Are expectations for the female Viagra realistic?

NAIROBI: The recent approval and announcement of the female equivalent of Viagra is already causing a storm.

I simply did not expect so many young women to come calling for the "pink pill".

Although manufacturers of the drug, Addyi, hope it will do for women what Viagra did for men, questions still remain whether it is indeed the breakthrough they claim it is.

At the moment, relationship and sex therapists are saying Addyi is only moderately effective and should not be taken with alcohol since it can have potentially serious side-effects.

While there are trials that show Addyi gave women, who took it daily, one extra satisfying experience per month, I am concerned about the expectations women have.

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Among the women who called me, there were expectations that the drug would put their sexual desire back on a high similar to what it was when they first met their partner.

Some were wondering if they are missing out on pleasure with others talking about not being good enough or not measuring up.

These are all anxieties brought on by misinformation about sex, perpetuated by the media and especially men and women's magazines, with an additional cultural wallpaper telling you to provide frequent sex if you do not want to be left alone.

Clinical Psychologist Rachel Mwikali says women's sexuality is very complicated and is not just a matter of taking a pill that will "all of a sudden make the lights go on".

"You have to feel good about your body and about yourself. You have to feel the guy really loves you. ... It is complex. Not the same as a man taking a pill," she says.

Critics believe the FDA was pressured and half-shamed into approving Addyi following a campaign headed by a vocal group called Even the Score, which pitched the absence of drugs to help women with low libido as a gender inequality issue.

Drug companies are today accused of attempting to turn the loss of sexual desire, which some women experience, into a medical condition that can be treated by pills.