Navigating Side Effects and Benefits of Treatment

Your healthcare professional reviews any medicines you take.

The Goods Inside

“However, if it’s really all libido based and it doesn’t seem to be genitourinary symptoms, Addyi might be a good option.” While the improvements were modest, the results were similar to outcomes in trials that focused only on younger women who hadn’t yet gone through menopause, says Manson. “It’s estimated that 40 percent of women have low libido, and there wasn’t a clear reason that treatment should be restricted to premenopausal women,” Manson says. “Postmenopausal women have done just as well with Addyi as younger women.” Addyi poses a risk of dangerously low blood pressure and fainting. The risk is increased for people with certain liver problems, people who drink alcohol close to bedtime, and people who take certain antifungals, antivirals, and medicines to treat conditions such as high blood pressure and HIV. To reduce the risk of low blood pressure, people should wait at least two hours after drinking alcohol to take Addyi, per Sprout Pharmaceuticals.

Interactions with other medications

People should skip taking Addyi any night they have three or more drinks, and refrain from drinking anything at night after they take the drug. “I do worry for women who drink alcohol while they’re taking this medication,” Manson says. Women younger than 65 who have gone through menopause have no more risk from mixing Addyi with alcohol than premenopausal women, Manson says. “While there may be a higher risk for older postmenopausal women in their seventies or eighties, that shouldn’t be the case for women under 65,” Manson says. Some doctors may have been reluctant to discuss low libido with postmenopausal women in part because up until now, they haven’t had any FDA-approved treatments to offer them, Santoro says.

Worth a try?

“The lack of effective treatments has indeed been a barrier to patient care,” Santoro says. Beyond this, many physicians lack training in managing sexual health for women who have gone through menopause, Manson says. This, along with the lack of a straightforward lab test or physical exam to prove women have low libido, can make doctors reluctant to treat the condition. Women who have concerns about libido or sexual health should start by raising the issue with their primary care provider, Manson says. “But if you don’t get taken seriously, then you should definitely seek a second opinion and find a physician who’s experienced with treating postmenopausal women.” The Menopause Society has a free online provider search tool to help women find a healthcare provider near them who has training in this area. The review is done to see if any of the medicines tend to cause sexual side effects. For example, SSRI antidepressants such as paroxetine (Paxil) and fluoxetine (Prozac) may lower sex drive.

• How to read labels and ingredient lists accurately
• The importance of transparency from manufacturers
• Common misconceptions about female libido pills
• Natural ways to boost female arousal without pills
• The effect of menstrual cycles on pill effectiveness
• Non-invasive alternatives to enhance sexual pleasure
• Differences between herbal and synthetic pills
• The role of pelvic floor exercises in sexual satisfaction
• How to identify genuine product sources
• The importance of avoiding expired pills
• Ethical considerations around sexual health products

If your antidepressant might be the cause of your low sex drive, your healthcare professional may recommend that you: Wait to see if your sex drive improves.

Lower the amount of medicine you take, called the dose. Take a break from use of the antidepressant. Switching to a different type of antidepressant may lead to fewer sexual side effects. Your healthcare professional may recommend medicines such as: If you take an SSRI, your healthcare professional might add bupropion to your treatment.

Along with recommending counseling, your healthcare professional may prescribe a medicine to boost your libido.

• The impact of age on the effectiveness of sex tablets
• The importance of a healthy lifestyle for better results
• Dos and don’ts when using female libido pills
• Possible dependency and abuse risks
• How sex tablets can complement therapy or counseling
• International regulations surrounding female sexual enhancers
• The difference between quick-fix and long-term solutions
• The role of stress management in sexual health
• The impact of hormonal balance on effectiveness
• How to store sex tablets properly
• Tips for maximizing the benefits of sex tablets

Options for women who have not yet reached menopause include: This is a pill that you take once a day at bedtime.

Side effects include low blood pressure, drowsiness, dizziness, upset stomach and fatigue. Drinking alcohol can make these side effects worse.

1. L-arginine

Recommendations may include sex education, counseling, and sometimes medicine and hormone therapy. Talking with a sex therapist or counselor skilled in addressing sexual concerns can help with low sex drive. Therapy often includes education about sexual response and techniques. Your therapist or counselor likely will offer recommendations for reading material or couples' exercises. Couples counseling that addresses relationship issues also may help boost feelings of intimacy and desire. So can taking a common medicine to treat vaginal yeast infections, called fluconazole (Diflucan).

You give yourself this shot just under the skin in the belly or thigh before sexual activity.

How It Works

“Now that there is a safe, effective, FDA-approved treatment, doctors are more likely to talk about women’s sexual health and recognize that pleasure and quality of life are important,” Pinkerton says. “Women now have a way to improve their sexual health.” Addyi may be a good option for many women who experience challenges with libido that can’t be explained by other menopause symptoms that could contribute to reduced interest in sex, Manson says. For people with insurance, Addyi will cost $40 annually through the drugmaker's copay program, per a company representative. Out of pocket, patients can get Addyi for $149 per month, or $297 for a 3-month bundle, through the mail-order pharmacy PHILRx. The medication retails for $298 per month.

