![\"Playboy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/9a9201551c8a1f75ba45bee0572a3a08ffa05e1a.jpg\")
Camera IconPlayboy founder Hugh Hefner was said to have lost hearing in one ear after heavy Viagra use. Credit: Kristian Dowling\/AP<\/p>\nViagra users have reported going deaf, losing their sight and even drooling after taking the famous little blue pill.<\/p>\n
Others have complained of flashing lights, baldness, swollen tongues, confusion and being unable to drive.<\/p>\n
New figures have revealed that more than 1100 suspected side-effects have been reported to Britain\u2019s medicines watchdog in just five years.<\/p>\n
But there is an important catch.<\/p>\n
The reports do not prove Viagra \u2014 or its generic version sildenafil \u2014 caused the problems.<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency received 1130 reports of suspected adverse reactions linked to the drugs between 2021 and 2026.<\/p>\n
Headaches were the most commonly reported problem, with 90 cases.<\/p>\n
There were also 34 reports of heart problems, including two fatal cardiac arrests.<\/p>\n
Six people reported hearing loss they believed was linked to the drug, while two reports involved leg amputations.<\/p>\n
Blindness, baldness, drooling and flashing lights were also among the extraordinary complaints logged with the regulator.<\/p>\n
Since 2021, there have been 35 deaths reported in connection with Viagra or sildenafil.<\/p>\n
But the MHRA stressed that a report to its yellow card safety scheme does not mean a medicine was definitely responsible for the illness or death.<\/p>\n
The scheme allows patients, doctors and pharmacists to report suspected side-effects so regulators can identify possible concerns.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf a potential new side-effect is identified, the MHRA carefully assess the information,\u201d a spokesman said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf necessary, we will take action to minimise risks.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest figures have also revived questions surrounding one of Viagra\u2019s most unusual reported risks \u2014 sudden hearing loss.<\/p>\n
Camera IconPlayboy founder Hugh Hefner was said to have lost hearing in one ear after heavy Viagra use. Credit: Kristian Dowling\/AP<\/p>\n
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner was said to have lost hearing in one ear after heavy Viagra use.<\/p>\n
Former partners and later his widow Crystal said Hefner was warned that the drug could affect his hearing but was unrepentant, reportedly saying he would rather be deaf and still able to have sex.<\/p>\n
Sudden hearing loss is already listed as a rare reported risk associated with Viagra and other drugs in the same class, known as PDE5 inhibitors.<\/p>\n
Australian medicine information also warns that rare cases of sudden hearing decrease or hearing loss have been reported after the drugs were taken, although other medical conditions and risk factors may also have played a role.<\/p>\n
Sudden vision loss has also been reported in rare cases and is treated as a medical emergency, while more common side-effects include headaches, flushing, indigestion and temporary changes to vision.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Viagra users have reported going deaf, losing their sight and even drooling after taking the famous little blue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,121164,137,4794,1625,44,1836,3792,1346],"class_list":["post-873532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-europe-uk","tag-health","tag-health-fitness","tag-lifestyle","tag-news","tag-public-health","tag-travel","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=873532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}