How to Get Treatment for HSDD in the UK
Additionally, like all health-related content on this website, this guide was thoroughly vetted for accuracy by one or more members of our Medical Review Board.
Get on the List
Promescent offers our readers an exclusive $5 off at checkout when clicking any link on this page. Over the past two decades, Innerbody Research has helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles. For this review of the best female arousal products, we pored over dozens of scientific studies and articles on safe and effective ingredients, and our team thoroughly investigated the companies behind the products. Our testers also purchased these items so that we could compare them and provide detailed explanations (such as differences in pill size). As more information on new products and ingredients becomes available, we’ll update this review accordingly. There is a wide variety of female arousal pills, gels, creams, and other products on the market.
- The first FDA-approved female libido drug was flibanserin, marketed as Addyi in the US and sometimes available in the UK.
- Female Viagra aims to target conditions like low libido, which can be caused by hormonal or psychological issues.
- The effectiveness of female Viagra varies between individuals; some report notable improvements.
- Cost of female libido medications in the UK varies and may not be covered by NHS prescriptions.
- Researchers continue to explore new treatments for female sexual dysfunction with promising results.
- Natural alternatives include herbal supplements like ginseng or maca, but their efficacy is not well-proven.
- Discussing sexual health openly with a healthcare professional is recommended before starting treatment.
- Some women use off-label medications or supplements to boost libido, but safety isn't always assured.
- Female Viagra is not suitable for everyone; medical history and other medications should be considered.
With some containing less-than-safe ingredients, it’s important to know which libido-support products for women are safe and effective. We also evaluated these products based on how burdensome (or not) the cost may be and how convenient they are to acquire and use.
| Attitude Aspect | Description | Key Influencers |
|---|---|---|
| Public acceptance | Increasing acceptance of female sexual health products | Media campaigns, education efforts |
| Medical professional perspectives | Growing support but some hesitance | Doctors, sexologists |
| Social stigma | Lessening but still present in some communities | Cultural shifts |
Unlike the sketchy “instant female arousal pill” products on the market, our top picks overwhelmingly rely on safe ingredients.
| Product | Dosage | Quantity + Bonus | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Viagra Generic | 50mg | 30 + 4 Pills | 54.26€ 51.68€ | |
| Viagra Original | 100mg | 12 Pills | 72.54€ 69.09€ | |
| Viagra Oral Jelly | 100mg | 21 Sachets | 78.66€ 74.91€ | |
| Viagra Generic | 100mg | 60 + 4 Pills | 96.36€ 91.77€ | |
| Viagra Generic | 150mg | 60 + 4 Pills | 111.25€ 105.95€ | |
| Viagra Generic | 25mg | 270 + 8 Pills | 184.26€ 175.49€ | |
| Viagra Generic | 150mg | 10 Pills | 36.73€ 34.98€ | |
| Viagra Generic | 100mg | 10 Pills | 28.91€ 27.53€ | |
| Viagra Generic | 50mg | 360 + 10 Pills | 225.33€ 214.60€ | |
| Viagra Generic | 200mg | 20 Pills | 61.69€ 58.75€ | |
| Viagra Soft Tabs | 100mg | 270 + 10 Pills | 419.95€ 399.95€ | |
| Viagra Original | 100mg | 48 + 4 Pills | 207.15€ 197.29€ | |
| Viagra Generic | 150mg | 360 + 10 Pills | 423.48€ 403.31€ |
Our choice for the best over-the-counter (OTC) pill, VitaFLUX, only uses five active ingredients: L-arginine, L-citrulline, L-carnitine tartrate, magnesium, and zinc.
How DARE to PLAY Sildenafil Cream Works
Because you can't fix HSDD if the problem is you really don't like your partner,” she says. Some insurance companies will cover HSDD medications. Your cost will vary based on your plan, but out-of-pocket cost for flibanserin is about $100 for 30 pills (1 month’s supply). Both drugs have different concerns and risks. The one you should take mostly depends on what works best for your lifestyle.
What causes low libido in women?
“There are certainly women who have no interest in injections,” Volkar says. “Others have no interest in taking a pill every day.” It’s best to talk to your doctor about which one would work for you. Researchers have mainly studied how the medicines work in women who haven’t gone through menopause yet. So the FDA approved both drugs for premenopausal women only. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not use either drug. These amino acids and minerals should be safe for most people to take.
