Short version: GENERIC TADALAFIL WORKS WHEN CHEWED/CRUSHED, NOT SWALLOWED WHOLE.
Long version: When I was in my early to mid-40s, a fraction of a 5-mg Cialis tablet (about 1.5 to 2 mg) worked as advertised. I had no trouble maintaining an erection solo and free of pharmaceuticals, but when with a partner, performance anxiety would sometimes cause me to wilt. With Cialis, my performance was beastly. Each pill was pricey, though, at $11-16.
Now that generic tadalafil is available (manufacturer: Alembic), each pill is now about 35-40 cents, but it seemed that even a 5-mg tablet wasn't giving me the results I wanted. 7.5 mg (1.5 tablets) worked better, but not anywhere near as well as brand-name Cialis used to, even at a much lower dose; I chalked up the differential to having aged 7 years since I last tried tadalafil. But when I tried 10 mg of generic tadalafil, I got very poor results. Is there very little active ingredient in this generic version? Or is a higher dose paradoxically providing less effect? After going through one 30-count bottle of generic tadalafil with less than satisfactory results, I experimented further, this time by crushing one 5-mg pill with my teeth, then swallowing the bitter stuff. And that's when the magic happened, just like with brand-name Cialis years ago. This indicates that the generic version contains the active ingredient, but that its carrier substances aren't yielding the drug in sufficient quantities to make the drug bioavailable. This explains why the 7.5-mg dose worked better than the 5-mg and 10-mg doses, since the 7.5-mg dose required me to cut one tablet to expose the tablet's insides, which let more drug reach my circulation and hence my vanguard unit.
With further experimentation, I've chewed a quarter of a 5-mg tablet, i.e., about 1.25 mg, and the results are fabulous. Why take a larger dose at a higher risk of side effects when it's not necessary? Yes, Alembic's rock-hard tablet (metaphorical; it's not that hard, and it won't break your teeth to chew it) guards its active ingredient jealously, but it's in there, waiting to be released through crushing.
Full disclosure: I'm a physician, so I approached this pharmacologic experiment with pharmacokinetics in mind.Read More Read Less