Peptides As Aphrodisiacs (Big Pharma Rescues Your Sex Life)

It seems that men wanted to control female sexuality since the dawn of time.  “Aphrodisiacs” (named after Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and desire) appear in the medical writings of ancient Greece, and in Chinese medicine a combination of acupuncture and herbs apparently worked wonders. Ayurvedic practitioners may have suspected that spinal chiropractic manipulation was more involved with blocked Kundalini energy than back pain. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that Samuel Hahnemann, founder of homeopathy, eyeing Mrs. Hahnemann, toyed with a few titillating remedies, or that chiropractic founder Daniel David Palmer envisioned low libido as a spinal misalignment correctible by the appropriate manipulative therapies.

When I was a hormone-engorged, 14-year-old, the hot topic in this regard was an aphrodisiac called ‘Spanish fly’. We didn’t know what it meant beyond a Disney-fied housefly with a sombrero but thought if we could just find some of this magic stuff and sneak it into the punchbowl at the next youth mixer, we’d be able to transform all 8^th grade girls into (here’s a phrase from decades ago) “raging nymphomaniacs”. I’d later learn that Spanish fly was an actual herb–cantharides–and years later when cleaning out my father’s ancient drug store, I actually found a dust-coated bottle of the stuff, its contents long since evaporated away. Staring at it, I probably fantasized about the potential power I might have had, if only, if only. Cantharides was later shown in clinical trials to be worthless.

Until recently, medications to improve libido, prescription or over-the-counter, have been research-elusive. For men, raising levels of the male hormone testosterone helps (sometimes) and for women, a very small dose of testosterone helps (sometimes). Now that there’s an actual “named” condition Generalized Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder in Premenopausal Women (HSDD), which struck me as age-ism until I realized that Medicare Part C would never cover medications that gave women any pleasure. Antidepressants, yes. Aphrodisiacs, no.  

The first of these is Addyi (flibanserin), whose data is so completely unimpressive that it barely squeaked by FDA approval. This article from Vogue, written by an Addyi user, sounds like either she’s a shill for the manufacturer or channeling the Onion. Quote, “I’m actually thinking about sex”, doesn’t seem like a compelling reason to take a med that can cause fainting spells, liver damage, insomnia, and specifically forbids alcohol.

For a far more interesting approach to HSDD, pre-, peri- and post-menopausal years, we need to look at the peptides, which I’ve been writing about for the past several weeks.

The peptide for better sex is called Vyleesi (generic: bremelanotide) and, like other peptides (insulin, Thymosin Alpha-1, BPC 157), needs to be injected, this time 1-2 hours before sexual activity. On the plus side, it can be used by men and women.

Researchers aren’t positive exactly how bremelanotide works but it seems to act upon certain parts of the brain called melanocortin receptors, which improve sexual desire, and, if you trust the words of one of my favorite people, Suzanne Somers, improve it f-a-s-t.

‘I’m in the mood all the time!’, Suzanne Somers, 73, gets VERY candid about her passionate sex life with her husband, Alan, 83 – revealing they both take a weekly ‘sex shot’ that helps them make love TWICE a day.

Of course, this large bold font has been lifted directly from the London Daily Mail and spread all across the internet. The other name of Vyleesi is PT-141 because (if you remember) peptides can’t be patented by Big Pharma.

If you want to try PT-141, call and schedule a visit with a WholeHealth Chicago practitioner. The price of 2 ml of PT-141 from WholeHealth is $250 (dramatically less than $1,300 for Vyleesi). When you come to pick up your vial, there’s a $30 fee (includes instructions from our clinical support staff on how to inject as well as supplies (syringes, etc.)). You, or you and your partner (or the menage a trois), inject approximately 45 minutes before planned sexual activity. You’re advised only to use PT-141 once in 24 hours and no more than 8 times a month. The only medical contraindication is uncontrolled high blood pressure.

Be well,
David Edelberg, MD