Priligy is dapoxetine, and it is the only medicine on this site designed for premature ejaculation rather than erections. It is a short-acting SSRI — the same family as some antidepressants — developed specifically to be taken before sex rather than every day, and it works by delaying the ejaculatory reflex.
What it does, in plain terms
Ejaculation is a reflex, and serotonin is one of the signals that regulates its timing. Dapoxetine raises serotonin activity briefly, which lengthens the delay. Trials consistently show it increases the time to ejaculation by a meaningful multiple, and it is the effect most men notice within the first few doses.
Two things it is not. It is not an erection medicine — if getting or keeping an erection is the problem, dapoxetine will not address it. And it is not a cure: it works on the occasions you take it, and the underlying pattern returns when you stop.
The strengths here, and 90 mg
| Strength | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 30 mg | The licensed starting dose | Where everyone should begin |
| 60 mg | The licensed maximum | The step up if 30 mg was given a fair trial |
| 90 mg | Above the licensed maximum | No approved product information; nausea, dizziness and fainting risk rise |
The 90 mg pack deserves a plain warning rather than a sales note. Dapoxetine's most troublesome effects — nausea, dizziness, and fainting on standing — are strongly dose-related, and the dose-response for benefit flattens above 60 mg. Going higher mostly buys a worse evening.
Where this sits in Australia
Dapoxetine is a Schedule 4 (prescription-only) medicine in Australia. The packs sold here are sourced from overseas rather than from an Australian pharmacy, so no Australian product information accompanies them.
One interaction matters more than any other and is genuinely dangerous: dapoxetine must not be combined with other serotonergic drugs — SSRIs and SNRIs, MAO inhibitors, lithium, tramadol, triptans for migraine, or St John's wort. Together they can cause serotonin syndrome. If you take an antidepressant of any kind, this medicine is not one to start without a doctor.
How to take it
One tablet with a full glass of water, one to three hours before sex, and no more than one dose in 24 hours. Water is not optional here — dehydration makes the dizziness and fainting risk noticeably worse.
- Start at 30 mg, even if you expect to need more.
- Avoid alcohol. Both dapoxetine and alcohol lower blood pressure and impair balance; together they are the usual cause of the faints reported with this drug.
- Stand up slowly after taking it, particularly the first few times.
- Stop and seek advice if you feel faint rather than pushing through it.
Side effects
Nausea is the most common by some distance, followed by dizziness, headache and diarrhoea. Most are dose-related and settle with use. The one to take seriously is syncope — fainting, usually shortly after a dose and often on standing. It is uncommon at 30 mg, more likely at 60 mg, and more likely again with alcohol or on an empty stomach.
Because dapoxetine is an SSRI, it should be avoided if you have a history of mania, severe depression or significant heart disease. Anyone taking it who notices worsening mood or new suicidal thoughts should stop and seek medical advice promptly — that is a class effect of SSRIs, and it applies here even at brief exposure.
Combinations and alternatives
If premature ejaculation and erectile difficulty occur together — which is common, and often one drives the other — the combination products pair dapoxetine with an ED molecule: Viagra with Priligy, Cialis with Priligy, Levitra with Priligy, and Tadapox or P-Force Fort as single tablets. Which problem to treat first is the subject of PE and ED together, and how this molecule works is covered in how dapoxetine works. The full range is on premature ejaculation medications.
What a realistic result looks like
Men often arrive expecting either a cure or nothing, and the truth sits between. In trials, dapoxetine typically increases time to ejaculation by around three-fold from a low baseline — meaningful, but not transformative, and starting from wherever you actually start.
Two practical consequences. First, judge it over several occasions rather than one, because anxiety about the first attempt distorts the result. Second, if the change matters to you but the nausea is the price, 30 mg with food and no alcohol is a better experiment than abandoning the drug.
What tablets do not fix
Premature ejaculation responds to more than medication, and the non-drug approaches are not folklore — behavioural techniques such as stop-start and the squeeze method have a genuine evidence base, and they build something that persists when a tablet does not. Where anxiety is a driver, treating the anxiety usually does more than delaying the reflex.
A tablet an hour before sex and a technique practised over months are not competitors. Used together they tend to work better than either alone, which is worth knowing before you settle for managing the symptom indefinitely.
Sources
- TGA — Therapeutic Goods Administration: the Poisons Standard and the register of approved medicines
- Healthdirect — Premature ejaculation
