Patient Experiences with Libido Medication

Changes in your sex drive are a normal part of life.

What is Libida™ and why was it created?

Interviewer: And before you would recommend this pill you might recommend the 5 Ts that you've talked about. Dr. Jones: Right, and I usually recommend taking some time out for each other. I ask them, what kind of pattern of intimacy do you have when you and your partner go on vacation? "Oh yeah, when we're away we have great hotel sex." Well, there are no kids around, there are no dishes, and definitely no bills, you're in a brand new bed, it's a new place. Whether it’s the varying levels of sexual interest some women experience throughout their cycles or the result of aging, these changes are common and happen for a variety of reasons.

But that doesn’t mean you need to accept them.

Dopamine + Oxytocin (dual pathway)

But if women say, "I don't want to do all that thing," it's like dieting and exercise, "Just give me a pill doctor so I can lose weight, just give me a pill." What I am afraid of is that I will get calls from husbands, "I want you to fix my wife. I want you to give her that pill." So if this is being driven by the partner, I need to get buy-in by my patient that she's really interested, because she may have some side effects. And if she's really not interested in becoming interested, then this is not for her. If she's interested in becoming interested, I think it's worth a try for a couple of weeks. And if she doesn't have significant side effects and it improves her intimate life, just thinking about sex makes people have sex more often, so the placebo effect can be significant. If you’re looking for solutions to a reduced sex drive, there are some safe libido pills that can help you regulate your sex drive back to normal levels — in certain circumstances.

HOW IT WORKS

Dr. Jones: I think I'm a fan of the 5 Ts, so when a woman says I'm just not that interested in sex anymore and this bothers me, remember those are the two things. They have to be not as interested, they have to have had interest at least once, so taking a 50-year-old who's never been interested in sex and thinking a pill is going to work, it's not going to work. "So I had interest and now I don't." I say the 5 Ts are, Time - we are over extended. If you think you're going to have fast food sex the way you did vardenafil oral when you were 20 you're not going to.

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You need to go for gourmet sex which means you have to plan it, you have to think about it, you have to tell your partner what makes you get in the mood. I think touch is important, the kind of quick sex where you didn't have that much time together physically, that's not going to work as you get older, so the right kind of touch. Women need emotional and physical tenderness before they're going to get in the boat and row with you. A lot of women say "I'm not interested but I haven't been interested since my husband had an affair with that woman down the street," well I can't blame you. Do you have some inner hostilities and you just don't want to have sex with them?

Boosting Blood Flow And Sensitivity

So what are the reasons going on? What I often hear is "I just am not that interested anymore." "Well tell me about your relationship with your husband." "Well we've been together for 20 years and he's my best friend." Well you know, you just don't have sex with your best friend. So having that kind of relationship evolve is great for the marriage, that they're now best friends, but it's not great for sex. The sex needs something a little bit different. Interviewer: So if it doesn't bother your patient, then there's not a problem? But libido pills aren’t always a straightforward treatment.

In fact, some libido pills for women may not even be FDA-approved for what they’re tasked with doing.

Why libido drops - and why it’s not your fault

Dr. Jones: Exactly, and in women it's an internal desire problem. So they had this drug and they did a randomized trial where women were given placebo versus this drug at different doses and lo and behold, there was a little difference. Now I want to talk about, if I were going to counsel a patient, what kind of difference was there with flibanserin? It turns out about 10% of women respond.

Is it safe?

So if you give this drug to 100 women, and you give placebo to 100 women, 34 out of 100 of women with placebo will get better, they'll have more interest in sex and they'll have more sexually satisfying sexual activity. So out of 100 people, about 10 will actually be responding because of the drug, and we don't know when I'm sitting in the office, which 10% those are. It's a drug that you have to take every day and it has side effects. But what can you expect if you are one of those 10%, what can you expect to see in terms of difference? Well the other reason the FDA was not excited was the fact that the average number of satisfying sexual activities was 2.8 in the study group and when they took placebo it went to 3.7 per month, 2.7 happy times in bed per month.

Rx Vaginal Creams

And then with placebo, it went to 3.7. So about one extra happy time when you just took placebo, and it went from 2.8 on flibanserin before they started, to 4.5 on flibanserin. So that was about two extra happy times a month. So that's one over placebo, per month. So the FDA didn't think that was very impressive. Libido pills are designed to treat low sex drive or sexual interest in women. Low libido is a surprisingly common complaint among adult women — studies estimate that more than a third of women worldwide

• Vitamin D deficiency correlates with lower libido.
• Regular sexual activity increases natural desire.
• Listening to music before intimacy can boost mood.
• Ensuring emotional safety enhances desire.
• Massage therapy may improve blood flow and arousal.
• Avoiding excessive caffeine can prevent nervousness.
• Herbal supplements vary in effectiveness; consult expert.
• Managing pain conditions can improve sexual desire.
• Social engagement and supportive relationships help.
• Avoiding high-fat, processed foods supports libido.
• Patience and communication are key for recovery.

have low sexual desire, and low sexual desire and low libido are the most common complaints of sexual dysfunction shared by women.

