Stop rushing. Start lasting.

There are published numbers for this, so here they are rather than a vague reassurance.

Across the dapoxetine phase 3 trials, average time to ejaculation started at 0.9 minutes. After twelve weeks it was 3.6 minutes on the 60 mg dose, 3.1 minutes on 30 mg, and 1.9 minutes on placebo.

For the lidocaine/prilocaine spray, the two main studies recorded averages of 2.6 minutes and 3.8 minutes against 0.8 and 1.1 minutes on placebo.

Note how much the placebo groups improved too — a reminder that expectation plays a real part here. And “longer” is not automatically the goal: for most couples the thing that genuinely improves is the anxiety surrounding it.

Faster than most treatments — this is not something you build up over weeks. Dapoxetine is taken one to three hours before sex and works that same occasion. A topical spray goes on about five minutes beforehand.

So you will know quite quickly whether it suits you. Which also means it is worth trying on more than one occasion before deciding, since a single attempt tells you as much about the evening as the treatment.

It should not — these treatments act on ejaculation, not erection.

There is one caveat with a topical spray: too much of it, or leaving it on too long, can dull sensation more than you want and occasionally make an erection harder to maintain. Washing off the excess before sex is part of the instructions for a reason, and it is the step people skip.

Often, yes — and it is far more common than people assume. The two frequently coexist, and sometimes premature ejaculation is downstream of worrying about losing an erection rather than a separate problem.

Whether they can be treated together depends on the specific combination and your health, so raise it in your assessment rather than ordering both separately and hoping they get along.

That the medicine is licensed for a different condition, but there’s enough evidence for a clinician to prescribe it for this one. It’s normal, legal and common in medicine, and your clinician should tell you when they’re doing it, and why.

Every case is read by a registered clinician. They can and do say no when treatment isn’t appropriate, that’s the point of having a clinician rather than a checkout button.

Then you’re not charged: the hold on your card is released. The clinician might suggest a different option, ask for more information, or refer you back to your GP. We’d rather lose a sale than push the wrong treatment.