A teenager has revealed how he became hooked on Viagra at the age of 13.

The Lancashire schoolboy, who wants to remain anonymous, was goaded into taking the impotency drug after pals warned ‘he would be bad in bed’ without it.

But the boy became hooked on the medication and ended up stealing hundreds of pounds from his parents to fund his addiction - soon taking up to six pills a night at parties.

His addiction was only discovered when he owned up to his family and is now receiving therapy.

His shocking story has come to light after a warning that a growing number of pupils are experimenting with Viagra.

The boy, now 15, told the Sunday Mirror : “I feel I have no childhood now. It is ruined.

“Most people think Viagra’s for middle-aged men, but you can easily get it in schools now. Parents and kids really need to know what’s going on. I wish I had never tried it.”

The teenager added: “In the summer of 2014 I started hanging out with older boys who asked if I’d ever taken Viagra.

“I tried to pretend I knew what they were talking about. I wanted to have sex, but was really scared it would go wrong and she would laugh at me.

“I’d started watching porn on my phone when I was 12 – everyone at school did it. I became addicted to it.”

Experienced psychotherapist Steve Pope, who treats patients from across the north west, said that a number of schoolchildren were using the drug recreationally.

He said: “My practice has seen an increasing number of teenagers with dependency issues around impotency drugs.

“They’re so easy to get and don’t have the same stigma of other illegal drugs. Schoolboys think it’s just a bit of harmless fun.

“But the initial buzz from the chemical combined with the feeling of invincibility makes it hugely psychologically addictive.”

The young addict’s family have given their consent for him to speak out.

They want to warn other children about the dangers of the blue pills which can be bought on the internet for as little as £1.50 a time.

The teenager added: “I wanted to be like the men in the clips, so I took the pill I was given. I didn’t tell the girl because I didn’t want any more pressure.

“About 10 minutes after I took it, it started to work. I felt a bit out of control.

“But the girl didn’t laugh at me and that felt good, so I told her what I’d taken. She asked how soon I could get more.”

The pupil then went back to the playground pusher to get more only to be told he would have to start paying £4.50 a pill.

He said: “I couldn’t afford it – my pocket money barely paid for a pill a week, so I started stealing money from mum’s purse. I felt horrible, but in my mind I had no choice – not taking Viagra wasn’t an option.

“I was disgusted with myself but I didn’t know how to control it and I was terrified my parents would find out.”

He found he was taking as many as six pills a night to feel the same effect and developed a habit he could not break. Soon he was having sex up to four times in the week and several times at weekends.

“It was just me, a kid, being silly enough to believe I would never be able to have good sex without a tablet. But suddenly I’d ruined everything,” he said.

The turning point came last November when he began to feel frightening physical effects from the drug.

He told his parents everything – including how he’d stolen hundreds of pounds from them to pay for his addiction, and begged for help.

He was diagnosed with compulsive sexual behaviour linked to Viagra addiction and is in recovery after attending twice-weekly one-to-one sessions with Mr Pope, as well as group sessions with other recovering sex addicts.

Mr Pope said: “He is brave for speaking out because he is a victim here, but he is by no means alone.

“There is a real lack of awareness about the impact of pornography, the sexualisation of ­children and the way this is making Viagra a drug of choice in some schools.

“Every young boy these days sees porn from a very early age and that’s what they expect sex to be like – going on for hours.

“Viagra and other erectile drugs are a magic bullet, but if used too frequently you lose sight of what sex actually is.”

The boy added: “I’d say around a third of boys my age have tried Viagra. No doctors would know anything about this because, unlike me, most boys just carry on doing it without any adults ever finding out.

“I never had any idea I would end up struggling like this at my age. As I grow up I know I’ll regret it more and more because of things I have seen and done that are for people much older than me. I just want my life back.”

The NHS spends around £58million per year on Viagra and other erectile dysfunction medication – most of which goes on prescriptions for the over 50s.

They are available in many high street chemists and most major supermarkets.

In Boots, a packet of eight 50mg impotence drugs costs £20. The cost has been falling steadily over the last three years, as more brands emerge.

Although they are officially prescription only, a loophole allows them to be ordered online from big chemist chains after an “e-consultation” tick-box questionnaire.

A survey in 2014 revealed six per cent of Brits had used prescription drugs recreationally and 15 per cent of men had done so to improve their sex lives. One in 10 was under the age of 34.