BlueChew tablets contain the same active ingredients found in well-known erectile dysfunction medications: sildenafil (the drug in Viagra) and tadalafil (the drug in Cialis). The difference is that BlueChew sells them as chewable tablets made by a compounding pharmacy, rather than as the brand-name pills you’d pick up at a regular pharmacy.
The Active Ingredients
BlueChew offers two primary options. Sildenafil is the faster-acting choice, typically working within 30 to 60 minutes and lasting four to six hours. Tadalafil takes a bit longer to kick in but lasts significantly longer, up to 36 hours in many cases. Both belong to a class of drugs called PDE5 inhibitors, which all work through the same basic biological pathway.
The sildenafil option comes in strengths like 30 mg and 45 mg. The tadalafil option is available in lower doses such as 6 mg and 9 mg. These are different from the standard FDA-approved tablet strengths (sildenafil typically comes in 25, 50, or 100 mg; tadalafil in 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 mg), because compounding pharmacies can mix custom dosages.
How These Ingredients Work
During arousal, your body releases nitric oxide in the blood vessels of the penis. This triggers production of a signaling molecule called cyclic GMP, which tells the smooth muscle in those blood vessels to relax and open up, allowing blood to flow in and produce an erection. Normally, an enzyme called PDE5 breaks down cyclic GMP fairly quickly, which is part of why erections naturally subside.
Sildenafil and tadalafil block that PDE5 enzyme. With less of the enzyme clearing out cyclic GMP, the relaxation signal stays active longer, blood vessels stay dilated, and blood flow to the penis is sustained. The key detail: these drugs don’t create arousal on their own. They only amplify the body’s existing response to sexual stimulation. Without that initial nitric oxide release from arousal, the medication has nothing to work with.
What “Chewable” Actually Means
The chewable format is the main thing that sets BlueChew apart from a standard prescription. Instead of swallowing a coated tablet, you chew it and the drug dissolves in your mouth. A study comparing 50 mg chewable sildenafil tablets to standard 100 mg swallowed tablets found no meaningful difference in how the body absorbs the drug. The chewable version reached peak blood levels in about 52 minutes compared to roughly 40 minutes for the standard pill, a difference that wasn’t statistically significant. Both formats delivered equivalent amounts of the drug into the bloodstream.
So the chewable form is mostly a convenience and branding choice. It doesn’t get the drug into your system dramatically faster. Some people prefer it because it doesn’t require water, or because they find swallowing pills uncomfortable.
Compounded, Not FDA-Approved
This is worth understanding clearly. BlueChew’s tablets are compounded medications, meaning they’re mixed by a compounding pharmacy rather than manufactured by the companies that hold the original drug patents. Compounded drugs are not FDA-approved. The FDA has specifically noted this distinction in a 2025 warning letter to BlueChew’s parent company, DermaCare LLC, stating that the company’s claims implied their products were equivalent to FDA-approved medications when they are not.
The active ingredients themselves, sildenafil and tadalafil, are well-studied drugs with decades of clinical data behind them. The FDA’s concern isn’t with the molecules but with the compounding process. FDA-approved versions of these drugs (Viagra, Cialis, and their generics) go through rigorous manufacturing standards and batch testing. Compounded versions don’t face the same level of regulatory oversight, which means there’s less independent verification of consistency, purity, and accurate dosing from tablet to tablet.
Inactive Ingredients
Beyond the active drug, chewable tablets require inactive ingredients to create the chewable texture and flavor. These typically include sweeteners, flavoring agents, and binders that hold the tablet together while still allowing it to break apart easily when chewed. BlueChew markets flavored options for this reason. The specific inactive ingredient list can vary between batches since compounding pharmacies have flexibility in their formulations, which is another difference from standardized manufactured drugs where the inactive ingredient list is fixed and publicly available.
How BlueChew Compares to Standard Prescriptions
The drug doing the work in your body is the same whether you take BlueChew’s chewable sildenafil or a generic sildenafil tablet from your local pharmacy. The pharmacological mechanism is identical. The differences come down to format (chewable vs. swallowed), dosage options (custom compounded strengths vs. standard FDA-approved strengths), regulatory oversight (compounded vs. FDA-approved manufacturing), and how you get it (online telehealth consultation vs. in-person doctor visit).
If cost is the driving factor, generic sildenafil and tadalafil are now widely available and relatively inexpensive through traditional pharmacies. A month’s supply of generic tadalafil at a 5 mg daily dose, for example, can be comparable in price to BlueChew’s subscription plans. The tradeoff with BlueChew is convenience and privacy in exchange for receiving a compounded product without the same manufacturing guarantees as an FDA-approved generic.