Poppers can make sex feel more intense.

They can also make your erection softer, which is a pretty confusing combination.

Maybe you take a hit, feel the rush almost immediately, and you’re still completely turned on. But suddenly you’re not quite as hard as you were a few seconds ago.

It’s easy to wonder what happened.

Poppers have long been part of sexual culture for many gay and bisexual men, especially around anal sex, although their use certainly isn’t limited to the LGBTQ community. They can make the moment feel more intense, while the muscle-relaxing effect can make anal sex easier or more comfortable.

But poppers also change your circulation very quickly.

And sometimes, your erection seems to notice.

What Poppers Actually Do

Most poppers contain chemicals called alkyl nitrites.

You don’t really need to know much about the chemistry to understand what they do.

When you inhale them, your blood vessels relax very quickly. Your blood pressure drops, your heart rate may speed up, and you can feel warmth, lightheadedness, or a head rush within seconds.

They also relax the muscles around the anus, which is part of why poppers are often used during anal sex.

Most of those effects come on quickly and don’t last very long.

That’s part of the appeal. You get a sudden physical rush right in the middle of sex.

But your erection is relying on your circulation at that exact moment too.

Why You Might Get Softer

Getting hard requires blood to flow into your penis and stay there under enough pressure to keep you firm.

Poppers suddenly change what your blood vessels are doing throughout your body.

So even while you’re still turned on, that shift can make your erection feel less stable for a little while.

Maybe you lose some firmness. Maybe you need more stimulation to stay hard. Or maybe you soften and then get hard again once the effects start wearing off.

There isn’t much research where scientists have literally measured how hard men are before and after using poppers, so we can’t say exactly how often this happens or how much of it comes from the drop in blood pressure.

But men do report having a harder time maintaining erections while using them, and the sudden change in circulation gives us a pretty reasonable explanation for why that can happen.

You Can Be Very Turned On and Still Get Softer

This is probably the part that throws people off.

You feel more excited. Sex may feel more intense. You may feel looser, less inhibited, and completely into what’s happening.

So why are you getting softer?

Because being turned on and being fully hard are related, but they aren’t exactly the same thing.

You can be extremely turned on while your erection is temporarily less firm.

And if your erection softens right after using poppers, it doesn’t automatically mean there’s something wrong with your penis.

If It Mostly Happens With Poppers, That Matters

If your erections are normally strong but you tend to get softer shortly after using poppers, pay attention to that pattern.

It doesn’t prove poppers are the only thing involved. Maybe you’ve been drinking. Maybe you’re tired. Maybe stimulation changed. Or maybe you notice yourself getting softer and start wondering whether you’re still hard enough.

Any of those things can affect what happens next.

But getting softer mainly after you use poppers is different from your erections becoming less reliable in general.

If things usually work well without them, an erection that softens after a hit of poppers isn’t, by itself, a sign that you suddenly developed erectile dysfunction.

If you start noticing the same thing when you aren’t using poppers, that’s a different pattern and worth paying attention to.

Don’t Mix Poppers With Viagra or Cialis

There is one part of this conversation where the advice is much simpler.

Don’t combine poppers with Viagra, Cialis, Levitra, or medications meant to lower your blood pressure.

Both can lower your blood pressure. Using them together can make it drop too far and lead to dizziness, fainting, or something more serious.

So if poppers are making your erection softer, taking Viagra or Cialis to compensate isn’t a safe workaround.

What to Take Away

If you get softer right after using poppers but your erections are otherwise dependable, the timing matters.

Your circulation just changed very quickly, and your erection may change along with it.

That can feel especially strange because you may be hornier, having more fun, and somehow less hard at the same time.

If erection problems are also happening when you aren’t using poppers, that deserves its own look.

But if the change mostly happens right after you use them, don’t jump straight to the conclusion that something is permanently wrong. Your erection may simply be reacting to what you just inhaled.