Side effects

At the end of the day, Manson says the FDA’s move to extend the approval of Addyi to include women up to age 65 is a huge win. “The message the FDA and the healthcare system have of prioritizing sexual health in postmenopausal women I think is a game changer,” Manson says. “It gives these women a way to treat a problem that is very common and severely undertreated.” Historic First in Women’s Sexual Health: FDA Grants Approval for Addyi (Flibanserin) in Postmenopausal Women. Efficacy and Safety of Flibanserin in Postmenopausal Women with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder — Results of the SNOWDROP Trial. If low sex desire concerns you, talk with your gynecologist or another member of your healthcare team.

Top What Medicine Helps a Woman’s Sex Drive Related Articles

For some women, low sex drive is part of an ongoing condition called sexual interest-arousal disorder. It involves having at least three of the following symptoms, which cause sadness or anxiety: No desire to have any type of sexual activity or to masturbate. Few or no sexual thoughts or fantasies. Not wanting to make the first move in a sexual encounter with a partner. Less or no pleasure during sexual activity. Some women get an upset stomach after taking the medicine.

Find out if treatment is right for you.

Less or no interest in any sexual or erotic cues women libido pills from a partner. Few or no physical sensations during sexual activity in most sexual encounters. You don't have to fit this definition to reach out for help. Your healthcare professional can look for reasons that your sex drive isn't as high as you'd like. During your appointment, your healthcare professional asks you questions about your medical and sexual history.

Vyleesi (bremelanotide)

This checks for signs of physical changes that sometimes play a role in low sexual desire. These changes can include certain skin diseases of the vulva, thinning of the vaginal tissues, vaginal dryness or pain-triggering spots. They also can look for thyroid problems, diabetes, high cholesterol and liver disorders. A counselor or sex therapist can help check for emotional and relationship factors that can cause low sex drive. Most women benefit from a treatment approach aimed at the many causes behind this condition. This is more common after the first shot. This side effect tends to get better with the second shot.

Safety and Side Effects

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first daily pill for low sexual desire in women who have gone through menopause. “For the first time, there is an FDA-approved treatment for women under 65 who have low sexual desire that causes distress,” Dr. Pinkerton says. “Women’s sexual health has been overlooked for too long.” Addyi is a nonhormonal pill that works by targeting chemicals known as neurotransmitters, which send messages via pathways in the brain that trigger sexual responses. The pill is designed to improve desire by boosting levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, while decreasing levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Hormone therapy

These changes happen naturally in response to thoughts of sex in people without low libido. But when people have low libido, thoughts of sex may not result in messages traveling through pathways in the brain that trigger a sexual response, says Nanette Santoro, MD, a professor and the chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora “Thoughts of sex initiate the anticipation of a reward, and this in turn increases positive thoughts of sex,” Dr. Santoro says. “This pathway becomes interrupted for reasons that are not well understood. Levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone decline during the transition to menopause and afterward, but there’s no clear hormonal reason why sex drive would drop during menopause, Santoro says.

How is low sex drive diagnosed in women?

Using these hormones to treat other menopause symptoms like hot flashes or vaginal dryness doesn’t boost libido, Santoro adds. “There may well be social and psychological reasons that women have less sexual motivation with menopause,” Santoro says. “We cannot remove ourselves from a society that tends to view menopausal women as sexually unattractive and inappropriate sex partners.” On top of this, menopause symptoms such as pain during intercourse or recurrent urinary tract infections might all make it harder for women to desire sex, says JoAnn Manson, MD, MPH, DrPH, a professor of medicine and women’s health at Harvard Medical School and an endocrinologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. “If the reasons women don’t desire sex have to do with specific menopause symptoms, then it’s possible that hormones to treat these symptoms might improve libido without the need for a drug like Addyi,” Dr. Manson says. Other side effects include vomiting, flushing, headache and a skin reaction at the site of the injection.

• Benefits of sex tablets for women
• Common ingredients in female sexual enhancement pills
• How sex tablets improve libido
• Safety considerations for taking female sex pills
• Potential side effects of sex tablets for women
• Differences between natural and pharmaceutical sex enhancers
• The best time to take a female libido pill
• Brands known for reliable female sexual enhancement tablets
• Legal status of female sex tablets in various countries
• How to choose a quality sex tablet for women
• User reviews of popular female libido pills

In the United States, these medicines aren't approved for use after menopause. Dryness or shrinking of the vagina is one of the hallmark symptoms of genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM). This condition might make sex not comfortable and, in turn, reduce your desire.