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Announcer: TheScopeRadio.com is University of Utah Health Sciences Radio. If you like what you heard, be sure to get our latest content by following us on Facebook. Experiencing low female sex drive, whether the change is sudden or gradual, can be frustrating for women, and that frustration can understandably lead to a search for a solution. Men who have issues performing have the advantage of a pill for their problems (and many more should probably be taking it than actually are). But what about a magic natural pill for women — do libido pills work for them too? Low libido is often the result of a medical condition called hypoactive sexual desire disorder — basically a name for low or absent libido, which, in turn, can be distressing and negatively affect your general well-being.

Natural supplements for libido to avoid

What happened was the drug company that originally started flibanserin gave up the drug, and another small start up company called Sprout Pharmaceuticals took it on and they actually started a media campaign called Even the Score. They went to the FDA and said, "Women have nothing. Men have all these things to help them, women have nothing. So the FDA originally didn't think that one extra happy time per month was adequate given the side effects, which I'll talk about in a second. Then I think they got some pressure and they decided okay, we'll just put it out, and it's going to be available under the brand name Addyi, with a funny spelling A-D-D-Y-I, Addyi, on the middle of October.

The Exercise-Libido Connection

It should be available in drug stores. You have to take it every day, you have to take it at bedtime and so different from the Viagra style drugs for men, they only take it when they think they're going to be interested in sex. Women have to take this every day, so they're taking a pill every day for an event that might happen three or four times a month. What are the side effects and why do you take it at bedtime? You take it at bedtime because the side effects include low blood pressure, hypotension, fainting, dizziness, headache and sleepiness.

Understand Your Needs

About 10% of women are going to have that effect. So 10% of women are going to have a benefit, 10% of women are going to have a side effect. We don't know if it's the same 10%. So they recommend taking it at bedtime so that you're less likely to be dizzy or to pass out, so I think that's the issue. I'm glad that women have something that might work for them, and like birth control methods, not all methods are right for everyone. Low libido can result from a variety of conditions, psychological and physical.

• L-tyrosine may support dopamine levels and desire.
• Maintaining intimacy routines nurtures connection.
• Avoiding stressors blocks desire suppression.
• Practicing sensual massage stimulates arousal.
• Some women find yoga boosts body awareness.
• Wearing comfortable, attractive lingerie enhances confidence.
• Enriching your environment with scents may stimulate desire.
• Keeping a sexual health journal aids understanding.
• Regular checkups help monitor hormonal health.
• Herbal teas like chasteberry support hormones.
• Awareness of triggers and barriers improves sexual health.

It can be caused by everything from age to birth control.

• Evening primrose oil may help alleviate dryness.
• Managing depression can improve libido.
• Regularly updating your medical history helps.
• Using mindfulness during intimacy enhances pleasure.
• Educate yourself about sexual health.
• Have honest conversations with partners.
• Addressing past trauma can restore desire.
• Avoid high-stress environments when possible.
• Prioritize self-care to maintain confidence.
• Exploring fantasies can increase excitement.
• Set realistic expectations for sexual experiences.

As for these libido pills — the magical correcting capsules for all your libido woes — we’ve got good news and bad news.

• Dietary zinc deficiency may reduce female libido.
• Regular exercise can naturally boost sexual desire.
• Adequate sleep is essential for healthy libido.
• Reduce stress with meditation to improve sexual arousal.
• Vitamin E supplements may support hormonal health.
• Omega-3 fatty acids help improve blood flow and desire.
• Avoid excessive alcohol which can diminish libido.
• Weight management can positively influence sexual health.
• Breaks from medications may sometimes restore desire.
• Consult a doctor before starting any herbal supplements.
• Psychological counseling can address underlying desire issues.

The good news is that in the last decade, medical science has managed to find some effective ways to treat low desire for sex in women.

The bad news is that the wide net cast with a term like libido pills includes not just the promising new tools, but also some questionable (and less regulated) herbal supplements.

Women okay with injections

They recommend that if a woman takes it for eight weeks and she doesn't notice a difference, remember that half the difference that she notices is going to be placebo effect. So if she doesn't notice a difference then she shouldn't take it anymore. It's going to be $30-$75 per month and we don't know whether insurance companies are going to cover it. But you can bet your booties that if insurance companies cover the Viagra type drugs and they don't cover Addyi, there's going to be some ladies marching on your insurance company's front door. Interviewer: So there are a lot of pills for men, as you mentioned, this is really the only one for women.

IN CLINICAL TRIALS1, WOMEN ON ADDYI EXPERIENCED:

Is there a medical reason for that? Is it more difficult to create a drug, or is it what a lot of people claim that it's a man's world and I don't even know the words, but that argument. Dr. Jones: Well it's been unfortunate that we've considered men so simple. All they need is something to make their switch go up instead of down and that should be very easy.

Can I use Libida™ if I’m already on hormone therapy?

Whereas women, desire is a complicated thing. We don't know how flibanserin works, if it does, and why it only works for 10% and not on the others, because we don't know where desire comes from in women. Why is it common, 50% of women don't have desire until they're already in the middle of being stimulated, so they only have responsive desire? So we're not very smart about where desire comes from, and there aren't very many good animal models for desire. Interviewer: What would you recommend to a patient asking you about this medication?