Despite the wild success of its male counterpart, 'female Viagra' has yet to arouse anywhere near the level of interest or sales among women.

Nearly 600,000 men received prescriptions for the erectile dysfunction drug when it first hit the market in 1998, though women's libido pill Addyi had only counted 227 prescriptions in its first three weeks.

The drug flibanserin was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in August and the company that developed it was quickly bought by pharmaceutical giant Valeant, but potential users' have not been in the mood to try it during its first month.

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Addyi, once daily pill that combats low libido in women, has met with a lackluster reception despite being hailed after its approval as the biggest thing since the birth control pill

'There's been a lot of skepticism about this particular drug, from both women and their clinicians,' Kaiser Family Foundation's Alina Salganicoff told Bloomberg.

Despite often being called the 'female Viagra', Addyi's little pink pills have little in common with the blue variant in how they work medicinally.

It does not work increasing blood flow to the genitals, but instead affects seratonin levels in the brain to boost libido.

However, like an antidepressant, it must be taken every day, meaning that costs for the drug can reach up into the hundreds of dollars based on one clinic's price of $26 per pill.

Sprout, which makes Addyi and was bought by Valeant the day after it was approved, said that it has a program to help women who need the drug get it for $20 a month.

Despite Viagra's almost immediate mass appeal, Addyi is designed to treat women for hypoactive sexual-desire disorder, not as a measure against low libido for other reasons.

Men's erectile dysfunction drug Viagra met with orders from nearly 600,000 men during its first month in 1998, though Addyi has seen only hundreds in its first week

The FDA had previously rejected the drug twice, but accepted it late this summer and said there had previously been no 'approved treatments for sexual desire disorders in men or women'.

Supporters of Addyi had pointed to the fact that there are multiple drugs available for men's sexual dysfunction, but none had been approved for women.

However, the agency added it is only shown to work better than a placebo in 10 per cent of women and 'increased the number of satisfying sexual events by 0.5 to one additional event per month'.

A study released earlier this year found that Viagra worked 50 per cent better than placebo and was the most effective erectile dysfunction drug over other options such as Stendra.

Women are also supposed to completely refrain from drinking alcohol to avoid potential side effects such as low blood pressure and fainting.

Doctors also must go through a brief certification tutorial to prescribe it because of its side effect risk and the dangers of using for those who drink.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Addyi in August, and the company that developed it was quickly bought by pharmaceutical giant Valeant. Above, Valeant headquarters in Quebec

Though its set of restrictions is larger than Viagra, some were hot on the Addyi's potentials after it was approved.

'This is the biggest breakthrough in women’s sexual health since the advent of the pill,' Sally Greenburg of the National Consumer League, which asked the FDA to approve Addyi, told the New York Post in August.

It became available in the US a month ago, but has so far met with anticlimatic response.

Despite a range of factors including cost and certification likely having limited the number of prescriptions, Sprout CEO Cindy Whitehead said she was not disappointed in the drug.