Do Menopause and Loss of Libido have to Go Together? No Way!

By: Carrie E. Pierce

Many of us made bold Resolutions as the ball dropped in NYC this New Year’s Eve -but how many of us made reconnecting with our sexuality one of those Resolutions?

Probably not many- yet truth be told, loss of libido is a common- and rather problematic- issue for countless numbers of men and women, and the partners who love and desire them.

Sexuality, sexual arousal and sexual response are all key components to a complex and heady aspect of our very humanness. To deny this aspect of ourselves is to wall off a crucial, necessary, and important part of our core nature as human beings.

Yet for many, that’s exactly what is done as the aging process progresses, and brings with it countless physical, emotional and psychological issues.

To many, it seems easier to let this aspect of ourselves die off than to try to work through the complex issues that so often surround the subject.

Without a doubt, sexuality involves a profound mix of physical/emotional/spiritual and mental ingredients, and imbalances in any of these areas can trigger rather substantial problems.

For many researchers, medical doctors and psychologists, libido directly mirrors the state of one’s overall health. Lack of sex drive often indicates underlying disease- be it actual physical illness such as: diabetes, anemia, heart disease, depression, etc., emotional issues or unidentified psychological issues such as unrelenting stress, sexual assault and/or body image issues that need further examination.

Oftentimes, lack of sexual interest results from ongoing stress and/or discord in personal relationships. Unresolved feelings of anger, resentment or hostility can greatly affect sexual desire and response.

At other times, bad dietary habits, smoking, alcohol and recreational drug use, endocrine system disruptors stored as toxins within the body, lack of exercise and certain prescription medications can cause loss of libido, especially as bodies age.

When it comes to peri menopausal and Menopausal women however, several very specific causes of loss of libido have been clearly identified- and the good news is, most-if not all-are treatable/curable.

Menopause -and the process leading up to it- (known as peri menopause) usually arrives in a woman’s life at a time when she is least able to deal with the physical, emotional and mental challenges this time demands.

Hormones get out of synch, adrenals become fatigued and burn out, metabolism slows, skin and hair changes begin to develop, and a host of other issues accrue. Couple these challenges with the heightened emotional states and the fuzzy thinking that hormone imbalances can bring, and what you end up with is a woman who is NOT in the mood THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

To better understand how all these things are interconnected let’s take a moment to better understand the female endocrine system:

Hormones-both male and female- require cholesterol to be manufactured, synthesized and delivered within the body.  If a woman follows a low fat diet, or takes cholesterol lowering medications, doing so then impedes and negatively impacts her hormonal development and balance.

Couple this with insufficiently functioning adrenal glands pumping out too much coritsol and not enough DHEA and you end up adding fuel to the already raging fire that is Hormone Imbalance. These imbalances then negatively impact the thyroid gland, which brings on pronounced fatigue, weight gain, delayed sexual response and further imbalances the predictability of menstrual periods.  Thyroid hormone –or the lack thereof- impacts every single cell in the human body.

So what all this means is, a woman’s hormones- ALL of them- are involved in the Menopause process- and ALL of a woman’s hormones impact her sex drive-positively or negatively. And hormone imbalance almost always has a role to play in loss of libido.

Let’s review and remember:

Estrogen is responsible for keeping the vaginal tissues pliable, moist and flexible, allowing for intercourse that is pleasurable and pain-free.

Testosterone –though thought to be a male-only hormone, this hormone actually plays a huge role in women’s sexual arousal and response.

DHEA a precursor hormone-often called ‘The Mother of all Hormones’ and can convert either into testosterone or estrogen as needed.

Progesterone is responsible for regulating menstruation, assisting with vaginal lubrication, enhancing sex drive, creating feelings of wellbeing and peacefulness in women.

Thyroid hormone is responsible for making menstrual cycles purr, metabolism stay balanced and can also provide overall, general feelings of wellbeing and vitality.

Stress can cause any-and eventually all- of these hormones to cascade wildly out of balance. Couple this with exhausted adrenal glands and the diminished capacity of one’s ovaries and you have a real mess on your hands.

Oh, and did we forget to mention ALL of these hormones, when out of whack, are known to lead to loss of libido?!

Much can be done- over time- to being a woman’s hormones back into balance and keep them in a relative degree of balance as the body makes the spiraling journey that is Menopause.

It takes patience, courage and persistence- as well as a caring Doctor-and often, repeated blood and/or saliva tests to get this complex system whirring optimally again.

But once corrected, most women report a return of their sexuality- as an additional gift.

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