Is it normal to lose your sex drive as you get older?
It’s Normal But Don’t Settle
As we get older our sex drives do have a tendency to diminish a little. This is nothing to be ashamed of, we’re not the young, energetic, sex driven 20-somethings we used to be.
It’s normal to see some drop in your sex drive, but if it seems like getting in the mood is just impossible now, it could be a sign of something more than just typical aging effects. You could be effected by a number of serious issues including hormone imbalance.
Below are some of the potential causes of lowered libido, and keep in mind a lot of these issues can be fixed or helped!
Interpersonal Issues
While your libido is a very personal thing, it can actually be connected to your interactions with others. If your partner is experiencing performance problems, this could cause your libido to fall. This is no fault of theirs or yours, so you should feel no shame. There are options to help with sexual performance, and it could be something you two could do together to help things out in the bedroom.
Another interpersonal issue could be the birth of a child. Child birth while obviously caused by sexual activity can unfortunately lead to less of it. This can be because of stress and worry, hormonal changes, a lack of sleep, postpartum blues, or body image issues. These are all temporary issues that you have the power to work through, but if you need to don’t ever feel ashamed of seeking help.
It’s important to remember that your libido is linked to so many factors in your life, and that it’s never something you should be ashamed of no matter what’s causing it to fall.
Medical Problems
illnesses both mental and physical can cause problems with your sex dive. Depression can destroy your drive, and anyone suffering knows that fighting depression is a very hard battle. Depression, while caused by a myriad of things, could be caused by a hormone imbalance. Fixing the root cause is the best way to get every aspect of your life back, including your sex life.
Something physical that can cause sexual drive drops are thyroid issues. If your having hormonal issues with your thyroid you could experience weight gain, fatigue, depression, and a lowered sex drive. If your having issues with your libido the first place to look is the thyroid.
Low Testosterone
It may seem odd, but testosterone is actually important to the sex drives in both men and women, and low testosterone could cause a lowered sex drive. Women’s testosterone levels peak around the mid-20s and then steadily decline until menopause where they drop dramatically.
We don’t really think of testosterone as a feminine thing, but a having the right levels of testosterone in your body could make you feel like a 20-year-old all over again. Well, that or just make you feel much more like yourself.
Medications
Our medications are important to our health, but sometimes they can also be detrimental to it. It’s important that we know the interactions that our medications have with every aspect of our bodies, and that we know how we can counteract some of the undesirable effects.
For example, some antidepressants can actually lower your sex drive, which might be completely counter intuitive. And, blood pressure lowering drugs are almost certainly going to lower your libido. It’s important that your consult with your healthcare provider to find the best way to protect everything aspect of your emotional and physical well being.
Getting Back Your Desire
Your sex drive isn’t gone for good. There are number of treatment options available, and hormone treatment might be the best for you. With testosterone and/or estrogen treatment you could see results that will make you feel like you did pre-menopause.
You don’t have to settle for the “inevitable.”
Talk to your healthcare provider about options for getting your libido back!
When it comes to hot flashes, there is a ton of information out there, so it can be difficult to parse out what’s most relevant to you and your experience or the experiences of someone you know. To figure out what are the possible causes of a hot flash, let’s break down what a hot flash actually is.
What Is A Hot Flash?
A hot flash usually consists of a wave of heat, discomfort, sweating, and flushing of the face and skin unrelated to the actual temperature around them. What is not typically known is that hot flashes can focus on different parts of the body—hands, chest, legs, face—or they can affect the whole body if they are quite severe. There are also varying degrees of hot flashes.
You may experience something as minor as a vague tingling and warming of your hands, or as intense as feeling like you’re in a pot of boiling water.
When Do They Start?
Though normally thought of as a menopausal issue, these can occur years before and after menopause occurs. The several years before menopause is called perimenopause. It is during this time the body is beginning to deal with various changes in hormone balance and blood flow among other things.
Once these flashes start, they usually continue through menopause and for some time afterwards. Most people who experience these notice a gradual reduction in severity and frequency over time.
What Causes Hot Flashes?
Over the years, research has indicated that decreased estrogen levels or other hormonal imbalances characteristic of menopause are to blame for these unpleasant waves of heat.
There are also other theories that it may also be caused by changes in circulation in the brain. As bodies age, and hormones that regulate heart rate and blood flow change in balance, this can cause bodily reactions, like hot flashes, to happen.
What Are Likely Triggers?
Though it is difficult to completely prevent hot flashes once they begin, identifying what triggers them can be helpful. Here are some of the most common causes:
Drinking Alcohol
Alcohol dilates blood vessels and can already cause a feeling of warmth to spread across the body. It makes sense that this would increase the chances of a hot flash.
Caffeine
Increased heart rate can affect your ability to regulate your body temperature normally, and raising the likelihood of a flash.
Smoking
Smoking lowers estrogen, and so can increase the frequency of hot flashes.
Decreasing Severity and Occurrences
In addition to avoiding these triggers that can cause more frequent and intense hot flashes, there are some steps you can take to improve your body’s ability to handle these experiences:
Hydrate Well
Having more water in your system is always a great idea for overall health, but especially when dealing with hot flashes. Being more hydrated improves blood flow which is important for temperature regulation.
Control stress
Hot flashes can be caused by stress, but they can also cause stress. It’s a vicious cycle! Using calming techniques to slow your breathing and recognizing that the waves of heat will pass can help calm your mind and body and allow your body to return to its natural balance quicker.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
For many people experiencing hot flashes, carefully directed hormone therapy is a fantastic solution. Through the use of similar or biologically identical hormones, the symptoms and severity of hot flashes can be greatly reduced, as well as the other associated effects of perimenopause and menopause.
Though a serious issue that many women face, it is not insurmountable, nor does it need to be a lonely experience. Seek the advice of your doctor or a hormone specialist if you are experiencing hot flashes.
