| Happiness is a little
blue pill
March 31, 2004
Don Donohue is the hap piest guy in town.
"I'm telling you, life is really great.
Really, really good," says the 62-year-old
Calgary entrepreneur.
"It's probably the best I've felt about
myself in so many years. And it's just because,
yes, I can have an intimate moment with my fiancee."
Donohue is Canada's new poster guy for Viagra.
He -- along with Toronto paralympian Jeff Adams,
34, and Montreal retiree Rejean Brunet, 61 --
is part of the "I Did It My Way" print
ad campaign that launches today to celebrate
the little blue pill's fifth anniversary in
Canada.
Donohue can't reveal how much he's getting
paid for appearing in the ads, but says, "I
probably would have done it even if I hadn't
been paid."
Viagra is the popular treatment for erectile
dysfunction, a condition that affects one
in 10 men and nearly half of men aged 40 to
70.
It has many causes, including prostate cancer,
heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure.
"Stress and what have you in life takes
its toll and unfortunately for men this is what
happens," Donohue says.
Treatments include penile implants, vacuum
erection devices and, less frightening, drug
therapy with Levitra, Cialis or Viagra,
which work by increasing the flow of blood to
the penis.
Since Viagra (sildenafil citrate) was introduced
in Canada in 1999, about four million prescriptions
have been filled, according to its manufacturer,
Pfizer.
Donohue says he'd had "problems"
for a while, but was happily married to a woman
he calls "a sweetheart, just a doll"
and put off dealing with it.
Then she died and, after 36 years, he was suddenly
facing the harsh realities of the singles scene.
"I tell you, it ripped the heart out of
me," he says. "I felt so demoralized
and my male ego was all shot to hell. It just
destroys your confidence."
He started dating a woman named Joanne Scott
and, sure enough, the same problems arose.
"It just made me feel so damn useless
and (wondering) is this all life is about now?"
he says. "It's not so much the sex, it's
the intimacy you have with a woman."
With Scott's encouragement, he saw his doctor,
who prescribed Viagra.
"It really has transformed me to a different
person," he says delightedly. "Right
now, after using Viagra, loving Joanne the way
I should, I have more confidence, I have more
zest for life."
He laughs. "It's just a beautiful, little
drug that makes life really comfortable and
worth living again."
Donohue, who runs a door and window manufacturing
company called Solar-Wood Window Products Ltd.,
says he's an average guy. So he figures there
are plenty of other guys just like him out there
-- guys too ashamed to talk about an issue that's
so personal. For them, he has one piece of advice.
"Go talk to the doc," he says. "Don't
hesitate. Don't be embarrassed."
Donohue and Scott are now engaged and they're
pretty happy. In fact, Scott is so happy, she
doesn't even mind him telling the rest of the
country about their sex life.
"If other guys are as happy as I am,"
Donohue says, "we're going to have a whole
nation of happy guys."
source:-http://www.canada.com
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