Does “female Viagra” really work for low libido?

7 minutes to read

If there was a drug that could make you horny again – most of us would be rushing to buy it, right?

The promise of a quick fix for women’s low libido is tempting. No therapy, no awkward conversations with your partner—just a solution.

That’s the idea behind what’s sometimes called “female Viagra,” an injection more formally known as bremenotide.

As a sex therapist who specializes in low desire, I was eager to learn more. So I sat down with researcher Dr. Glen Spielmans to discuss the realities behind the drug. Unfortunately, despite being FDA-approved, it doesn’t seem to be working miracles. The research that led to its approval revealed a lot about how we think about sex, desire and the female body.

Prefer to listen? Listen to the Sleeping with Science: Sex Podcast podcast episode below.

The promise of a quick fix for low libido

Bremennotide was promoted as a breakthrough for women with low libido.

The idea is that it targets specific points, such as melanocortin 3 and 4 receptors in the brain, which scientists believe play a role in sexual desire. When it pushes these receptors, its goal is to promote the release of dopamine, a “feel-good” brain chemical, in key areas that influence sexual interest and arousal.

However, the drug’s effects on blood pressure and heart rate have been clinically documented. Although it was originally studied for erectile dysfunction, it doesn’t work like Viagra.

So what are the results of drug treatment? Well, when Drs. Spielmans and Ellefson took a closer look at the trials that led to the drug’s approval in their research paper, the results were less than impressive.

In two large clinical trials, the difference between the drug and placebo was small. So small that you would need to treat 13 women before even one of them would feel any meaningful improvement in sexual desire.

And that’s before considering side effects. The dropout rate due to adverse events was much higher with bremenotide than with placebo—about one woman stopped treatment for every five to six treatments. Side effects include nausea, dizziness, and injection site reactions.

A total of 42% of participants stopped taking the drug entirely—twice the number who stopped taking the placebo.

This is where things get murkier; after the trial ended, the researchers changed what they thought were the main results. Initially, they measured how many “satisfactory sexual events” participants had – and the results didn’t show much difference.

So they swapped it for a pain problem related to low desire, which, according to Spearmans, made the results look better. This transition (from “satisfied sexual behavior” to FSDS-DAO #13) is documented in the FDA filing and trial registration history, but not in the main trial file.

Even the way desire was measured was surprising: The researchers used the FSFI-Desire subscale—just two vague questions about how often and how intensely participants had felt desire in the past month. In my opinion (and Dr. Spearmans’s), two questions are not nearly enough to capture something as complex, emotional, and context-driven as sexual desire.

If you’ve ever struggled with low libido, you know it’s not that simple. If so, you may regain your desire soon.

A quick fix for low libido—does it exist?

In some ways, the creation of bremenotide (and flibanserin, a drug designed to increase desire) is a sign of our times—our attempts to reduce complex things like sexual desire to simple biological mechanisms.

Just like social media makes other complex experiences and diagnoses—like ADHD, depression, burnout, and even trauma—seem simple and easily fixable. It seems like all you need is a supplement or a five-minute hack and everything will work out.

It makes sense that we do this—for a number of reasons.

We live in an increasingly demanding world, and the villages we once surrounded are disappearing. We are giving individuals more responsibility than ever before. We have full-time jobs, we are the sole caregivers for our children, and we need to meet impossible deadlines and respond to emails around the clock.

We all have too much to do and too little time. The stress of our daily lives seems to be increasing.

Technology solves many problems, but it also creates new ones. Because now, we need to be constantly connected to our phones and react to everything.

The bottom line is, we still want to have sex anytime (or whenever our partner is in the mood!).

But here’s the thing – as demand increases, people can feel overwhelmed. And overwhelmingly detrimental to desire. Nor is it conducive to a long-term solution. So we look for simple things – things that our brains can easily understand, things that calm us.

And it’s the quick fixes, like taking pills or injections to satisfy cravings, that become the most attractive. Makes sense, right?

Want your libido back?

My free resource, The Desire Test, helps you take the first step toward increasing your libido by understanding your decline in libido.

Take the 10-page assessment quiz to get the answers you need, learn what’s holding you back, and get free sex and relationship tips delivered straight to your inbox. You can cancel your subscription at any time.

Why sex drive doesn’t work like hunger does

Another reason we gravitate toward solutions like drugs is that we’re taught that desire is purely biological—a drive, like hunger or thirst. But desires are much more complex, and driven by more than just our biology.

It is also composed of and influenced by psychological, relational and cultural factors.

• Psychological factors such as work pressure, self-confidence or shame
• Relationship factors such as emotional distance, conflict, or resentment
• Cultural factors, such as what we think desire “should” be in a long-term relationship, or growing up in a family where sex is taboo

Like Dr. Spearmans said in the podcast – Desire is not a switch that can be turned on or off. No matter how much we wish it would happen. So it’s no wonder that the drugs created to “fix” something this complex don’t seem to be very effective.

What to focus on if you want to regain your desire

Just because desire is complicated – doesn’t mean you can’t get it back. Instead, there are many things you can do to refresh your mood.

It starts when we stop chasing quick fixes like lingerie and new positions—and start looking for reasons why our sexual desire is gone. Because once you zero in on the why, you can start craving sex again.

If you’d like to explore what’s affecting your libido now, you can take the Desire Test – my free resource that can help you find out what’s blocking your libido and what to focus on next.

If you need support as you work through this process, registration is now open for my 1:1 online program, Re:Desire.

At Re:Desire, I help you want sex again and have more and better sex—no scheduling required.

You’ll learn how to achieve desire from a zero-pressure place. Because it’s probably still in you – you just can’t find it now. While it’s not “female Viagra,” it’s a scientifically-backed, compassionate way to reignite your desire—without side effects.