RECENTLY, eight female friends in their 30's and 40's gathered for lunch at Coco Pazzo Teatro on West 46th Street. After two weeks of rain, the sun was shining, the women were in high spirits, and after one showed a picture of the man she is dating (an underwear model), talk turned to spring fever, love, sex -- and Viagra.
''I'd try it,'' one woman said, sipping a Kir royale.
''I'd try it, too,'' chimed in another, a pink flush creeping up her decolletage.
''After amyl nitrate in college, why not?'' burbled another.
The waiter lingered a little too long while clearing the salad plates, eager to eavesdrop, and the point was made. Everyone is awfully curious about what the male potency pill might do for women.
The scientific community is curious, too. Just as Viagra helps men with erectile dysfunction by increasing blood flow to the penis, it causes blood to flow to women's sexual organs, potentially increasing sensitivity.
But even before the results are in from studies of the drug's effect on women's sexual arousal and satisfaction, a number of women, inevitably, are stepping into the breach on their own to try it. They do not necessarily complain of sexual dysfunction, but simply want to satisfy their curiosity.
There are no figures available on how many women are experimenting with off-label use of Viagra, but call any urologist who has written Viagra prescriptions for men and you will hear of a wife, a partner or a girlfriend who has tried it.
This handful of women around the country have access to Viagra because their partners (or generous friends) have prescriptions, or their profession allows them access to prescription drugs. And they are willing to try it out, despite doctors' warnings that no one knows what the potential long-term side effects might be for women.
Take Dr. Susan C. Vaughan, 34, a psychiatrist in Manhattan. She considers herself a healthy, normal woman. Everything that should work, does.
But come to think of it, she said she wouldn't mind trying Viagra.
''I've come across a number of women who are curious about it,'' Dr. Vaughan said. ''Some of them are taking Prozac or similar drugs, and find that those medications are affecting their sexual response. And then there are lots of normal women who are, frankly, just curious. They're wondering: 'How good can this get? Can it get even better?' ''
A 42-year-old nurse in New Jersey, who like most women in this article refused to be quoted except on condition of anonymity, said she tried Viagra for the first time last weekend. She wanted to be able to discuss the drug's effects with patients; she also thought it might help with the fact that she is reluctant to have sex at certain times in her menstrual cycle.
''I only see my boyfriend every two weeks because we live in different states,'' she explained. ''And if I'm not in the mood on one of those weekends, well, then there goes the month. I've been with him for about two and a half years, and it's just not as exciting as it used to be.''

Last Saturday night, she swallowed a blue, diamond-shaped Viagra pill, which she sneaked from a cache in the office where she works. The dosage was 50 milligrams, the standard for male sexual dysfunction. She chose not to tell her partner. ''We were watching television, just a regular movie,'' she said, noting that after an hour she began to feel ''a fullness. I can't say it was a tingling, but it was some effect of the increased blood flow to the area.'' The couple retreated to the bedroom, and the pill began to work its alleged magic.
''I have to say it was great,'' the woman said. ''It was animalistic. I can definitely say it was not a placebo effect. I'm a nurse, and I'm trained to recognize those things.'' Of the side effects reported by male users of Viagra -- a drop in blood pressure, a mild headache, a blue tint to the vision, a flushed face -- she reported only one: exceedingly rosy cheeks, which she explained to her boyfriend as springtime allergies. She has no hesitancy about trying the drug again, despite doctors' warnings that women of childbearing age should not take the drug. ''I've had children, and I was using birth control,'' she explained.
Dr. Jennifer Berman, a urologist at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, is conducting a study of the effects of Viagra on women who have some level of sexual dysfunction and is giving the drug only to those who have had hysterectomies or are postmenopausal.
''We're not giving it to women of childbearing potential because we're just not sure of the effects on women of childbearing age,'' she said.
Dr. Stanley Bloom, a urologist in Livingston, N.J., who plans to study the effects of Viagra on women, uses harsher warnings. ''There's a lot of curiosity and there's going to be more and more experimentation,'' he said. ''I see a lot of men, and invariably some of them are going to give it to their partners. But we should be cautious. Do you remember thalidomide? You can't be too blase with this stuff. No one could have foreseen the disastrous effects of that drug.''