Viagra: A Woman's Perspective

Viagra for Him, Viagra for Her

Sounds like a new perfume ad, doesn't it? There are two ways Viagra could affect your sex life: if he takes it and if someday you take it.

If He Takes It

Most people know that Viagra (also called Sildenafil) is the new drug to cure impotency. This can only improve a woman's sex life right? Not always. Many couples in the age group most affected (the 50s or older) grew up with the idea of the missionary position and thrusting as defining sex. As has been mentioned in previous articles (see CAT position and G-spot) this is far from ideal for women's orgasm. Impotency caused some couples to stop physical intimacy all together. They didn't know there are other ways to have sex. But, others discovered what the AIDS/Safe Sex Generation takes for granted. More specifically, many of these couples discovered the clitoris. Some of the women had an orgasm for the first time. Viagra may take women backwards. Whatever communication got you to sexual activity in spite of impotency needs to be used again to express your desire to keep doing what you have been doing. If you are someone who stopped everything and aren't looking forward to going back because it wasn't that good for you anyway, then you need to find the words to talk about this and learn what you want.

If You Take It

Viagra works by increasing blood flow to the genital area. The penis and the clitoris are analogous organs. If the penis can become erect through Viagra, why can't the clitoris? An erect clitoris is necessary for female orgasm, as it is for males. Thus, Viagra could conceivably work for women who are anorgasmic. There have been a few studies done recently on the use of Viagra in women, but most of them have been performed with too few subjects to make any definite conclusions. The most useful study involved treating 33 postmenopausal women, who complained of sexual dysfunction, with Viagra for a time period of three months. These women were then assessed using the self-administered Index of Female Sexual Function (IFSF) and the global efficacy question (GEQ) Did treatment improve your sexual function? Mean scores showed that lubrication improved by 23.2%, orgasm by 7.4%, and clitoral sensation by 31.3%. 21% of the women noted improvement on the GEQ. However, overall only 18.1% of the women had a significant therapeutic response (more than 60% improvement in IFSF score). Negative side effects included clitoral discomfort and hypersensitivity in 21% of the women, headache and dizziness. This study shows that overall sexual function did not improve significantly. However, since there have been relatively few studies done on this subject, at this point no definite conclusions can be made regarding the role of Viagra in women.

Precautions

Should any normal human being take Viagra to be better than before? Nooooo! This could be like filling up a water balloon that is already full. In men, the term is priapism, which is a very painful prolonged erection. In women, the analogous problem could be pelvic congestion, which is also painful. Viagra is only for people who are already experiencing difficulty with sex.