leaflets, as read in October 2026. These were separate studies, each set up differently, so they cannot be used to rank one tablet against another or to show that one is safer to drink with.

Does Viagra work with alcohol?

Not as well if you have drunk a lot, because alcohol itself can make an erection harder to get. The product information does not say that a small amount of alcohol stops sildenafil working: its advice is about drinking excessive amounts before you take it. These tablets only work with sexual stimulation.

If a tablet does not seem to work after you have been drinking, do not take a second one. Never take more than one tablet in 24 hours. Try again another time, with little or nothing to drink. Try a tablet 4 to 8 times before deciding it does not work, then tell us. Timing, food and the other things that can get in the way are covered in Viagra not working.

How long after taking Viagra can you drink alcohol?

There is no set wait: no UK product information for sildenafil gives one. What matters is how much you drink on the evening you use it.

Sildenafil: take it about 1 hour before sex (anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours before). It takes about an hour to work. Sildenafil is short acting: the product information for Viagra Connect, which is sildenafil 50mg, says it was effective at times from less than 1 hour to up to 4 hours after a dose. So keep any drinking light from a little before you take it until that evening is over. More on timing and food is in how long sildenafil lasts.

Can you drink alcohol with Cialis (tadalafil)?

Yes, within limits: the Cialis leaflet (section 3) says alcohol may affect your ability to get an erection and may temporarily lower your blood pressure, and advises avoiding excessive drinking, a blood alcohol level of 0.08% or more, because it may increase the risk of dizziness when you stand up.

The product information describes a study of tadalafil with alcohol (Cialis SmPC, section 4.5). People were given alcohol equal to about 180ml of 40% vodka for an 80kg man (about 7 units, by the NHS's formula), after an overnight fast so that it was absorbed as fast as possible. Tadalafil 20mg did not add to the average fall in blood pressure the alcohol caused, but some people had dizziness and a fall in blood pressure when they stood up. With slightly less alcohol (0.6g per kg of body weight instead of 0.7g), low blood pressure was not seen and dizziness was no more common than with alcohol alone. Tadalafil did not change alcohol levels in the blood. That was a study of how the two interact, not a guide to how much is safe to drink.

The NHS says drinking alcohol while taking tadalafil can increase your risk of low blood pressure, which can make you feel dizzy or light-headed. If you feel dizzy after taking it, wait until the dizziness stops before you drive, cycle or use machinery, the NHS advises.

How long after taking tadalafil can you drink alcohol?

There is no set wait, but the advice covers the whole time tadalafil is working. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to work, and its effect can last more than 24 hours. The Cialis leaflet's advice applies if you have taken a tablet or are planning to, so keep any drinking light on the day you take one and the day after. Whatever you drink: Take one tablet no more than twice a week, and never more than once in 24 hours. If you take daily tadalafil, the advice applies every day: the product information for the daily 5mg tablet describes the same alcohol study (Cialis 5mg SmPC, section 4.5). More on timing is in how long tadalafil lasts.

Can you drink alcohol with vardenafil or avanafil?

With vardenafil, the UK product information reports no added effect on blood pressure in a study with alcohol; with avanafil (Spedra), it warns that alcohol may make low blood pressure, dizziness or fainting more likely.

Vardenafil's product information (SmPC, section 4.5) says that when vardenafil 20mg and alcohol were taken together, at a peak blood alcohol averaging 73mg per 100ml, vardenafil "did not potentiate the effects of alcohol on blood pressure and heart rate and the pharmacokinetics of vardenafil were not altered": it did not add to alcohol's effects, and alcohol did not change how the body handled vardenafil.

Avanafil's product information (Spedra SmPC, sections 4.4 and 4.5) says patients should be told that avanafil and alcohol together may increase the likelihood of low blood pressure, dizziness or fainting. In a study in healthy people, the average biggest fall in the bottom (diastolic) blood pressure number was significantly greater with the two together than with avanafil alone (3.2 mmHg) or alcohol alone (5.0 mmHg). Our avanafil page gives this advice:

How much alcohol can you drink with Viagra or Cialis?

No UK guidance gives a safe number of drinks with these tablets: their leaflets advise against excessive or large amounts without giving a number of drinks. The general limit is the UK Chief Medical Officers' low-risk guideline, the same for men and women: no more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, spread evenly over 3 or more days if you drink that much, with several drink-free days if you want to cut down. The NHS calls it "low risk" rather than "safe" because there is no safe drinking level.

On a night out, the NHS counts more than 8 units in one session as binge drinking for men. The Chief Medical Officers advise limiting the total on any one occasion, drinking more slowly, drinking with food and alternating with water, and say that people on a medicine that may interact with alcohol should be more careful about how much they drink on any one occasion. If you eat before you drink, bear the food rule in mind: A heavy or high-fat meal can delay how quickly sildenafil, vardenafil and avanafil work. Tadalafil is not affected by food.

How many units are in a drink?

One unit is 10ml, or 8g, of pure alcohol, and 14 units is about 6 pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine. These are the NHS's figures for common drinks:

For any other drink, multiply its strength (the ABV percentage on the label) by its volume in millilitres and divide by 1,000. Source: NHS, Alcohol units (page last reviewed 27 August 2024).

Can alcohol cause erectile dysfunction?

Yes: drinking too much alcohol is one of the usual causes of an occasional problem getting or keeping an erection, along with stress and tiredness, and the NHS says this is usually nothing to worry about. The Viagra, Viagra Connect and Cialis Together leaflets describe this effect of alcohol on erections as temporary.