Do They Work?
It’s important to note that neither drug makes sex better. They just make you more likely to feel in the mood. Your doctor may recommend that you try sex education and counseling along with the medication. You may also need hormone therapy, if you deal with any physical issues that affect sex, such as vaginal dryness. Your doctor needs to diagnose you with HSDD in order to prescribe either drug.
Effects on sexual dysfunction
They can do that by asking screening questions, such as: • Have you been satisfied with your level of sexual desire before?• Has your sex drive gotten lower?• Does your lack of libido bother you?• Would you like it to increase?• Are there other things (medication, pregnancy, surgery, stress) that could be affecting your sex drive? If you answer “yes” to the first four questions, and there’s no other cause for your low sex drive, you probably have HSDD. Volkar says the distress that a woman feels about her sex drive is often the driving factor in whether or not she needs to take medicine for it. “Because if you aren’t bothered by it, it’s not a problem,” she says. Also, your doctor will want “to make sure it's not related to your present situation or relationship. However, there are some instances where an alternative might be better for you.
What women are saying
The bottom line, Volkar says, is that though these treatments may not be perfect yet, having two medications available on the market is a move in the right direction. “I think it's great that we're finally doing research into medications for women and sexual desire,” she says. “I don't think it's quite the answer yet, but it’s an important first step.” If you’re a woman struggling with low libido or other sexual dysfunction concerns, you’re not alone. Research estimates that 10% of adult women live with Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD), and other studies report that approximately 40-50% experience at least one distressing sexual symptom in their lives due to the hormone changes of menopause.1 2 These symptoms vary widely from person to person and can manifest both physically and mentally. Since these symptoms can be highly distressing and result in lowered self-esteem or relationship difficulties, you may be looking for the quickest fix possible.
What is FSAD?
But with so many options on the market — a lot of which are from shady companies making impossible promises — how do you know which ones are effective and, most importantly, safe? In this guide to the best female arousal pills and topicals, we give you all the details of our top picks, including safety, effectiveness, cost, discounts, and much more. If you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick summary of our findings. Best over-the-counter pill: Promescent VitaFLUX Best (and fastest) prescription pill: Cake Meds Libido Lift Rx for Her Runner-up OTC pill: Hello Cake Drive For Her Best over-the-counter topical: Unbound Jolt Gel Promescent’s VitaFLUX is a non-prescription alternative that can improve libido, arousal, and natural lubrication in women. This vegan-friendly supplement relies on magnesium, zinc, and three amino acids — all of which research suggests can boost nitric oxide production and improve many symptoms of sexual dysfunction. For example, taking L-arginine could trigger a herpes flare-up (both HSV-1 and HSV-2), and L-carnitine may interact with certain thyroid
- Filbanserin can cause dizziness, sleepiness, nausea, and low blood pressure.
- It has serious interactions with alcohol and certain medications like antifungals.
- Bremelanotide side effects include nausea, vomiting, and temporary skin darkening.
- Ospemifene may increase the risk of blood clots and cause hot flashes.
- Testosterone therapy can cause acne, unwanted hair growth, and voice changes.
- Topical estrogen has minimal systemic absorption but can cause local irritation.
- All prescription treatments require a careful risk-benefit analysis with a doctor.
medications.3 4 So, as always, we recommend consulting your doctor before starting a supplement to ensure it’s safe for you.
Side Effects and Risks
These men often still have sexual desire, but they just can’t get their bodies to respond physically when they want to have sex. The drugs help by relaxing the muscles in the penis and boosting blood flow so an erection can happen. “I often say you can picture men's sexual desire as a light switch, and women's sexual desire as the cockpit of a 747,” she says. “There are more factors at play in female sexual desire.” As a result, the treatment for HSDD requires a more nuanced approach. The drugs the FDA has approved for HSDD are: Flibanserin (Addyi): It’s a pill you take every evening.
