Yes – Levitra can work for milder cases of performance anxiety.
A lot of men struggle to get and maintain an erection. Nearly one in four men has experienced sexual performance anxiety. One option that can help is Levitra.
In this article, we’ll talk about how Levitra works, why it can be helpful for milder forms of sexual performance anxiety, and why you should still consider other options for performance anxiety.
How does Levitra work?
Levitra works well for erectile dysfunction (ED). It’s part of the phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors (PDE5 inhibitors) that increase blood flow to the penis via nitric oxide, a chemical that opens up the blood vessels to the penis. Since erections happen when the penis is full of blood and gets “hard,” PDE5 inhibitors are great at helping men with poor blood flow have better erections.
Levitra can take up to an hour to start working and lasts for about four or five hours. It’s a good option for a man who is confident about when he will have sex and wants to be prepared. Since it shouldn’t be taken with food, men will need to plan accordingly.
There are other PDE5 inhibitors medicines that start working faster and last longer and may be better for men who want to be more spontaneous when having sex.
When does Levitra not work for performance anxiety?
Although Levitra increases penis blood flow, the man first needs to be aroused to have an erection. If the anxiety is too severe that it blocks arousal, then Levitra would not work.
Arousal happens when a man can focus on having sex – being in tune with his partner and focusing on pleasurable sensations. If his anxious and distracting thoughts keep getting in the way of being aroused, then Levitra and other ED medicines will not be enough to have or maintain an erection.
Even when Levitra works for men with sexual performance anxiety, it does not cure the underlying anxiety that gets in the way of the man enjoying sex. Levitra can help boost confidence since it makes it more likely that a man will get hard when he is aroused. Still, many men may need to dig deeper to uncover why they are having anxious and negative thoughts about sex.
How can you overcome performance anxiety if Levitra doesn’t work?
Since Levitra doesn’t treat the anxiety around sex, it may not help if the distracting and worrying thoughts are blocking arousal. Rather, these men will need to break the cycle of performance anxiety by addressing their distracting thoughts and worries directly.
One promising treatment for sexual performance anxiety is mindfulness meditation. With mindfulness, men focus on the present moment so that anxiety and worry – which are focused on the future – cannot distract them from pleasurable sex.
Like any skill, mindfulness can be taught. A small study enrolled men in a mindfulness treatment that incorporated home-based practice and sex therapy over four weeks. Six months later, men continued to enjoy sex more and had less judgmental thoughts about sex.
Summary
Levitra is a great tool for improving blood flow to the penis, but it can’t fix the underlying issues of performance anxiety. While some men may get a confidence boost and have more erections on Levitra, many men may need to get to the root of their anxious thoughts to truly break free from performance anxiety.
