Treatments that may increase sex drive in women

Two randomized controlled trials examined the effect of testosterone on postmenopausal women with HSDD. One trial randomized 272 women ages 40 to 70 years to a 300-mcg transdermal testosterone patch (TTP; 142 women) or placebo (130 women).=177490#bib1"]1

At 6 months, women using the TTP reported more sexually satisfying episodes (1.69 vs 0.59 episodes in 4 weeks;[style=font-style: italic;]P=.0089) and a minimal increase in sexual desire scores (12.2 vs 4.56 on a 100-point sexual desire scale; P=.0007) compared with women using placebo.
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[style=font-style: italic;]A second trial randomized 814 postmenopausal women (mean age 54.2 years) to placebo (277 women), a 150-mcg TTP (267 women), or a 300-mcg TTP (270 women).=177490#bib2"]2 At 24 weeks, women taking 300 mcg (but not 150 mcg) of testosterone reported a greater number of satisfying sexual episodes than women taking placebo (2.1 vs 0.7; P<.0001). The 300-mcg TTP caused more unwanted hair growth than placebo (19.9% vs 10.5%; no P value given). The study didn’t continue long enough to assess cardiovascular risks.[/style]

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Source:
[style=font-weight: bold;]Which treatments help women with reduced libido?[/style]
[style=font-style: italic;]J Fam Pract. 2013 February;62(2):102-103.[/style]
[style=font-style: italic;]Keia Hobbs, MD[/style]