Posted on 07/22/2008 2:07:48 PM PDT by neverdem
Viagra helps women taking antidepressants overcome the sexual dysfunction that can be a side effect of taking the medication, new research says.
Researchers from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine found that women who took the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil, a.k.a Viagra, had an improvement in sexual function in contrast to women who took a placebo.
The findings are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The researchers said this is the first randomized controlled trial showing that there is a treatment for the sexual dysfunction that women experience as a result of taking antidepressants.
According to information included with the study, sexual dysfunction caused by antidepressant treatment occurs in between 30 and 70 per cent of patients. In fact, sexual dysfunction is a major reason that as many as 70 per cent of patients who are prescribed antidepressants go off the medication in the first few months of treatment.
Dr. H. George Nurnberg and colleagues tested the efficacy of sildenafil versus a placebo to alleviate sexual health problems, such as delayed orgasm or a lack of arousal, in 98 women. The study subjects were taking selective or nonselective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI), the most common forms of antidepressants.
Subjects took between 50 and 100 milligrams of either sildenafil or a placebo one to two hours before sexual activity for eight weeks.
The researchers found that 73 per cent of women taking the placebo did not have an improvement in symptoms, while only 28 per cent of women taking sildenafil showed no improvement.
Indeed, the women who took sildenafil showed much greater improvement in sexual function.
"These findings are important not only because women experience major depressive disorder at nearly double the rate of men and because they experience greater resulting sexual dysfunction than men, but also because it establishes that selective phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitors (such as sildenafil) are effective in both sexes for this purpose," the authors wrote in their study.
The authors noted that treating the side effects of medication will help keep more patients on it. This means the patients will be less likely to have their symptoms worsen, which is a common outcome when patients discontinue medication prematurely because of the side effects.
One side will make you taller, and the other side will make you small.
Makes sense, you’re down with the blues so the little blue pill gets you up. But if woemen are taking it I’m not sure they are clear on the concept.
Treating drugs with drugs
It's not just for Hunter S. Thompson anymore!
LOL! As a woman who ALSO happens to be a chronic depressive, I find that sex improves my entire outlook...WITHOUT the stupid drugs! Oh, and gals...catnip tea. NO side effects, powerful antidepressant in humans, I use it a lot and know dozens who also do. It works, without all the crapola. Also good if you’re trying to quit smoking. Just FYI.
Okay. We got female arousal, we got cat nip tea.
And I’m supposed to refrain from bad jokes?
I’m only human!!
viagra? ten foot pole?
not.. gonna... go there...
You smaht. LOL
What about that 4 hour thingie?
BWAhahahahahahahaha...
But no, really, no kidding guys, it works. Not as good as sex does, mind you, but it DOES work. I never recommend a cure that I haven’t first tried on myself and then got some volunteers to try it too, so the study can be accurate.
I’m already ready to run like a bat out of hell...
Can the 4 hour thingy apply to women??
In that same vein, the next time you or anyone you know has a problem with colds or sinus infection?
Get thee to a health food supplement shop or department and pick up ‘Olive Leaf Extract’ (comes in 500 mg capsules).
Start taking that stuff 1000 mg at a time, morning noon and night and it will clean up your sinus and you’ll be rid of that bug inside of 3 or 4 days, count on it.
Ewwww, echinacea anr/or vitamin C (immune system stimulants) sage (makes you sweat) and salt (gargle with it last thing you do at night before going to bed, the nasal and ear canals are connected to your throat and vice versa, NOTHING lives through a good salt water gargle. Best if you do it two to three times a day, but NOBODY I know (especially me) is willing to cut the coffee out in order to let the salt water work in the morning, and few are willing to give up the midday boost. Over the years, I’ve found that nighttime - you can get up and get a glass of water a few hours later - is the most efficacious time to gargle with salt water.
Old herbalist’s staple, salt water. Ask your family doctor. If he doesn’t know what salt water is good for, he’s not worth having as a family doctor.
That’s good stuff, and while I think of it, I’d like to put in a plug for humble hydrogen peroxide, add a 500 ml bottle to a 1/2 gallon humidifier, let it run overnight, hydrogen peroxide is one of the most potent antiseptics known to man and as you breathe in the combination moist air with Hyd-Pxe, it WILL kill germs.
Also, lay on your side, and have someone put a dropper of Hyd-Pxe into your ears, not only will it kill germs, but it will get rid of any ear wax in there too!
And I subscribe to the salt water regimen too.
Yep, hydrogen peroxide is good. So is using good old chlorine bleach on surfaces, while washing bedding with a bit of chlorine bleach added to kill the nasties. Also drops of essential eucalyptus oil (natural antibiotic and refrigerant) in your humidifier can cleanse he air and soothe the respiratory tract - it’s like putting Vicks into your vaporizer, but cheaper. For an even cheaper alternative, and also a nice houseplant and great seasoning for lamb, pork and venison, there’s rosemary, which is heavy on rosmarin, which happens to be basically mentholatum, which is the same as eucalyptus oil and you can just peel needles off as needed.
The Labia Majora contain significant amounts of erectile tissue, and so does the clitoris. I can imagine that Viagra might very well effect these structures in a meaningful way, that just might be interesting to women.
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