What To Take Instead Of Female Viagra

Even though flibanserin — the little pink pill some are calling “female Viagra” and will be sold as Addyi is now FDA-approved and will hit pharmacy shelves on October 17, it doesn’t mean that every person will be a candidate for the drug. For instance, certain factors could prohibit someone from being “allowed” to take it: mood disorders, medical issues, and being disqualified from taking it if a doctor feels it is not necessary and other alternatives should be tried first.

“First, I’d evaluate the patient – why is this so important?” says Dr. Brett Worly, MD, OB/GYN. He’d go through a long list of low libido-causing issues with the patient “and try to identify the cause — medical problems, relationship issues, etc. A bad relationship is a bad relationship whether you use this medication or not.”

If you do not meet the criterion, though, to get the go-ahead to take flibanserin, then what?

“The medicine is geared mostly toward peri- or post-menopausal women to help them with this substantial medical issue,” Dr. Worly said. “I think it represents political change and for people to realize sexual problems are real and not made up. Women deserve resources in time, energy, and money just like men.”

For members of Generations X and Y, Dr. Drew tells Bustle, “I wouldn’t give a 20- or 30-year-old man Viagra. As far as 20- and 30-something-year-old women, he saays, “In my experience, birth control is the most common (reason) regarding a lowered libido. (I’d say to) focus on diet and exercise and your (romantic) relationship and maybe adjust your birth control medication.”

Until another drug is released that may help the women who were not responsive to flibanserin, or if your birth control method did not end up being the culprit of your lowered libido, natural aphrodisiacs can be tried again and again. A few are:

• Yoga
• Ginseng
• Zestra (female arousal oil)
• Asparagus
• Caviar (for their zinc content)

Oysters, chocolate, and horny goat weed are not proven to work, however, but eat the first two to your heart’s content, anyway, according to Health, they do have ingredients important for “healthy sexual functioning,” zinc and serotonin, but there is no proof about them bettering sex drive or performance.

“The ability to help women with sexual problems used to be taboo,” Dr. Worly says. “Hopefully, there will be more and more medications for this problem, recognizing it, and treating it.”

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Image: Jean Henrique Wichinoski/Flickr