The randy Brits fuelling UK’s sex drug black market as users reveal horror side effects of super-strong Viagra knock-off
GETTING ready for a big night out on the town meant one thing for Rich Mac – digging out a sachet of a super-strength sex drug in the hope of striking it lucky.
It was a risky move considering the liquid, an illegal Viagra-like jelly, presents such a great risk to users it’s been dubbed the ‘widow-maker’.
Each sachet of Kamagra is double to four times the strength of the ‘little blue pill’ and for those with underlying health conditions and heart problems it could be fatal.
The 34-year-old, who used Kamagra up to four times a week, was aware of the dangers, but – like a growing number of young Brits – was willing to take the risk if it gained him an edge over his love rivals.
The drug recently came back under the spotlight after it was reportedly removed from the Thai hotel room where legendary cricketer Shane Warne died three years ago.
A senior police officer in Koh Samui claimed he was instructed to remove a bottle of Kamagra, as well as two other sex drugs, after the fast-bowler suffered a fatal heart attack aged 52.
It’s led to claims of a ‘cover-up’ by police and renewed concerns about the super-strong Viagra knock-off – especially for someone like Shane who suffered congenital heart weakness.
Pharmacist prescriber Amir Morowati tells us people with heart conditions should “absolutely” stay clear of it because they have “a greater risk” of cardiac arrest.
Kamagra, which is made primarily in India but is available in other countries, is illegal in the UK, but has become a rising trend on the party scene with randy young Brits.
This could be due to it being sold for as little as 44p a dose, being stronger than Viagra and working “in literally a minute” compared to up to an hour for licenced drugs.
The Sun has learned Kamagra is being sold at corner shops, petrol stations and gyms across the country despite the potentially deadly consequences for users.
And worryingly, those we spoke to reported deeply concerning side effects including “heart attack-like” chest pains and losing sensation in their hands.
One individual had abused Kamagra so much that the drinkable jelly no longer works and has now resorted to injecting his penis with an even more potent drug combination.
Others said they had learned to live symptoms like palpitations, dismissing them as short-lasting and fearing they would never get frisky again without the drug.
Pharmacist Amir told us: “Those using Kamagra are playing with their lives and sellers are risking the lives of others. It’s a very dangerous game to play.”
Unfortunately, the plea seems to be falling on deaf ears to many young partygoers.
As a former user, Rich – who is known ‘The Irish Bull’ online – explains: “If there’s a girl you like, you want to impress them. So you use one of the sachets, do what you want to do with them and then just let the women talk about how great you were in bed.
“I’m sure everyone’s taking them, they are very common. I can think of five shops that sell them off the top of my head – normally they are £5 each but bodybuilders sell seven for £20.”
Meanwhile another ex-user, Robert ‘Big Rob’ Makin, 31, tells us: “You may feel really sick, get really bad headaches and get hot flushes that make it look like you’re really sunburnt.
“I also started getting heart palpitations, which made me think, ‘S***, maybe I’m doing too much, I need to stop now’.
“It thins your blood so you’ve got to watch your old ticker, especially if you’re doing a lot of cardio after, you don’t want to overdo it and have a heart attack.”
Rob, from Staffordshire, tells us he once had to sit down mid-romp to drink water because he was so flushed and overheated after using Kamagra.
And Jack Potter, 39, from Tamworth, West Mids, tells us “you can get them everywhere”, including gyms, petrol stations and any corner shop that “sells dodgy cigarettes behind the counter”.
He used them three times a week and admitted they had a big benefit for his sex life, but conceded sometimes they work “a little too well”.
“Once I was rock hard for nine hours,” Jack tells us. “I was scared because that’s a long time and I was worried it was going to turn purple.
“I took them when I’m with my missus because they make you a lot bigger and last longer as well. She can tell the difference when I’ve taken it.”
But more recently, Jack started to get a little concerned after developing worrying symptoms.
“I got pins and needles in my hands, then I lost feeling in my hand that lasted a few days,” he tells us.
“Sometimes I get bad chest pains around an hour after taking it. Once they were really bad and lasted for four or five minutes, to be honest, it was a bit like having a heart attack.
“Everyone only ever talks about the benefits but never about the side effects.”
How does Viagra work?
SIDENAFIL – the main ingredient in Viagra – belongs to a group of medicines called phosphodiesterase 5 (PDE5) inhibitors.
It works if you have erection problems by temporarily increasing blood flow to your penis when you get sexually excited.
It also works in pulmonary hypertension by relaxing blood vessels in your chest.
This increases the blood supply to your lungs and reduces the workload of your heart.
Men over 18 can take the pills for ED and most adults and children aged over one can take sildenafil for pulmonary hypertension.
Sildenafil is not suitable for some people.
To make sure it’s safe for you, speak to your doctor or pharmacist before taking sildenafil if you:
- Have ever had an allergic reaction to sildenafil or any other medicine
- Are taking medicines called nitrates for chest pain (angina)
- Have a serious heart or liver problem
- Have recently had a stroke, heart attack or a heart problem – your doctor should carefully check whether your heart can take the additional strain of having sex
- Have low blood pressure (hypotension)
- Have a rare inherited eye disease, such as retinitis pigmentosa
- Have sickle cell anaemia (an abnormality of red blood cells), leukaemia (cancer of blood cells) or multiple myeloma (cancer of bone marrow)
- Have a deformity of your penis or Peyronie’s disease (curved penis)
- Have a stomach ulcer
- Have a bleeding problem like haemophilia
Source: NHS
Some users reported other worrying symptoms while talking to The Sun, including one person who asked not to be named.
