Viagra in Gijón, and the six-month plan that can make it work better

A few extra kilos since moving here, or since turning fifty, less exercise, louder snoring: plenty of men in Gijón thinking about Viagra will recognise the pattern. Those things are not side issues. Weight, fitness, sleep and testosterone all affect erections, and the evidence on each is better than most people expect.

A tablet prescribed by your GP can help from the first week. What follows is the slower part: what the research shows, a realistic timetable, and how to get the right checks through the public health service in Gijón.

What the trials actually found

Losing weight. In a 2004 randomised trial published in JAMA, Italian researchers followed 110 obese men aged 35 to 55 with erectile dysfunction. Those coached to lose at least 10% of their weight and to move more brought their average BMI down from 36.9 to 31.2 over two years. Seventeen of the 55 regained normal erectile function, against three in the comparison group: roughly one in three, with no tablets involved.

Getting fitter. A 2018 systematic review in Sexual Medicine pulled the exercise studies together and suggested about 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise four times a week, around 160 minutes in total, kept up for six months. The benefit showed in men whose problem was linked to inactivity, obesity, high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome or heart disease.

Sleeping properly. Obstructive sleep apnoea, where breathing stops repeatedly during sleep, is common in men with erection problems. A 2026 meta-analysis put the share of men with sleep apnoea who also had erectile dysfunction at between 59% and 69% in the studies it reviewed, and erections tended to be worse as the apnoea got more severe. Treatment with CPAP, a mask worn at night, was linked to improvement.

A realistic six months

1. Weeks 1 to 2: see your GP. Your médico de familia can prescribe treatment and order a fasting blood test (sugar, cholesterol and, if you have symptoms such as low desire or no morning erections, testosterone taken between 7 and 10 a.m.).
2. Month 1: start moving. Begin below your limit and build up towards 160 minutes a week. If you have a heart condition or get chest pain on exertion, agree the starting pace with your doctor first.
3. Months 1 to 3: deal with sleep. If you snore heavily or your partner notices pauses in your breathing, ask your GP about a sleep study.
4. Month 3: review. If testosterone came back low, the European guidelines advise repeating it on another morning before anything is decided.
5. Month 6: take stock with your GP. Some men find they need a lower dose, or none; others don't, and that is fine too.

Testosterone: tested for the right reasons

Testosterone is worth checking when the symptoms fit: low sex drive, erection problems and fewer morning erections are the most specific, often with tiredness and low mood. The European Association of Urology (EAU) asks for a fasting sample taken between 7 and 10 in the morning, because eating can push the result down, and a repeat test whenever the first is under 12 nmol/L.

Excess weight is the most common reason for low testosterone in adult men, and the first step the EAU recommends is losing it. Diet and exercise raise testosterone only modestly, by about 1 to 2 nmol/L. If a deficiency is confirmed and causing symptoms, testosterone treatment is prescribed and monitored by a doctor, with regular blood checks. Anabolic steroids bought through gyms do the reverse of what they promise: they shut down your own production. This site does not sell testosterone or steroids.

Products that relate to this page

• Cialis Generic: tadalafil, offered at 5, 10 and 20 mg, and unaffected by meals. Skip the 40 mg option: it is twice the licensed maximum dose.
• Viagra Generic: sildenafil tablets from 25 to 100 mg; after a big meal it can take about an hour longer to work.
• Xenical Generic: orlistat 120 mg, a weight-loss medicine, not an ED treatment. Xenical 120 mg is prescription-only in Spain and licensed for a BMI of 30 or more (28 with other risk factors) alongside a reduced-calorie diet; it should be stopped if you haven't lost 5% of your weight after 12 weeks.

You won't find us on a Gijón street: we have no shop here and don't sell from a counter. Parcels travel by post or courier, as set out in the delivery conditions. Nobody here will weigh you, measure your blood pressure or test your testosterone, which is the GP's job.

What people in Gijón ask

Using the public health service in Gijón

Asturias's public health service is SESPA (astursalud.es). As a resident covered by Spanish Social Security, as a pensioner or as an EU citizen with an S1, you are entitled to a health card and a GP at the centro de salud for your address; ask there how to register. An EHIC is for temporary stays only. Going private is also an option: Spanish pharmacies fill prescriptions from privately practising doctors in Spain just as they do public ones. Without a prescription from one or the other, no pharmacy in Gijón can sell you sildenafil.

Your GP handles prescriptions, blood tests and referrals to sleep studies or specialists. The city's public hospital, the Hospital Universitario de Cabueñes, has a urology department for the cases that need one, but you reach it through your GP, not by booking yourself.

Budget for the full cost of treatment: according to BIFIMED, the Spanish reimbursement register, sildenafil, tadalafil, vardenafil and avanafil are all left out of public funding. After hours, the national pharmacists' council links to the Asturian college's duty-pharmacy finder from its Asturias page, in Spanish; look for “farmacia de guardia”.

Other cities: smoking and blood vessels in Zaragoza, heart conditions and nitrates in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, preparing for a GP visit in Vigo.

Sources: Esposito K et al., JAMA 2004;291:2978-84; Gerbild H et al., Sexual Medicine 2018;6:75-89; Pang KH, Tong KS, Muneer A, Alnajjar HM, International Journal of Impotence Research 2026, doi:10.1038/s41443-026-01315-7; European Association of Urology guidelines on erectile dysfunction and hypogonadism; Spanish product information for Xenical, Viagra and Cialis in CIMA (AEMPS); BIFIMED funding database, Ministry of Health; Consejo General de Colegios Farmacéuticos. This page is for information and does not replace a consultation. In Spain, prescription-only medicines may not be sold online, and customs can hold a parcel that contains them. We do not check prescriptions: talk to your doctor before you order.