Which premature ejaculation pills work? Ranked by status in Australia
The tablet approved for premature ejaculation in Australia is dapoxetine (Priligy), and it needs a prescription. The International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) recommends two kinds of medicine for premature ejaculation: numbing (local anaesthetic) products applied to the penis, and tablets that act on serotonin, such as dapoxetine and some antidepressants (ISSM patient information). The table ranks every option by its status here, from approved for premature ejaculation down to not approved at all.
| # | Treatment | Status in Australia | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dapoxetine (Priligy) | On the ARTG for premature ejaculation (Priligy, ARTG 147946); prescription-only (TGA); not listed on the PBS | A short-acting SSRI taken only when needed, before sex (RACGP). In trials it delayed ejaculation more than a placebo, though the gain was modest. Not with other antidepressants or tramadol; fainting has been reported, and caution is advised with nitrates, alpha-blockers and ED medicines (Australian Prescriber). We do not sell it. |
| 2 | Numbing spray or cream (local anaesthetic, such as lignocaine) | Spray: sold in pharmacies without a prescription (healthdirect). Lignocaine–prilocaine cream: prescribed off-label (RACGP) | Applied to the head of the penis before sex to dull sensation. It can rub off and numb your partner; a condom helps avoid that. |
| 3 | SSRI antidepressants — paroxetine, sertraline, fluoxetine, citalopram — and clomipramine | Prescribed off-label: not licensed for premature ejaculation (RACGP) | Usually taken every day. Side effects can include sexual problems (healthdirect) — see can sertraline cause lasting erection problems? Never start one without a doctor's assessment, and don't stop one suddenly. |
| 4 | Tramadol | A prescription-only opioid painkiller (healthdirect); for premature ejaculation, considered only when other treatment has failed (RACGP) | Dependence warning: you can become dependent on it "even if you take it exactly as prescribed and for a short time only" (healthdirect). Not with SSRI or tricyclic antidepressants, or with dapoxetine: the risk is serotonin toxicity (RACGP; Australian Prescriber). |
| 5 | ED medicines (PDE5 inhibitors) — sildenafil (Viagra), tadalafil (Cialis) | Prescription-only, for erectile dysfunction (healthdirect); not an established treatment for premature ejaculation on their own (RACGP) | Help only when erection problems come with premature ejaculation: then the erection is treated first (ISSM). Never with nitrates. More in can Viagra treat premature ejaculation? |
| 6 | "Delay" and sexual enhancement pills sold as supplements | Not approved: the products the TGA tested in 2026 were not on the ARTG and had not been assessed for quality, safety or efficacy (TGA) | TGA testing found undeclared sildenafil, tadalafil and dapoxetine in products sold as natural formulas; one contained sildenafil and dapoxetine together. An unknown dose, with no warning on the label. |
Dapoxetine is not on our product list, and we do not sell it. The route to it is a doctor's assessment and a prescription. The ISSM's advice covers every medicine in the table: a doctor should prescribe it, and only after a medical assessment. Which option suits you depends on the cause (healthdirect), and medicine can be combined with the techniques and counselling below (ISSM).
What counts as premature ejaculation?
Coming early now and then is not premature ejaculation. The ISSM definition joins three things. First, timing: ejaculation always or nearly always within about one minute of vaginal penetration, ever since your first sexual experience (lifelong premature ejaculation), or a clear drop in that time, often to about 3 minutes or less, after a period of normal ejaculation (acquired premature ejaculation). Second, being unable to delay ejaculation on all or nearly all occasions. Third, the toll: distress, bother, frustration or avoiding sexual intimacy (ISSM).
Premature ejaculation that happens only sometimes is usually nothing to worry about. Lifelong premature ejaculation may be due to genetic causes or abnormal hormone levels. When it starts later in life, it is usually due to another problem — performance anxiety, stress, erectile dysfunction, or psychological or relationship problems (healthdirect). That is why the cause comes before the pill.
Does Viagra make you last longer?
Not if early ejaculation is your only problem: on its own, an ED medicine such as sildenafil does not lengthen the time to ejaculation and is not an established treatment for premature ejaculation (RACGP). When erection problems come with it, treating the erection first is the guideline approach, and that might solve the ejaculation problem too (ISSM; Healthy Male). The full answer is in does Viagra make you last longer in bed?
The questions around it have their own pages: does sildenafil make sex last longer?, can Viagra keep you hard after you come? and can Cialis affect ejaculation? When erection problems and early ejaculation come together, the options are compared in treating premature ejaculation and erectile dysfunction together; whether dapoxetine can be combined with sildenafil is in dapoxetine with sildenafil for daily use.
How do I stop coming so fast? Techniques that help
The stop-start and squeeze techniques work for some men, and they cost nothing (Healthy Male). Used alone they are of little benefit, according to a review for Australian GPs (RACGP); treatment can combine them with medicine (ISSM).