Increased genital blood flow
Bremelanotide (Vyleesi): It’s a shot you give yourself in the belly or thigh 45 minutes before you have sex. You take one in a 24-hour period, and doctors recommend only eight shots per month. Both drugs boost the activity of chemical messengers in your brain, called neurotransmitters, that are key to helping you feel aroused. You take flibanserin every day, whether you plan to have sex or not. You inject bremelanotide only when you need it. Overall, though, the ingredients in VitaFLUX don’t pose much of a risk for most people.
| Question | Answer | Additional Info |
|---|---|---|
| Is female viagra available over the counter in UK? | No, it requires a prescription | Currently, no OTC option in UK |
| How long does it take to work? | Usually within 30-60 minutes | Varies per individual |
| Are there natural alternatives? | Yes, herbal supplements and lifestyle changes | Consult a healthcare provider |
| Can I buy female viagra online safely? | Only from licensed and reputable sources | Beware of scams and counterfeit products |
HerSolution pills, on the other hand, have one ingredient that we’re not thrilled by the inclusion of — dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).
- Research is ongoing into new drug targets, like melanocortins and oxytocin.
- Lybrido and Lybridos were combination drugs (testosterone/sildenafil) investigated.
- The EROS-CTD device is an example of a non-hormonal, device-based treatment.
- Gene therapy and other novel approaches are in very early stages of research.
- Future treatments may offer more personalized approaches based on individual biology.
- Digital therapeutics and app-based cognitive behavioral therapy are emerging.
- The field is moving towards treating the combined psychological and biological causes.
Even though HerSolution’s 25mg dose of DHEA technically puts it in the “possibly safe” category, it still has the potential to interact with a multitude of mental health prescriptions, and it may
Two Medicines
There are others who shouldn’t take the medications, including those who: Take medication for HIV, hepatitis C, or high blood pressure that’s not under control “They can also interact with several drugs women commonly take, like fluconazole (Diflucan), which is a yeast infection medication, and also some antibiotics,” Volkar says. “So it's good to be aware of what medications you're on and discuss those with your doctor.” Women who use HSDD medications shouldn’t drink alcohol from 2 hours before they take the drug until the following morning, because it can lower blood pressure to dangerous levels. The drugs can cause side effects, such as: Bremelanotide can cause your skin and gums to get darker. To measure how well these drugs treat buy female viagra HSDD, doctors look at whether sexual desire has gone up and if distress about it has gone down. Volkar says flibanserin typically leads to “one more sexually significant event per month.” That may sound like a success to some and not to others.
Comparison table
“It depends on how you define things,” she says. “Is that awesome, or is that not so great? When I'm counseling a patient, I kind of leave that to their discretion and let them decide what that means for them.” There is no “normal” amount of sex or desire. So a change in the distress a woman feels about her sex drive is often a key sign of how well the treatment is working. If you try the medicine for 8 weeks and you haven’t felt a change, your doctor may recommend you stop taking it. worsen psychiatric disorders (among other adverse effects).5 6 This doesn’t mean that HerSolution is unsafe when
MEET OUR LOW LIBIDO TREATMENT
Flibanserin is thought to work by increasing dopamine (feel good hormone), with the aim of boosting sexual desire GET YOUR COPY NOW IN ONE CLICK Dimensions: 8.00in - 5.00in - 0.06in - 0.08lb For many women, sexual desire goes up and down over the years, often tied to changes in relationships, stress, and physical changes like pregnancy and menopause. But roughly 10% of women deal with a low sex drive that causes them distress. It’s a condition known as hypoactive sexual desire disorder (HSDD). There are a few over-the-counter supplements that aim to treat the problem, which have limited, mostly unproven, effects. But in recent years, the FDA has approved two prescription drugs to treat HSDD.
About the pre-fulfillment prescription period.
These treatments are often referred to as “female Viagra” -- a nod to one of the medicines that men can take for sexual problems. But they’re not much like Viagra at all. In fact, they work very differently inside the body. “In men, Viagra fixes a ‘plumbing problem,’ if you will,” says Judith Volkar, MD, of the UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital in Pittsburgh. Viagra and other similar drugs treat erectile dysfunction, when a man can’t get or keep an erection that’s firm enough to have sex. used as directed, but it does make it a riskier choice than alternatives without DHEA, like VitaFLUX.
- The Women's Health Concern charity offers expert advice on conditions like HSDD.
- The Sexual Advice Association provides resources and information for patients.
- Brook offers confidential sexual health support and advice for younger women.
- Relate provides relationship and sex therapy counseling services across the UK.
- The NHS website has extensive information on sexual health conditions and treatments.
- Online forums like HealthUnlocked offer community support and shared experiences.
- Always verify information from charities against NHS or other official medical sources.