Update #4

This entry in my blog contains some references to sexual activity. If you find this embarrassing, please read no further. Also, patients on nitrates are advised to consult their cardiologist before attempting what you read here.

Valentine's Day came and went and my vital signs stayed pretty much the same as they had the day before. The Isordil has not lowered the blood pressure to anywhere the 90/50 level that I maintained it at from 2004 to 2006. I am somewhat disappointed at the progress but will maintain my dosages at 5/10/15mg at 7 am, 1 pm and 7 pm.

On February 15, I did try something different. Anticipating the opportunity for intimate activities with my significant-other, I decided to forgo the 7 pm dose of Isordil and to take 20mg of Levitra at 8:00 pm instead. Now I realize all the furor that occurred when Viagra was blamed for the heart attacks of some men who took it shortly after approval by the FDA. The warning that this drug could cause low blood pressure and heart attacks was added to Viagra, Cialis and Levitra.

The correlation between these drugs and heart attacks is a very tenuous one as far as I am concerned. In my humble layman's opinion, the fact that they also lower the blood pressure can be taken into consideration by the person on nitrates and these drugs can be adjusted accordingly. As I said above, I did not take my 15mg dose of Isordil at 7 pm and popped a 20mg tablet of Levitra at 8 pm.

I felt no untoward side effects. My blood pressure did drop significantly by 10 pm however. It went from 116/62 with a 68 pulse at 6 pm to 88/46 with a pulse of 72 at 10 pm. It should be noted, the 88/46 is about what I want my BP to register at rest all of the time.

My significant-other and I engaged in intimate sexual activities for approximately an hour and then rested. By 1 am, my blood pressure was 112/56 and the pulse was 68. We then went to sleep, waking at approximately 6 am for another session of intimate activities which lasted about a half hour. There were no negative side effects and I felt absolutely no angina during these two sessions.

Given the drop in blood pressure that followed ingestion of the 20mg of Levitra, perhaps this drug should be used to control blood pressure as well as treat erectile dysfunction. I would be interested in hearing from cardiologists what they think about this Levitra experiment I conducted last night. Also, if you are a patient on nitrates, I would be curious if you have had any experience taking one of these drugs.

I am not suggesting that anyone on nitrates attempt to do what I did last night without first seeking the advice of competent medical authority. I did and received two totally different answers. One physician told me to definitely not do it. The other said, "Go ahead and try it, you never follow my advice anyway."

Again, let me reiterate that I believe the correlation between nitrates and drugs that treat erectile dysfunction has not been properly studied. In my opinion, it is like saying since 50% of the men who had a heart attack ate red meat within 24 hours of their cardiac event that the meat was the cause of their heart attack. I will admit the drop in blood pressure could be troublesome, particularly if the person has never maintained their blood pressure at rest that low.