Oh, Honey, is this really something that you should be taking? There appears to be a new sex trend among college students—the use of “honey packets” for sexual enhancement. This buzz behind this practice is evident in a TikTok video from @asuchicks, that’s already gotten over 400,000 views. In the video, the interviewer asks students at Arizona State University, “What’s something at ASU that would send a BYU student into a coma?” And two of the guys interviewed mention this honey packet thing with the second one even saying, “All these damn honey packs.” In fact, the second guy estimated that he takes four of them a night and 28 a week. Yes, you heard that correctly—28.
Here’s the TikTok post:
Honey Packets May Contain Erectile Dysfunction Medications
This is a sticky situation because it is hard to tell what’s actually in these honey packets. Presumably it’s not just honey. Otherwise, you might see a lot more people getting excited after eating baklava—excited in more than a “I’m eating baklava, and it’s tasty” type of way, that is. The concern is that these honey packets, which can be purchased online and various retail stores like gas stations and liquor stores, may contain different pharmaceutical ingredients in an unregulated manner.
For example, back in 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning about the Royal Honey VIP product containing a hidden drug ingredient. That hidden ingredient was tadalafil. Tadalafil is the active ingredient in Cialis. And while Cialis is a medication approved by the FDA specifically for erectile dysfunction, it’s not something that should be used by college students in general to simply up their game, so to speak.
And on July 27, 2022, I wrote for Forbes about four more companies getting warning letters from the FDA for putting unregulated and maybe even undeclared ED medications in their honey-based products. At the time, I warned that before you take any honey-based products, check your package—meaning the box, container, or whatever the product may have come in—to make sure that the product wasn’t one of that had received warning letters from the FDA.
Honey Packets Having Such ED Medications Brings Risks
Such ED medications are not without their potential side effects and risks. You may have seen those pharmaceutical commercials that show a bunch of smiling people set to some kind of soothing music while a voice reads off the list of warnings and side effects that may occur. Now, most people taking such medications for ED may not experience any side effects or only sustain minor ones like headaches, upset stomachs, muscle pain or stuffy noses. But there have been much less common cases of more serious side effects such as hearing problems, dizziness, ringing in the ears, significant blood pressure changes and allergic reaction.
Then there’s the whole standard erection-lasting-longer-than-four-hours warning. That’s when you worry about priapism, a prolonged, painful erection where blood is not flowing in and out of your penis. That’s a medical emergency, assuming that part of the body is near and dear to you.
Plus, you have no idea how much of these medications may be in the honey packets and whether they’ve safely prepared. The packages for ED medications typically don’t say, “Take as many as you want.” Such medications aren’t like Skittles.
Moreover, different ED medications can interact with certain blood pressure and heart medications and antibiotics. There’s also potential interactions with grapefruit juice and alcohol separately. But no college student has ever mixed sex and alcohol, right?
Therefore, unless necessary, it is better to avoid the use of ED medications unless you actually have ED. And even if you do have ED, medications may not be necessary. The situation may be temporary. For example, you may be under stress, be in a rather cold room or have the Law and Order TV show theme song playing in the background. In general, it is better to discuss your standing situation with a doctor before jumping to some medication solution.
Why Are College Students Taking Sexual Enhancement Products Like Honey Packets?
All of this raises a bigger question: why do college students feel the need to take something for sexual enhancement? Sure, a study did show that 8% of men in their 20s and 11% of men in their 30s suffer from ED. So there’s probably not an insignificant number of college students dealing with ED. However, this may not be enough to drive the casual mention of college students taking sexual enhancement products seen on TikTok.
The guess is that the two guys seen in the video didn’t want to tell essentially the world that they have ED. Chances are that instead college students are taking sexual enhancement products to measure up to some kind of expectations when it comes to sex. But are such expectations too big or too hard to achieve, so to speak? Is there the unrealistic expectation that an erection should be like a streaming movie—available on demand?
If you are worried that your partner may be disappointed by what you have to offer naturally then maybe it’s time for an open, frank conversation. You might be pleasantly surprised by what you find. Rather than you consuming a honey packet, maybe all your partner wants is to be called something like “honey” a little more often.
