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Can a Supplement Really Fix Your Libido?

What experts say about the products claiming to make you feral again.

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Illustration: Lia Kantrowitz
Illustration: Lia Kantrowitz

We are living in deeply unsexy times. I mean, the internet’s up in arms over a racy Sabrina Carpenter album cover. Still, people want to be feral again, and they’re turning to supplements to get them there. Last month, Kourtney Kardashian’s vitamin company, Lemme — known for its GLP-1 Daily weight-loss gummies — dropped Lemme Play, a cherry-flavored, horny-goat-weed-and-maca-infused “daily intimacy gummy” to increase blood flow. On TikTok, commission-earning creators sing its praises. “I don’t want to say this might be a marriage-saver, but I’m going to say it: This might be a marriage-saver,” one influencer declared while in bed with her husband. “Lemme is trying to get us all knocked up this summer … This has me climbing my man like a tree,” said another. “Whatever she put in this made me forget I had low libido.”

It’s just one of many supplements and drugs that promise to get you in the mood again. But what’s just a placebo effect, and what can actually help improve things in the bedroom? We spoke to doctors and women who have tried out everything from OTC gummies to prescription drugs to find out.

First things first: What’s really causing your low libido?

Changes in sex drive can happen to anybody for any reason, from stress to hormone fluctuations to partner issues to pain — you don’t have to be in perimenopause or menopause to experience a decline in your interest. “When I talk to patients, I split things up between the physical, anatomical reasons someone might be having difficulty with sex and the mental barriers,” says Dr. Monica Christmas, an OB/GYN and director of the Center for Women’s Integrated Health at the University of Chicago. “We want to do a complete intake of the patient and understand what they’re going through. Is there depression or other comorbidities that might be contributing?” Physical issues might include tight pelvic-floor muscles, vaginismus, or even side effects of antidepressants or certain birth-control pills, which can lower testosterone, which plays an important role in maintaining libido levels. But oral contraceptives aren’t the only reason your testosterone might be low. “Testosterone decreasing is not a menopause thing; it’s an age-related thing,” says Dr. Rachel Rubin, a urologist and sexual-health specialist in the Washington, D.C., area. “So people in their 30s have a lowering of their testosterone levels.”

It can be trickier to address the mental health-related causes of low desire. “People always think there’s something magical that’s just supposed to happen in the genitals, but if your head isn’t in that space and you have blocks that prevent you from giving or receiving pleasure,” then it’s a good idea to see a sex therapist in tandem with your physical-care doctor. “Sex therapy can be a vital component of managing sexual dysfunction,” says Dr. Christmas. “Sex therapists help people determine what their mental blocks may be and come up with strategies to focus and be in the moment. They also help patients recognize that desire ebbs and flows — it’s not a good or bad thing.” (If you’re not sure where to find a good sex therapist, the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists, or AASECT, is a good place to start.)

How common is low sex drive?

More than 40 percent of women are estimated to have low sexual desire, and one in ten struggle with hypoactive-sexual-desire disorder, or HSDD, a condition that’s defined by a persistent lack of interest in sex. “HSDD is low libido that you’re bothered by,” says Dr. Rubin. Bothered by is key here: “We know that about 40 percent of women will say they have low desire, but only about 10 percent say they’re bothered by it. It’s not a medical problem unless you want it to be a medical problem.” Dr. Christmas adds that your low desire needs to last six months or longer to be HSDD.

You may be thinking, Why am I just hearing about HSDD now? The condition is underdiagnosed and undertreated in part because not every provider is well versed in sexual medicine. “Nobody learns sexual medicine in their medical-school training — or, really, in their residency training,” says Dr. Rubin. And your OB/GYN isn’t a one-stop shop either: “Unless your gynecologist took special training, got lucky with a mentor, or went out of their way to learn about it, they don’t necessarily have the toolbox; they’re dealing with emergencies and cancer and delivering babies, and unfortunately your libido is not high up on their priority list.” She recommends finding a provider with sexual-medicine training through the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health database.

Can a gummy really boost your libido?

Be skeptical of any influencer saying a daily intimacy gummy is “basically libido for women.” “Not only is there no data to support the use of these to help sex drive, but they’re not recommended in HSDD guidelines,” says Dr. Rubin. Though there have been case reports and small studies over the years suggesting that ingredients like maca root and horny goat weed can be slightly beneficial for libido, the jury is still out. There’s also no regulatory oversight of supplements: “No one is checking inside your gummy to see if there’s even maca root in there, how much of it, and if it’s the same in every gummy,” Dr. Rubin says. Dr. Christmas adds that the studies that supplement companies cite to back up their claims are often flawed and have exaggerated results. “The company might say they did the study, but if you look at the small details, you might see there’s only 20 people in the study, they all got this treatment, and then they’ll conclude there was a 30 percent increase in sexual desire or whatever,” she says. (On the Lemme website, the company says Play gummies are made with “a blend of seven plant-based ingredients shown in a clinical study to promote healthy blood flow and support nitric oxide levels.” When I asked Lemme to share that study, the brand told me it couldn’t disclose it.) Those I spoke with weren’t impressed with Lemme Play gummies, either. “I’m a person who can get influenced by almost anything, but to this day I don’t get the tingles; I don’t want to grab my husband and go hide in the bathroom; I don’t feel extra blood flow down there that makes me feel like I’m in the mood,” one 42-year-old Milwaukee mom tells me. “There’s nothing, honestly.”