- Stop-start. Stop sexual activity before you ejaculate, and start again when the urge has passed (ISSM).
- Squeeze. When the urge to ejaculate comes, your partner squeezes the penis where the head meets the shaft until the urge goes away (ISSM).
- Before and during sex. Using a condom to reduce sensation, taking a deep breath, trying positions you find less arousing, and taking a break to think of something non-sexual (healthdirect). Masturbating an hour or two before sex is also suggested, though there is a lack of data to support it (RACGP).
- Pelvic floor exercises. Exercise that strengthens the pelvic floor (Kegel exercises) may improve control (healthdirect).
- Counselling or sex therapy. A psychologist or sex therapist can help find the underlying issues and deal with anxiety; couples therapy can help in a long-term relationship (healthdirect).
Herbal "cures" are a different matter: the review for Australian GPs does not recommend complementary and alternative medicine for premature ejaculation (RACGP). For erections, the natural options are ranked in natural alternatives to Viagra, by evidence.
When should you see a GP?
See your GP if premature ejaculation bothers you or your partner, and always if it is new. Your doctor can work out the cause and offer treatment options (healthdirect). When it starts after a time of normal ejaculation, the ISSM asks doctors to examine for linked problems such as erectile dysfunction, thyroid disease and prostatitis (ISSM).
You can bring your partner to the appointment (healthdirect): treatment affects both of you, and both should be involved in choosing it (ISSM). In complex cases a GP can involve a urologist, a sexual health physician or a sex therapist (RACGP). If erections are part of the problem, our guide to erectile dysfunction covers the causes and treatments.
What else is Viagra used for?
One other approved use, and several claims that are research findings only. Sildenafil, the medicine in Viagra, is approved for erectile dysfunction and, as Revatio 20 mg tablets, for pulmonary arterial hypertension — high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs (EMA). Revatio is on the ARTG (TGA). That use is explained in what is sildenafil 20 mg used for?, and the wider list in what are the other medical uses of Viagra? Everything below is outside its approved uses.
- Can Viagra raise testosterone in men with low levels? In one study of men with ED and low testosterone, levels rose after sildenafil, but the study had no comparison group (Spitzer et al.).
- Does Viagra affect brain function? Large health-record studies have linked sildenafil use with a lower rate of Alzheimer's disease (Fang et al.; Adesuyan et al.). Such studies cannot show cause and effect; their authors call for randomised trials.
- Does Viagra enhance athletic performance? In a small trial in trained men, it made no difference to cycling at sea level; in low-oxygen air, as at high altitude, it improved time-trial performance in some riders and not others (Hsu et al.).
- Can Viagra help with weight loss? The "brown fat" finding comes from a study in mice, not people (Mitschke et al.).
- Can Viagra shorten the refractory period? In a trial in young men without erection problems, one tablet shortened the recovery time before the next erection in some men but did not improve their erections, and the authors advised against recreational use (Mondaini et al.). More in can Viagra be used without erectile dysfunction?
When erections are part of the problem
That is the one case in which an ED medicine can help you last longer: the erection is treated first. Kamagra is sildenafil, sold here as tablets and oral jelly with live prices on its page; it is for erectile dysfunction, not premature ejaculation, and it is not on the ARTG — that page explains what this means before you order. Generic sildenafil and tadalafil are on our product list. We do not sell dapoxetine. This guide has its own coupon code: LASTLONGER10. If you take any heart or blood-pressure medicine, talk to your GP before your first dose.
Sources
- International Society for Sexual Medicine (ISSM) — Quick Reference Guide to PE (January 2015): the definition; ISSM — Patient Information Sheet on Premature Ejaculation (January 2015); ISSM — What is premature ejaculation? (29 December 2021)
- healthdirect — Premature ejaculation (last reviewed December 2025); healthdirect — Tramadol (April 2025); healthdirect — Antidepressant medicines (April 2025); healthdirect — Erectile dysfunction medicines (February 2025)
- Healthy Male — Premature ejaculation
- Chung et al. — Premature ejaculation: a clinical review for the general physician, Australian Family Physician (RACGP) 2015;44(10)
- Australian Prescriber — Dapoxetine for premature ejaculation (2013)
- TGA — ARTG 147946, Priligy dapoxetine 30 mg; TGA — NSW individual fined for alleged offences relating to unapproved erectile dysfunction medicines (20 February 2024); TGA — Sexual enhancement supplements found to contain undeclared prescription medicines (29 June 2026)
- PBS — medicine search for dapoxetine (no listing, 25 September 2026)
- EMA — Revatio (sildenafil); TGA — ARTG entries for Revatio
- Studies: testosterone — Spitzer et al., Andrology 2013; Alzheimer's — Fang et al., Nat Aging 2021 and Adesuyan et al., Neurology 2024; exercise at altitude — Hsu et al., J Appl Physiol 2006; brown fat in mice — Mitschke et al., FASEB J 2013; refractory time — Mondaini et al., Int J Impot Res 2003
