The day Viagra Turned 10

It was hard to believe at first. The morning show TV anchor announced it as I shaved off two days worth of stubble - "Viagra turns 10 today..." I looked in the mirror, noticed the fine lines around my eyes and realized 10 years of my life had just passed by and I didn't even feel it. I thought back to the very day when I first heard the word Viagra. The FDA approved Viagra in March 1998 and I was fresh out of University. I distinctly recall the conversation I had with a mate named Peter Landry. The Daily Mirror ran a story on this new Miracle Impotence drug for men suffering from male impotence (the catch term 'ED' had not yet been devised and Impotence was still referred to as plain IMPOTENCE!).

Viagra was NOT 'hip' back then; the general assumption was that if you needed Viagra you were either hopelessly impotent or just plain old! The little blue pill was every mans' dirty little secret but it worked like magic and word spread fast. From 1999-2000, Pfizer sales reached over half Billion GBP and men around the world warmed up to the idea of taking a pill to keep up the good work.

It fascinates me to think back and see how far we men have come since then. I had had a few bouts of ED in my early University years and I wouldn't have dreamed of discussing it with my GP in 1998, much less my mates! Fast forward to 2009 and I have no problem talking it with my doctor, my mates even the mail man. It's all quite casually and I could say that most of the men I know feel rather comfortable with our sexuality. I think we have sort of come to understand that ALL MEN at one point or another experience moments when Charlie simply doesn't feel like marching and it's ok.

So much has changed since 1998. For example, the politically correct term for IMPOTENCE is now "Erectile Dysfunction" (or ED - a snappy little acronym that serves like some sort of cord word - only everyone knows what it stands for) and these days it's easier to purchase Viagra as well. UK chain store Boots started selling Viagra practically over the counter not too long ago. All a man has to do is walk in, answer a few questions and Voila! 4 pills in your pocket in under one hour.

But Viagra is no longer the drug of choice for most men. New, BETTER, ED treatments have hit the market, such as Cialis. Generic Cialis is a hot online seller, it's cheap and lasts all weekend long! And for those of us who don't fancy chemicals in our system all weekend long, there is generic viagra Kamagra. Kamagra is hottest selling Generic Viagra brand. You won't find it in local UK pharmacies but it can be purchased online, usually without a prescription.

Looking back at all the buzz surrounding Viagra's release in 1998, and later followed by generic Viagra pills like Kamagra and Generic Levitra, I find it amusing how men kept their use of the drug a secret from everyone, including their wives; some women didn't know what hit them when limp lovers suddenly lasted, strong and hard, the whole night long like insatiable, eighteen year olds. Men would use code words for Viagra pills, like 'vitamin-v' or the more obvious the 'little blue pill' (or just the 'blue pill' for men that had a problem using the word 'little'). It was all rather silly, but it just comes to show how daft we men were about our sexuality back then.

Viagra patent holder, Pfizer, had a tremendous first year but other pharmaceutical companies have left the famous pill in the dust. Generic Viagra manufacturers have also managed to cut into Pfizers profit pie. Generic brands such as Generic Levitra and Kamagra have won the trust of millions of men because truth be told, they work just like Viagra but cost significantly less.