{"id":1028,"date":"2026-08-09T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/pde5-inhibitors-compared\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T09:00:00","slug":"pde5-inhibitors-compared","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/pde5-inhibitors-compared\/","title":{"rendered":"Sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil and avanafil: key differences"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil and avanafil are phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors, usually shortened to PDE5 inhibitors. They are used for erectile dysfunction but differ in onset, duration and the way food or other medicines may influence them.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>What they share:<\/strong> they support the erectile response by improving blood flow, but do not automatically create desire or an erection. Sexual stimulation is still required.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2>A simple comparison<\/h2>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Actief ingredi\u00ebnt<\/th>\n<th>Distinctive feature<\/th>\n<th>Effect of food<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Sildenafil<\/td>\n<td>Well-known option generally taken in advance<\/td>\n<td>A large meal may delay onset<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Tadalafil<\/td>\n<td>Longer window of action and prescribed daily options<\/td>\n<td>Usually less affected by food<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Vardenafil<\/td>\n<td>Profile similar to sildenafil, with different formulations available<\/td>\n<td>High-fat meals may delay onset<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Avanafil<\/td>\n<td>Designed for a relatively rapid onset<\/td>\n<td>Food may delay the effect<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Timings in patient leaflets are guides rather than guarantees. Individual response, food, alcohol, health conditions and other medicines can change the result. \u201cFaster\u201d or \u201clonger\u201d does not automatically mean \u201cbetter\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2>How an appropriate option is chosen<\/h2>\n<p>The decision may consider frequency of sexual activity, desired spontaneity, previous side effects, other medicines and cardiovascular, kidney or liver conditions. A previous response can help guide a clinician, but does not make self-directed switching safe.<\/p>\n<h2>Shared precautions<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Do not combine two erectile dysfunction medicines.<\/li>\n<li>Do not use them with nitrates for angina or with riociguat.<\/li>\n<li>Mention treatment for blood pressure, prostate symptoms, HIV or fungal infections.<\/li>\n<li>Seek medical advice if sexual activity has been discouraged for heart-related reasons.<\/li>\n<li>Do not change the dose or frequency without professional guidance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Possible side effects<\/h2>\n<p>Headache, flushing, indigestion and nasal congestion are common across the class. Tadalafil may also cause back or muscle pain. Sudden vision or hearing symptoms and a prolonged painful erection require medical attention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"vs-blog-context-links\"><strong>Related guides:<\/strong> <a href=\"\/nl\/how-sildenafil-works\/\">sildenafil explained<\/a> and <a href=\"\/nl\/tadalafil-duration-and-precautions\/\">tadalafil duration and precautions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group vs-article-sources\">\n<h2>Sources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ema.europa.eu\/en\/medicines\/human\/EPAR\/cialis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EMA \u2013 Cialis<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ema.europa.eu\/en\/medicines\/human\/EPAR\/levitra\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EMA \u2013 Levitra<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ema.europa.eu\/en\/documents\/overview\/spedra-epar-summary-public_en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EMA \u2013 Spedra<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ema.europa.eu\/en\/documents\/overview\/viagra-epar-summary-public_en.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">EMA \u2013 Viagra<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>These medicines belong to the same family but are not identical. Compare timing, duration, food effects and important precautions.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[37,36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-principi-attivi","category-erezione"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"trp-custom-language-flag":false,"woocommerce_thumbnail":false,"woocommerce_single":false,"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/author\/admin\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"These medicines belong to the same family but are not identical. Compare timing, duration, food effects and important precautions.","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1028\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vitalixeurope.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}