Does Wellbutrin Make Women Horney?

Wednesday April 18, 2001 4:30 PM ET

Does Wellbutrin Make Women Horney?
Anti-Depression Drug "Wellbutrin" May Cure Low Sex Drive

WASHINGTON (Reuter) - An anti-depression drug sparked increased sexual interest, arousal and fantasies in women diagnosed with a low sex drive, researchers said on Wednesday.

The small study involved the drug bupropion hydrochloride, which is marketed under the name Wellbutrin by GlaxoSmithKline Plc and is approved for the treatment of depression. GlaxoSmithKline funded the research.

The researchers, led by Dr. R. Taylor Segraves, a professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, studied women diagnosed with hypoactive sexual desire disorder, which is characterized by persistently diminished or absent sexual fantasies or desire for sexual activity. A person with the disorder can function sexually.

Of the 51 women given eight weeks of treatment with the drug in Cleveland, San Antonio and Philadelphia, almost a third experienced increases in the number of episodes of sexual arousal, sexual fantasy and interest in engaging in sexual activity, the researchers said. The study was published in the Journal of Sex and Marital Therapy.

``We tried to screen so that we got women who had previously had normal libido and for unknown reasons had lost it -- they had to be in good relationships, not depressed, not anxious, no drug abuse, no major medical problems, no drug side effects,'' Segraves said in an interview.

Segraves said he was planning another study involving more subjects and a longer period of treatment with the drug, which enhanced two chemicals, norepinephrine and dopamine, that affect sexual desire.

Segraves said a rough estimate is that 20 percent of women in the United States are affected by the disorder, for which there is no approved drug treatment. He said psychotherapy has proven to be minimally effective in treating it.

``If there are relationship problems or if somebody comes from a background that had fairly restrictive family values about sex, psychotherapy can help those people a lot,'' Segraves added. ``But the group that presents a mysterious onset of problems in a good relationship, those are the ones that are murder to figure out. And that's who we're trying to target.''