Began taking Viagra in 90s. Side effects became too bad. Quit. Said to myself, I'll just see what happens. Turns out, I'm doing fine without the Viagra. I don't know. I think all the years of taking it may have had an effect. Anybody with similar experience?

2 grams of glycine-proprionyl-L-carnitine (GPLC) and 2 grams of acetyl-L-carnitine a day works as good and in most cases better with out side effects, it is also beneficial for the heart. Both are amino acids and can be purchased in health food stores

headaches, mon ami, headaches.

My experience with both Viagra and Cialis has been the same - stuffy nose and headache.  I take care of the stuffy nose with a simple nasal spray (decongestants can reduce the effect of the Viagra) and the headache is not a huge deal.  Frankly - I like Viagra better because it kicks in within an hour and the effects are gone within 6 hours or so.  Both drugs do help me but I don't need them all the time.  

Can't say I understand the biology behind the amino acids - and I have over 10 years of post-graduate education in the medical field.  Chances are its a placebo effect mostly - but if it works that's great.  Many - but not all - ED issues for hobbists are more mental (anxiety kills performance) than physical.   In my case - its definitely mental.  Maybe a few years of Viagra helped you forget about performance and now you simply relax and enjoy the process

No. I think years of taking Viagra re-strengthened the penile blood vessels.

Thanks for pointing this out.  I will look into those.  There are various other natural alternatives, including maca and ginger.  I won't take anything that might produce side effects and I am not sold on maca, but I do take ginger three times a day to increase my testosterone level for weightlifting purposes.  There is at least one study on humans that has shown the benefit of ginger for increasing testosterone.

Viagra (sildenafil) does not "strengthen" blood vessels.  Instead it stimulates release of nitric oxide (NO), a potent vasodliator.  Thus, one must never administer another vasodilator such as ntg (nitroglycerin) at the same time or profound hypotension may occur.  Venous engorgement can also cause congestion of the nasal passages as well as headaches, esp in people prone to migraines.  
---lat

...watermelon (lots of it), seasoned with cayenne/chipotle/ancho pepper and maybe a little salt depending on how naturally sweet it is.  Some say it's better than Viagra.