Pink and Blue Sex Booster Pills? Even ED Has Become “His” and “Hers”
Move over Viagra and Cialis.?There’s a shiny new sex drug on the market.?And this time, it’s a “she.”
After years of bemoaning the decline of the male libido -- a condition once known as “impotence,” but now rebranded as “erectile dysfunction” -- Big Pharma is turning its attention to the growing number of women who say they’ve lost interest in sex or find the experience unpleasant.?
But can the fix for sexual arousal problems really be reduced to a pill??It depends on which experts you find most convincing.
Most studies show that a woman’s sagging sex drive is due to a mix of physiological and psychological factors, including stress, age, and the side effects of other medications for depression and anxiety.?Because relationship and self-esteem issues are also thought to play a role, most doctors recommend a combination of psychotherapy and hormone drugs. The problem is complex and so is the solution, they insist.
But drug marketers say women need a more targeted short-term approach. They point to studies indicating that 12% of women between 44 and 65 suffer from the condition, which leaves its sufferers unable to experience sexual arousal for 6 months or more.?Women don’t want to wait months for expensive therapy to pay off, they insist.
“Female viagra” or Addyi – as the drug flibanserin is known - was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015.?But it never really caught on.?In fact, the FDA twice rejected the drug, citing doubts about its effectiveness.?And Sprout Pharmaceuticals, the company that manufactures it, soon went out of business.?
In theory, Addyi works quite differently from Viagra -- or so its avid promoters say.? The? infamous “little blue pill” sends more blood to the penis to allow men to experience greater arousal.? Addyi works more on the woman’s brain to allow her to recall past positive sex experiences, and get her in the “mood” again.??
Addyi, you might say, operates like a flirtation or seduction.?Viagra, by contrast, is the pharmaceutical equivalent of a hand job.??
But does Addyi really work?? So far, in clinical trials, only 10% of women have found the drug effective.?But those that did said it was very effective.?Sprout has touted this finding to suggest that Addyi is a major plus for women with “hypoactive sexual desire disorder,” or HSDD.? But critics say Addyi won’t work for women whose condition is due to other mental or medical health issues, relationship problems, or other drug use.??
“This medication can be beneficial to a very specific group of women,” says Abby Yancey, PharmD, associate professor of pharmacy practice at St. Louis College of Pharmacy“[but] most women do not fall into that group.”
Flibanserin is also extremely expensive.?A monthly Addyi prescription costs almost $800 without insurance.? And to be effective, consumers need to take the pill daily.?Most women are unlikely to spend that much on a controversial drug unless there is greater evidence of its effectiveness.
In 2019, the FDA approved a second treatment for HSDD, now rebranded as “female sexual interest/arousal disorder.”?Known as Vyleesi, it’s a self-injectable drug, not a pill, but the data so far suggests only marginal benefits. In two 24-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials conducted with 1,247 premenopausal women,? just 25% of patients indicated an increase in sexual desire, only slightly higher than the percentage that took a placebo.
There’s another factor that may be limiting consumer interest in Addyi and Vyleesi: side effects Many Addyi users report low blood pressure, fainting, and dizziness.? But Vyleesi can cause severe nausea. Some users even take anti-nausea medications just to survive their injections, and more than 10% develop infections at the injection site.
Given this panoply of shortfalls, many critics say it’s misleading -- indeed, irresponsible -- to hype pharmacology as a solution to female arousal problems.?Some blame the media for latching on to the “female Viagra” meme.? Still others accuse the manufacturers, especially Sprout Pharmaceuticals, of engaging in false advertising, calling Addyi, a “scam.”
But others say treating male and female sexual dysfunction separately is the real problem.? Give women the same blue pill and dispense with the female-only pink one, they say.?In one early study, women who took traditional Viagra responded positively to a regular shot of blood rushing to their vagina.?A larger study conducted at UCLA -- this time with menopausal women with no reported relationship problems -- also found that Viagra increased female sexual interest and enjoyment, with only minor side effects.??
The upshot??When it comes to sexual arousal, men and women may be more alike than different.?But the bad news??The human libido seems to be failing us both.