We go through VigRX Plus ingredient by ingredient, drawing on NIH and Mayo Clinic safety information and the product's own clinical trial, to show which side effects and drug interactions to know about.
The 2012 trial of VigRX Plus enrolled 78 men, and side effects there occurred about as often as with placebo. That doesn't make the product risk-free. Its ingredients bring documented side effects: ginseng can cause insomnia, ginkgo headache and dizziness, and several herbs stomach upset. Interactions are the other worry, particularly with blood thinners, diabetes drugs, and heart or blood pressure medicines. If you take any prescription, or you have a heart, bleeding or blood sugar condition, speak with your doctor before starting. VigRX Plus is not a treatment for erectile dysfunction; see a doctor about persistent symptoms.
The official VigRX Plus site names eight ingredients today: damiana, Asian red ginseng, muira puama, hawthorn berry, catuaba bark, saw palmetto, Ginkgo biloba and Bioperine (a black pepper extract). No doses appear on that page. Directions call for one pill twice a day with meals.
A slightly longer formula went into the 2012 clinical trial. Its composition table gives 11 ingredients in a 720 mg capsule. Those are the eight above plus Tribulus terrestris, Cuscuta chinensis (dodder seed) and Epimedium sagittatum (horny goat weed). Participants took two capsules twice a day, which is twice the dose on today's label.
Before you weigh the side effects below, check the Supplement Facts panel on the bottle in your hands. It shows which herbs you're taking and how much of each. Show that list to your doctor or pharmacist.
The maker's site claims "zero known side effects." Published safety information on the ingredients doesn't read that way. At normal amounts, most of these herbs are generally tolerated. Still, several have documented side effects, and a few raise real interaction concerns.
| Ingredient | Side effects reported | Main caution |
|---|---|---|
| Asian red ginseng (Panax ginseng) | Insomnia (most common), headache, dizziness; rarely rash, liver damage or severe allergic reactions | Can lower blood sugar, interfere with clotting and worsen autoimmune disorders |
| Ginkgo biloba (leaf extract) | Dizziness, stomach upset, headache; rarely irregular heartbeat | Can raise bleeding risk, particularly alongside anticoagulants such as warfarin |
| Hawthorn berry | Dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle pain | May interact with heart medications; see a doctor if you have heart disease |
| Saw palmetto | Mild and infrequent: digestive upset, dizziness, headache | Avoid in pregnancy and breastfeeding |
| Epimedium (horny goat weed) | Dizziness, dry mouth, nosebleed, thirst, vomiting and stomach discomfort; rarely rash or allergic skin reactions | Could affect heart or breathing function; its main active compound seems to act somewhat like estrogen |
| Tribulus terrestris | Mild stomach upset, nausea | Rare case reports of liver and kidney injury, mostly at high doses |
| Bioperine (piperine) | Nothing notable at small doses | Lab studies show it blocks enzymes that clear many prescription drugs |
| Damiana, muira puama, catuaba, Cuscuta | Few human safety data | Evidence is thin, so "no known side effects" mostly means "not well studied" |
Per the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), insomnia is ginseng's most common side effect. It lists severe rash, liver damage and severe allergic reactions as rarer. NCCIH also says ginseng may lower blood sugar, interfere with blood clotting and worsen autoimmune disorders. Sleeping badly since you started VigRX Plus? Suspect ginseng first.
Ginkgo leaf extract is usually well tolerated. Dizziness, digestive symptoms and headache are the common complaints. Bleeding is the larger concern, since NCCIH says ginkgo may increase bleeding risk in people taking anticoagulants such as warfarin. Mayo Clinic adds that it may rarely raise the risk of irregular heartbeats.
Dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and muscle pain are on NCCIH's list. A study of a hawthorn preparation in heart failure patients tied the herb to worse symptoms, with an interaction with their heart drugs as one possible explanation. If you have any heart condition, ask your cardiologist before taking anything that contains hawthorn.
Mayo Clinic names dizziness, dry mouth, nosebleed, thirst and vomiting for horny goat weed, and cautions that it may affect heart or breathing functions. According to the NIH's LiverTox database, it is generally well tolerated apart from rare rash and allergic skin reactions, and its likely active compound has estrogen-like bioactivity. Turning to Tribulus, LiverTox lists mild stomach upset and a few liver and kidney case reports. High doses, it says, should be seen as potentially harmful for people with existing liver disease.
Of saw palmetto, NCCIH says side effects are mild and infrequent. Its PSA readings don't seem to change, which matters for anyone having prostate screening. Bioperine is there to aid absorption. A lab study showed piperine inhibiting CYP3A4 and P-glycoprotein, two systems that handle many medications. VigRX Plus itself hasn't been tested for this. If you take prescription drugs, though, have a pharmacist look over the label.
A 2012 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine is the main published study. It ran for 12 weeks in 78 men aged 25 to 50 with mild to moderate erection problems.
For safety, the authors found that side effects and participants' tolerability ratings were alike in both groups, and judged the product well tolerated. That reassures, but only so far. Small size and short length are limits, and so is the age range of 25 to 50, which excludes older men on multiple medications. The trial could not pick up rarer reactions or drug interactions. Its performance findings are in our article on whether VigRX Plus works, and who conducted and paid for the research comes up in our check on whether VigRX Plus is legit.
Nobody has run an interaction study on the complete VigRX Plus formula. The safest course is to treat each ingredient's known interactions as the product's own.
Avoid it, or get your doctor's okay first, if any of these describe you:
Stop taking it and seek medical help if you develop chest pain, a racing or irregular heartbeat, unusual bleeding or bruising, yellow skin or eyes, or a widespread rash.
It's easy to skip this part, but it may be the most important. Mayo Clinic says erectile dysfunction can be an early warning sign of heart disease, in some men showing up years before other symptoms, because the penis's smaller arteries are the first to show damage. If erection problems keep recurring, talk to a doctor before leaning on any supplement. VigRX Plus is a dietary supplement and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Calling VigRX Plus "side-effect free" would be wrong. In its trial, side effects showed up about as often as with placebo. That suggests healthy men can tolerate it, though the study was small and short. Its ingredients bring documented cautions: ginkgo and ginseng with blood thinners and surgery, ginseng with diabetes drugs, and hawthorn and epimedium with heart and blood pressure medicines. The risk looks low for a healthy man who takes no regular medication and stays at the label dose. Anyone on prescriptions, or with a heart, blood sugar or bleeding problem, should talk to a doctor first. Our VigRX Plus review covers cost, refunds and results in full.