For many women, low libido at menopause is more than just a minor nuisance. It can have a dramatic negative effect on intimate relationships and lead to low self-esteem. While a lot of menopausal women experience a diminished sex drive or even a complete lack of sex drive, it’s not something you just have to put up with. There is help for loss of libido and you don’t need to resort to pharmaceuticals to get it.
The causes of Low Sex Drive
To understand what you can do about the problem, it helps to know what causes it in the first place. The cause is really fairly simple. Oestrogen and testosterone are responsible for your sex drive and at menopause, these hormones are no longer being produce at the levels they were when you were younger.
Another issue leading to lack of libido is vaginal dryness. Oestrogen helps keep your vaginal tissues healthy and lubricated, but when oestrogen is lacking, the resulting dryness can make intercourse uncomfortable. That’s not exactly an aphrodisiac.
The emotional connection to Low Libido
A woman’s libido is never all about hormones, no matter what her age. If you have no sex drive after menopause or even during perimenopause, there could be emotional reasons for it. Quite often it’s stress. Maybe you’re facing retirement, the illness or death of a loved one, or even facing “empty nest syndrome.” Stress from dramatic changes likes these throws a big bucket of cold water on your libido. If you’re also feeling depressed or irritable, stress combined with hormone fluctuations is the likely cause.
During menopause, many women feel as if their body is betraying them. Let’s face it, heavy periods, weight gain, and saggy breasts don’t do much to help anyone feel more feminine. Not only that, but you stop knowing what to expect from your body anymore. Feeling like this usually leads to less confidence in the bedroom, which can seriously dampen your sex drive.
What you can do about Low Libido
If you think stress is causing your low libido, try stress reduction techniques like yoga or visualization. Moderate physical exercise can help, too. Make sure you’re not trying to deal with everything by yourself, either. Talking to other women about the change of life makes the transition a lot less stressful.
For lack of sex drive caused mostly by hormone fluctuations, one simple solution is to eat more.
Foods rich in phytoestrogens (plant oestrogen) to boost your oestrogen levels. This includes soy, flax seeds, lentils, and apples. Certain herbs like black cohosh and dong quai also contain phytoestrogens. Beyond this, there are also natural progesterone creams that can help increase your levels of sex hormones and restore your libido.
If you’re fed up with dealing with a low libido at menopause, you should know there are a number of things you can do about it. Your first step should be to deal with any major stress than may be sapping your energy and sex drive. Once you’ve done that, look into natural treatments for low libido like herbs and progesterone replacement with a natural progesterone cream.