That’s not to say herbs and supplements can’t be beneficial, and there are even companies that actually do robust research into how they can be used for medical problems, like cranberry capsules for UTI prevention. According to Dr. Rubin, supplement companies making sweeping  claims need to provide consumers with the data that shows their products are safe and actually work. “Companies can always invest in research — it’s just that so few do,” she says. And they’re unlikely to do so when they’re making sales regardless.

What about THC edibles?

As recreational-marijuana use expands across the country, a growing number of THC-edible-makers say their products can heighten your sexual pleasure. Anecdotally, cannabis use can enhance pleasure and orgasm in women, but Dr. Rubin says “there’s not really good data” on this question because regulations on the drug make it difficult to research. “If you ask people who ingest marijuana in some form or another about how their sexual function is, you do see people say it’s great for orgasm — that’s been published on,” she says. “We don’t have much more data beyond that, and we need it, but we do anecdotally see people who say, ‘My pain goes down when I’m high. My orgasm is improved if I eat a gummy.’” One 53-year-old from Buffalo told me she started taking ten-milligram edibles every night after she and her husband confiscated their teenage son’s marijuana and realized the calm, clearheadedness of a high could lead to pretty electric sex. “I got visuals with orgasm,” she says. “Being high helps us be in the moment and makes my nerve endings tingle, my skin sensitive. It’s fantastic.”

Dr. Christmas adds that THC for sex drive isn’t a “recommended therapy,” and one should be mindful that these products “don’t have to undergo the same scrutiny” as FDA-approved drugs, so it’s hard to know how safe they are. Another consequence of the lack of research into THC and sex is that we don’t know the long-term risks — new studies suggest the drug could be associated with a greater risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Do vaginal moisturizers do anything?

For patients experiencing dryness, the OTC market is flooded with moisturizers that promise to ease things along. Experts say the products that contain hyaluronic acid — a substance naturally found in the eyes, skin, and joints that’s vital to lubrication — can be helpful, but only to a degree. “There’s some data on hyaluronic suppositories that can help decrease pain with sex and help with lubrication, but it’s sort of like a Band-Aid,” says Dr. Rubin, who advises seeing a doctor with training in sexual medicine for diagnosis and treatment.

If your dryness or vaginal atrophy is more severe, you might need prescription hormone therapy, Dr. Christmas says. You also have to use hyaluronic acid regularly for it to be effective. “It’s basically lotion for the vagina and should probably be used three times a week and could be used more,” says Dr. Christmas, who also recommends staying away from products with high alcohol content or added fragrance, which can potentially cause irritation. In addition to hyaluronic acid, moisturizers containing coconut oil and vitamin-E oil might also help relieve mild symptoms.

How much can FDA-approved drugs help with my sex drive?

There are currently two FDA-approved medications to help treat HSDD: a once-daily pill called Addyi and an on-demand shot called Vyleesi that you give to yourself 45 minutes before sex. Both work by helping to balance the brain chemicals that influence your sex drive, but not everyone responds to them the same way. “About 60 percent of the patients respond to the medicine. No medicine works for everybody,” says Dr. Rubin. “For Addyi, it takes a couple of months to see if you’re a responder, and those who do respond say, ‘Wow, my sex dreams are back. I initiated sex. I feel sexual thoughts. I feel more like me.’ And it’s life-changing for them.” Addyi side effects include sleepiness, dizziness, and fatigue. Vyleesi’s are similar: nausea, fatigue, and irritation at the injection site. While these side effects give some providers pause, not to mention the fact that it’s hard to get the medications covered by insurance, Dr. Rubin is skeptical of literature suggesting that the drugs have only modest benefits. “The people who tell you that don’t use them that often. They’re not commonly prescribed medications,” she says. “The worst side effect I’ve ever seen is that the drug didn’t work — you’re a nonresponder — which is a bummer,” she says.

But when the medications do work, the benefits are well worth it. “I had a CEO of a big company once tell me, ‘This is a vacation drug. This is way too powerful — my partner couldn’t keep up with me,’” Dr. Rubin said of Vyleesi. Hours after her first injection, Ashley, a 34-year-old accountant living in Kansas who has always struggled with low libido, started feeling blood flow to her genitals and arousal that lasted for hours. Though she did experience some nausea and a good hour of nasal drip, once that all subsided, she and her boyfriend had multiple rounds of urgent sex. For Ashley, sex feels more intense on the drug, though it still has its drawbacks. “You feel so much pressure and sensation down there, but it’s more physical and not so much mental, which I found disappointing. I was hoping I’d have more sexual thoughts. Instead, it was more, Something needs to be inserted in my vagina.” 

When hormone-replacement therapy didn’t help Heather, a 47-year-old nurse who lives outside Philadelphia, her doctor prescribed her Vyleesi. The next morning after taking it, in the car on her way to nursing-school graduation, she was still rabid. “I was crossing my legs in the car, I was grinding the air, and it lasted for hours. I’m grinning in my graduation photo,” Heather says. Since then, the effects have been inconsistent. Her second and third injections did nothing for her; the fourth shot did a bit more, though her arousal was still less intense than the first time around. “The sex wasn’t mind-blowing, but the desire was there,” she says. “I never want to have sex ever, so just having that thought feels good.”

So what actually helps?

As tempting as the idea of a simple fix might be, treating a low sex drive takes a multipronged treatment approach. Dr. Rubin’s patients who “get the best care” and have the best sexual outcomes “do a little bit of a few things — they may be on medication, they may be on a hormone, they may have a sex therapist, and they have a great partner.” Dr Christmas agrees: “People have to be open and realize there’s not one magic jelly bean.”

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Can a Supplement Really Fix Your Libido?