Everything You Need To Know About Female Viagra

Viagra isn’t just for men anymore. Here to give the little blue pill a run for its money is a brand new drug called Addyi, which is revolutionizing women’s sexual health. Here’s the low-down on the pill created to restore your low libido.

1. Wait, isn’t Viagra for old men who can’t get it up? Mostly thanks to TV and film, we’re all aware of the magical little blue pill that gets men ready and raring to go in the bedroom. Usually, Viagra is the butt of jokes at the expense of older men who find it difficult to get an erection, but its effectiveness has undeniably been proven time and time again by its consumers of all ages. Now, it’s finally time for women’s sexual well-being to get its limelight. That’s where flibanserin, branded as Addyi and known as “female Viagra,” comes in.
2. It hasn’t been around for very long. Three years ago, new hope for women with a low sex drive arrived in the shape of a little pink pill called Addyi. This was the first prescription medicine ever to be approved by the FDA that would help women revitalize their flagging sex drive. However, only days after it was given the go-ahead, Addyi’s developer, Sprout Pharmaceuticals, was sold and the buzz over this new drug quickly fizzled out. Fast-forward to summer 2018 and Addyi is being relaunched, now at a lower cost and available to all women via telemedicine.
3. Who is female Viagra for? Addyi is specifically designed for women suffering from a low libido. This condition is known as HSDD (Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder) and contrary to what you might assume, this condition isn’t just experienced by married middle-agers. Women in their 20s and 30s are equally likely to have HSDD as older women, and a BBC report states that between 5.5 million and 8.6 million US women are affected by this problematic condition.
4. What exactly is HSDD? HSDD is a sexual dysfunction characterized by a chronic disinterest in sex for no apparent reasons opposed to, say, pinpointable causes such as depression or a personal dislike for the sexual partner. Experts believe one of the main reasons women might develop this disorder is due to a chemical imbalance between dopamine and norepinephrine, which are the neurochemicals that make women crave sexual intimacy, and serotonin, which produces the opposite effect.
5. How does Addyi work? Taken on a daily basis, Addyi works to re-balance a woman’s neurochemicals, leading to an increased desire for sex. They say women’s desire is powered by the brain, and this drug is here to help with just that.
6. It shouldn’t really be called “female Viagra.” Although Addyi works to improve a woman’s libido, it really isn’t like traditional men’s Viagra at all. Viagra treats erectile dysfunction by improving the blood flow to a man’s penis, while Addyi works on the brain’s neurotransmitters in a similar way to antidepressants. Viagra also works nearly 100% of the time for men, while the female version has a much, much lower success rate. And, while men only have to pop a blue pill before they want to have sex, women have to take Addyi every day in order to see results. Basically, calling Addyi “female Viagra” is just false advertising.
7. You probably won’t see huge results As stated above, Addyi has a much lower rate of success than Viagra, with research showing that only 1 in 10 women will benefit from taking the drug. It is also stated that it may take up to four weeks for the effects of the pill to kick in, but it’s more likely to be around eight weeks. Although these results might seem pretty underwhelming, if you’re a woman with no sex drive at all, even a delayed result could be enough to provide some hope.
8. There are some side-effects. As with all pharmaceutical drugs, there are of course some side-effects to taking Addyi. These include nausea, fatigue, low blood pressure and dizziness. Not everyone will experience them, but it’s important to be prepared.
9. Drinking is a no-no. Another factor that might put some women off of taking the drug is the fact that you’re not supposed to drink alcohol while on Addyi. This is down to the fact that the drug can cause dizziness, so drinking could make this side effect more severe. While cutting out booze from your life may not seem like a big deal to some, having to take the pink pill every day and thus cutting out alcohol from your diet completely could be an unwanted lifestyle change for many women.
10. Still, it’s an important step for women’s health. As we’ve seen, Addyi isn’t exactly the perfect drug. With its low success rate, delayed reaction time, and its multiple side-effects, it’s definitely not a straightforward, magical sex-pill. Addyi is complex, but then again, so is the female sex drive. It’s a huge step forward though that a female libido pill is finally on the market. It’s a massive success for campaigners of women’s sexual health and is hugely encouraging for any women suffering from HSDD. According to the BBC, there are currently 26 federally authorized treatments for male sexual dysfunction compared to the one and only women’s version, Addyi, which has only recently become available. It’s time women’s sexual needs came to the forefront, and this is a good place to start.