A Swiss survey found that women are less interested in increasing their number of sexual encounters than in making the encounters they do have “more fun.”
Angry that the FDA approved a number of prescription medications to help men overcome erectile dysfunction, millions of women and female health organizations lobbied tirelessly for FDA approval of Addyi, the first drug said to treat low sexual desire in women.
Their efforts finally paid off in August 2015 when the U.S. drug regulatory agency finally gave the nod — albeit with some strings attached — to the first medication approved for the treatment of hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD), the most common form of female sexual dysfunction.
Flash forward almost two years from that landmark decision, and the widely touted Addyi has mostly failed to live up to the expectations of its proponents and the women who have tried the drug. Addyi’s improvement of sexual desire among women has been modest at best, and the drug’s high price and problematic side effects have discouraged many women from trying it at all.
Female Sexuality
In fairness to pharmaceutical researchers, the failure to produce a sure-fire treatment for HSDD is probably less evidence of an unwillingness to develop drugs for women than it is to the difficulties of understanding the nature of female sexuality.
In view of Addyi’s disappointing performance and its failure to really fire up the libido in women worried about their lack of desire for sex, two Swiss psychology researchers set out to get a better sense of what women want in a “sexuality-boosting medication” or SBM. Andrea Burri and Melanie Gutsche, both affiliated with the University of Zurich’s Department of Psychology, surveyed 159 women between the ages of 18 and 73 to determine if they’d be interested in an SBM and, if so, what they’d want it to do.
The results of their survey were printed in the March 2017 issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine.
61 Percent Would Use a Pill
Just over 60 percent of the respondents to their survey indicated a willingness to take a medication to increase sexual desire, but most said they wanted a drug that could be taken only as needed, preferably shortly before sexual activity. Most male ED drugs are also taken as needed, usually 15 to 60 minutes before the beginning of sexual activity.
By contrast, Addyi must be taken daily to produce desired results. Even if it produces results, they’re fairly modest, translated into an average increase of one-half to one satisfying sexual event per month. To get those results, Addyi users must forgo alcohol for as long as they are taking the drug. Clinical studies also showed that women taking Addyi often experienced adverse side effects, such as dizziness and fainting.
Addyi’s Cost Too High for Some
Even for women who are willing to weather Addyi’s side effects in an effort to fire up their libido, the drug’s high price and health insurance reimbursement that’s spotty at best have discouraged widespread use of the medication.
Further complicating the use of Addyi are FDA requirements that doctors who prescribe the drug and pharmacists who dispense it must first be certified to do so. This generally requires a short investment of time to take an online tutorial on the drug’s possible side effects in order to win such certification.
Addyi and other medications under study for the treatment of HSDD are widely referred to as “female Viagra” even though they bear little in common with the male drug prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction. It’s particularly misleading because the male ED drugs are designed to improve blood flow to the penis, while drugs developed to increase sexual desire in females focus primarily on brain chemistry.
In the case of Addyi, the medication lowers brain levels of serotonin, which inhibits sexual desire, while increasing levels of dopamine and norepinephrine, both of which are believed to increase sexual desire.
Other Female Drugs in the Works
Whatever the reason, it’s clear that Addyi has failed thus far to win favor with female customers anxious to fire up their libido.
Other pharmaceutical companies are reportedly working on alternatives to Addyi, and there is also some research into the use of direct brain stimulation as a novel approach to increasing sexual desire.
While the Swiss survey clearly indicated that most women would like a pill to increase sexual desire, researchers said that respondents also want a drug that produces more frequent and intensive orgasms and just generally makes sex “more fun.” However as strongly as they feel about the need for such a medication, they seem disinclined to spend too much for the drug. On average, they indicated a willingness to spend $9.75 per pill, which ideally would have a duration of action of about an hour.
Quality and Not Quantity
One of the findings from the study seems to buttress the conclusion that women are less interested in increasing their number of sexual encounters than in improving the quality and enjoyment of those that they do have. Burri said, “I guess the good news for pharmaceutical companies is the fact that there is a demand for such a drug; however, maybe not in its current form,” referring to Addyi.
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