NY Times - Swelled With Curiosity, Women Try Viagra
May 16, 1998
By ALEX KUCZYNSKI
EW YORK -- Recently, eight female friends in their 30s and 40s
gathered for lunch at Coco Pazzo Teatro in mid-Manhattan. After
two weeks of rain, the sun was shining, the women were in high spirits,
and after one showed a picture of the man she is dating (an underwear
model), talk turned to spring fever, love, sex -- and Viagra.
"I'd try it," one woman said, sipping a Kir royale.
"I'd try it, too," chimed in another, a pink flush creeping up her
decolletage.
"After amyl nitrate in college, why not?" burbled another.
The waiter lingered a little too long while clearing the salad plates, eager
to eavesdrop, and the point was made. Everyone is awfully curious about
what the male potency pill might do for women.
The scientific community is curious, too. Just as Viagra helps men with
erectile dysfunction by increasing blood flow to the penis, it causes blood
to flow to women's sexual organs, potentially increasing sensitivity.
But even before the results are in from studies of the drug's effect on
women's sexual arousal and satisfaction, a number of women, inevitably,
are stepping into the breach on their own to try it. They do not necessarily
complain of sexual dysfunction, but simply want to satisfy their curiosity.
There are no figures available on how many women are experimenting
with off-label use of Viagra, but call any urologist who has written Viagra
prescriptions for men and you will hear of a wife, a partner or a girlfriend
who has tried it.
This handful of women around the country have access to Viagra because
their partners (or generous friends) have prescriptions, or their profession
allows them access to prescription drugs. And they are willing to try it
out, despite doctors' warnings that no one knows what the potential
long-term side effects might be for women.
Take Dr. Susan C. Vaughan, 34, a psychiatrist in Manhattan. She
considers herself a healthy, normal woman. Everything that should work,
does.
But come to think of it, she said she wouldn't mind trying Viagra.
"I've come across a number of women who are curious about it," Dr.
Vaughan said. "Some of them are taking Prozac or similar drugs, and find
that those medications are affecting their sexual response. And then there
are lots of normal women who are, frankly, just curious. They're
wondering: 'How good can this get? Can it get even better?"'
A 42-year-old nurse in New Jersey, who like most women in this article
refused to be quoted except on condition of anonymity, said she tried
Viagra for the first time last weekend. She wanted to be able to discuss
the drug's effects with patients; she also thought it might help with the fact
that she is reluctant to have sex at certain times in her menstrual cycle.
"I only see my boyfriend every two weeks because we live in different
states," she explained. "And if I'm not in the mood on one of those
weekends, well, then there goes the month. I've been with him for about
two-and-a-half years, and it's just not as exciting as it used to be."
Last Saturday night, she swallowed a blue, diamond-shaped Viagra pill,
which she sneaked from a cache in the office where she works. The
dosage was 50 milligrams, the standard for male sexual dysfunction. She
chose not to tell her partner. "We were watching television, just a regular
movie," she said, noting that after an hour she began to feel "a fullness. I
can't say it was a tingling, but it was some effect of the increased blood
flow to the area." The couple retreated to the bedroom, and the pill began
to work its alleged magic.
"I have to say it was great," the woman said. "It was animalistic. I can
definitely say it was not a placebo effect. I'm a nurse, and I'm trained to
recognize those things." Of the side effects reported by male users of
Viagra -- a drop in blood pressure, a mild headache, a blue tint to the
vision, a flushed face -- she reported only one: exceedingly rosy cheeks,
which she explained to her boyfriend as springtime allergies. She has no
hesitancy about trying the drug again, despite doctors' warnings that
women of childbearing age should not take the drug. "I've had children,
and I was using birth control," she explained.
Dr. Jennifer Berman, a urologist at the University of Maryland in
Baltimore, is conducting a study of the effects of Viagra on women who
have some level of sexual dysfunction and is giving the drug only to those
who have had hysterectomies or are postmenopausal.
"We're not giving it to women of childbearing potential because we're just
not sure of the effects on women of childbearing age," she said.
Dr. Stanley Bloom, a urologist in Livingston, N.J., who plans to study the
effects of Viagra on women, uses harsher warnings. "There's a lot of
curiosity and there's going to be more and more experimentation," he
said. "I see a lot of men, and invariably some of them are going to give it
to their partners. But we should be cautious. Do you remember
thalidomide? You can't be too blase with this stuff. No one could have
foreseen the disastrous effects of that drug."
A freelance writer in Manhattan tried Viagra 10 days ago because she felt
that Prozac, which she has been taking for more than a year, had
dampened her sexual ardor. Notably, she also chose not to tell her
partner.
"I was sort of embarrassed to tell him," the writer said. "I didn't want him
to think that he was part of the problem." The writer procured a Viagra
tablet from a male friend who is taking the drug because of impotence. "It
made me hypersensitive, and therefore more aware of his touch," the
writer reported. "It didn't make me hornier, per se, but because
everything was more sensitive, it made me more receptive." She
cautioned, however, that "it was almost too much. I was almost distracted
by how sensitive the whole area had become."
Barbara Tovak, a physical therapist in Newport Beach, Calif., tried
Viagra last week and said it helped with the occasional lack of lubrication
from which she suffers. But she is wary of long-term side effects.
"I'll try anything once, but I'm afraid of becoming dependent on it, and the
whole fen-phen thing really scared me last year," she said, referring to the
diet drug combination withdrawn from the market because of concerns
about heart problems.
A woman who is an editor at a men's magazine in Manhattan said that she
tried Viagra because it takes her a long time to reach climax during
intercourse. Without Viagra, it takes about an hour and a half, she said.
With Viagra, it took half that time. But it was not without its side effects.
"I saw blue," the editor said. "If you look at photography, there's a certain
style that has a blue tint to it. That's what it looked like. And I also got a
mild pressure headache."
She also said she felt compelled to try Viagra because she felt left out of
the medical community's concern about male potency. "Look at men," she
said. "The wind changes direction and they have an orgasm. What about
us? Why isn't anyone paying attention to our sexual feelings?"
Several studies are under way to examine Viagra's effects on women. Dr.
Berman's study, which is supported by a grant from the American
Foundation of Urologic Disease, was scheduled to begin in July, but so
many women clamored to join that she had to open the program early.
And Dr. Vaughan has worked a bit of Viagra-like magic on the book
publishing industry in recent weeks. Three weeks ago, Simon & Schuster
got in touch with her to write a book about Viagra; she wrote a
65,000-word manuscript in less than two weeks. Finished copies of
"Viagra: A Guide to the Phenomenal Potency-Promoting Drug," complete
with a lengthy chapter on potential benefits for women, are scheduled to
arrive at her publisher's office Monday and in bookstores on Tuesday.
"I'm certainly curious about Viagra, and I'll probably try it," Dr. Vaughan
said. "I just haven't been able to afford having a headache anytime in the
last two weeks." |