If erection problems keep happening, the NHS says they may be caused by a condition such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol, diabetes, depression or anxiety, or hormone problems, and advises seeing a GP or a sexual health clinic. Its page on alcohol-use disorder lists high blood pressure, stroke, heart problems, anxiety and depression among the longer-term risks of drinking too much, and several of these are on its list of causes of erection problems. If this is your first time with erection problems, see your GP to check your blood sugar, cholesterol and testosterone, and have a heart health check at least every 5 years.

Among the things the NHS says can help is not drinking more than 14 units of alcohol a week. This is the lifestyle advice our consultation gives: Losing weight, stopping smoking, drinking less alcohol and exercising can all help. If you cycle more than 3 hours a week, try a break from cycling. Other causes are in what is erectile dysfunction and medicines that cause erectile dysfunction.

Will erections recover if you drink less?

They can: the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) lists reducing alcohol intake among the lifestyle changes that can improve erectile dysfunction, and the NHS says healthy lifestyle changes can sometimes help. No UK guidance gives a set time, because it depends on the cause; if cutting down has not helped, see a GP.

If you are worried about how much you drink, a GP is a good place to start, the NHS says, and Drinkline, the national alcohol helpline, is free and confidential on 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am to 8pm, weekends 11am to 4pm). If you think you may be dependent on alcohol, get advice before you stop: the NHS warns that stopping overnight could be harmful if you have become physically dependent, and says to call 999 for severe withdrawal symptoms such as hallucinations, severe tremors, or seizures or fits.

Can Viagra and alcohol kill you?

Alcohol is not one of the things the UK product information says must never be taken with these tablets: none of it rules alcohol out. What it does rule out, because the combination may lead to a dangerous fall in blood pressure, is poppers (amyl nitrite) and nitrate medicines (Viagra SmPC, section 4.3, and leaflet, section 2).

With drinking, the risks the product information describes are dizziness and low blood pressure, especially on standing up, with tadalafil and avanafil, and fainting with avanafil. Heavy drinking is risky in itself: the NHS warns that binge drinking raises the risk of accidents resulting in injury, and in some cases death. These tablets can affect your ability to drive or use machines. If you feel dizzy or your vision is blurred after taking sildenafil, the NHS says not to drive, ride a bike or use machinery until these symptoms have gone.

Sex also puts some strain on the heart, which is why the Viagra product information says heart health should be considered before any erectile dysfunction treatment (SmPC, section 4.4). More on the heart is in Viagra side effects.

Whatever you have drunk: Stop and call 999 if you get chest pain, dizziness or fainting during or after sexual activity. Do not take another dose. The Viagra leaflet adds that if chest pain happens during or after sex, you should get into a semi-sitting position, try to relax, and not use nitrates to treat the pain.

These tablets are not suitable for everyone. Not suitable if you take:

• Nitrates in any form, including nicorandil or amyl nitrite (poppers)
• Riociguat (Adempas) or vericiguat (Verquvo)
• An HIV protease inhibitor (atazanavir, darunavir, ritonavir, fosamprenavir, lopinavir, saquinavir or tipranavir)
• Ketoconazole, itraconazole, voriconazole or clarithromycin
• Or have severe cardiovascular disease

Can you take Viagra with poppers or recreational drugs?

No: never take poppers (amyl nitrite) with Viagra or any other erectile dysfunction tablet, because the combination may lead to a dangerous fall in your blood pressure (Viagra leaflet, section 2). The UK product information for sildenafil, vardenafil and avanafil names amyl nitrite among the nitric oxide donors that must not be taken with them (SmPC, section 4.3), and the Cialis leaflet does the same for tadalafil. The same goes for nitrate medicines, such as GTN spray, isosorbide mononitrate and isosorbide dinitrate, often used for chest pain, and nicorandil, which has a nitrate component.

The reason is the chemical signal the tablets act on: nitric oxide raises cGMP, which relaxes the blood vessels, and the tablets, which are PDE5 inhibitors, slow the breakdown of cGMP (Viagra SmPC, section 5.1). Poppers and nitrates act on the same pathway, and the tablets can make their blood pressure lowering effect greater (SmPC, sections 4.3 and 4.5):

Our consultation does not supply any of these tablets to anyone using: Nitrates in any form, including nicorandil or amyl nitrite (poppers). If you ever need emergency treatment for chest pain, tell the doctor or paramedic which of these tablets you take and when you last took it. Tadalafil's product information says that at least 48 hours should pass after the last dose of tadalafil before a nitrate is considered, even in an emergency.

Recreational drugs are a risk too. The NHS says taking sildenafil or tadalafil with poppers or illegal drugs, such as amphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine, can increase the risk of serious side effects. The UK product information for Cialis Together, a tadalafil tablet, warns that taking PDE5 inhibitors with recreational drugs, including nitrous oxide, GHB or GBL, methamphetamine, MDMA (ecstasy), ketamine, cannabis, opioids and cocaine, may lead to dizziness, a fall in blood pressure, stroke or heart attack, fits, a prolonged erection (priapism) or coma (SmPC, section 4.4). Do not mix them.

Can you drink alcohol with Viagra Connect or Cialis Together?

Yes, within limits: the leaflets for Viagra Connect (sildenafil 50mg) and Cialis Together (tadalafil 10mg) both say that drinking excessive alcohol can temporarily reduce your ability to get an erection, and advise not drinking large amounts of alcohol before sex (section 2 of each, and SmPC section 4.4). Both also say not to take them if you use amyl nitrite (poppers) as a recreational drug, as the combination may lead to a dangerous fall in blood pressure.

Both are pharmacy medicines, which we supply after a pharmacist consultation to men aged 18 to 64 with erection problems. Less common side effects are listed in the leaflet in your pack. Please read it before your first dose. For how Viagra Connect differs from prescription sildenafil, see Viagra Connect vs prescription sildenafil; for how the prescription tablets differ, sildenafil vs tadalafil; or see all our erectile dysfunction treatments.