He has abused Kamagra so often he believes his body has built a resistance to it and says it has “stopped working”.
“It doesn’t work anymore so now I have to inject my penis with a [combination] drug, which makes it hard for hours and hours and hours,” he says.
Another user tells us he had to stop using Kamagra because it made him “very ill, feel terrible and develop red rashes around his eyes” – the latter symptom suggesting an allergic reaction.
When The Sun put the symptoms to TV health expert Thorrun Govind, she told us: “These are all worrying risks, using Kamagra can be very dangerous.
“They shouldn’t be dismissing those symptoms. They need to focus on their health and I encourage them to seek a check-up urgently.”
The booming trend is fuelled by those seeking remedies for erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation and a bland sex life.
Last year alone, 3.5million Brits were prescribed Viagra – roughly 10 per cent of the male population – and a whopping 25.5million pills were dispensed.
The demand has led black market crooks to peddle knock-off versions of Viagra and illegal alternatives, like Kamagra, online and on UK soil as well.
The erection-encouraging gel contains up to 100mg of sildenafil, which is between two and four times stronger than Viagra, but with that come additional risks.
There is also a so-called ‘Super Kamagra’ containing 60mg of dapoxetine, which is used to treat premature ejaculation.
Pharmacist Amir tells us a higher dosage of sildenafil is dangerous enough, but due to Kamagra being unregulated, it could contain ‘filler drugs’ too.
“While you could buy a legitimate Kamagra product from a corner shop, you don’t know and you wouldn’t be able to tell if it was or wasn’t, there could be anything in there,” he says.
“There could be something poisonous in it. If your body has a reaction to it it could lead to anaphylaxis. If you’re already taking medication it could negatively affect it too.
“If you have heart problems a higher dosage of sildenafil could present serious problems because you don’t know what strength you are taking due to it not being regulated.”
Wild West for sellers
Despite the risks and illegality, The Sun found plenty of places online openly selling Kamagra.
It is no doubt fuelled by the statistic that one in five British men, roughly 4.3million, struggle with erectile dysfunction.
Scores of pages on social media sell the sachets – many in English, highlighting their target market – and often lure men in with videos of glamorous bikini-clad blondes and brunettes.
It’s a booming trade. In the year to March 2018, £17.6million-worth of fake and unlicenced erectile dysfunction drugs, including Kamagra, were seized by the Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
A further £37.4million’s worth was destroyed in the two years prior and in the five years to 2018, there was a 980 per cent increase in the trade. And it doesn’t seem to have slowed down.
In 2020, a corner shop in Birmingham city centre was refused an alcohol licence after officers discovered unlicensed blue pills and Kamgara jelly behind the till.
Just a year earlier, heavily in debt Lee Tomlinson was jailed for nearly three years for laundering money for a website that raked in £440,000 in two years selling Kamagra.
Also in 2019, Keith Morgan, of Milton Keynes, was jailed after his counterfeit medication operation was detected due to unpaid Royal Mail postage.
The MHRA seized packages containing 20,563 doses of Kamagra gel and an unlicensed medication used to treat hair loss.
While many dismiss the trade as victimless, the government organisation warns selling Kamagra is a “serious criminal offence” that “poses a serious threat to public safety”.
The amount of hospitalisations caused by Kamagra and other fake or unlicensed drugs is not known, mainly because users are too embarrassed to admit what they have taken.
“The problem we have is identifying people who are victims because they don’t say ‘I bought sildenafil on the internet and suddenly got heart palpitations,’” the MHRA said.
Pharmacist Amir explains that due to Kamagra coming in liquid form, it’s more easily absorbed by the body than a tablet, which releases the drug at a slower and more moderate rate.
Alongside the risks from it being considerably stronger, there’s also a chance of a bigger hit from sildenafil that could put the heart under additional strain.
“You could also have some people putting two lots of the jelly on their skin or in their mouth, meaning they will get a double dose too,” he adds.
Amir fears the trade will only continue to grow due to counterfeit medications bringing in billions of pounds for crooks every year.
It’s clear the MHRA has a big task on their hands. In 2023 alone, they shut down 12,000 websites and 3,000 social media pages peddling fake and illegal drugs.
They seized 15.5million doses of these medicines, worth more than £30million, including fake ‘weight loss’ products, Botox and sex meds like Kamagara.
Andy Morling, MHRA Deputy Director, told The Sun: “Patient safety is our top priority, and we work hard to enforce UK law and to disrupt the illegal trade in medicines.
“Our Criminal Enforcement Unit considers each incident on a case-by-case basis, and where necessary, takes robust and proportionate enforcement action.”
For more information on safely purchasing medication online visit here. Anyone who suspects a medicine is fake is encouraged to report it to the Yellow Card scheme website or the MHRA Yellow Card app.