Fibanserin is the first non-hormonal drug to be tested to improve libido in women. It was originally tested as an anti-depressant, but wasn’t found to be effective. Then they found that it seemed to increase desire in women. It works on serotonin and dopamine in the brain, and is said to decrease inhibition. Sound great?
It could be, if it really works, and if its safe. I fear that the millions of dollars the drug manufacturer is spending now – before the drug has even started FDA approval process, could overshadow realistic concern & dialog about how the drug works, the subjectivity of the criteria used to determine if it works, side effects, long-term safety, and other risks from taking a drug daily.
One article I read said that researchers don’t know why women lose desire. Well, sex therapists do! We also know that sexuality is a very complex phenomenon-that involves relational, psychological, physical, cultural, religious, and other individual factors. For most of my clients with low desire, they have 3-5 separate causes. It is hard for me to believe that any pill is strong enough to drown out all of this to make a woman want sex. If it can, could it also cause women to lose inhibitions in other areas of their lives? That is a scary thought. This is one of the effects of working on dopamine – some Parkinson’s disease patients experienced hypersexuality and loss of inhibition to an extreme. These are some of the questions that ob/gyn physicians and sex therapists are asking.
We do know that side effects noted so far are fatigue, nausea, sleepiness, & insomnia. It takes 3-6 weeks to work. If it turns out to be the miracle pill they hope for, some women will feel it is well worth that. I just hope we can get the full picture, rather than a paid-for advertisement. I’ll write more on this topic soon. In the meantime, don’t just take my word for it – seek information, ask questions – even the hard ones.
