In spring our thoughts turn to love, but if you’re going through the first stages of menopause, that might be the last thing on your mind. Many women experience a flagging libido during this major change in life. With all the demands life puts on us, it’s sometimes hard to find the root cause, making it difficult to treat. However, new knowledge and technology have given us more tools to treat this frustrating issue. Here at Rejuvé, we can help you revitalize your sex drive with state-of-the-art treatment.
A wide range of factors can contribute to a flagging sex drive. The most obvious culprit in peri-menopausal women is changing hormones, but this isn’t the only factor that could be affecting you. Everyday pressures can lead to stress and anxiety, which can lead to lack of sleep, which can all add up to exhaustion—and a greatly diminished interest in sex. Add your changing hormone balances to the mix, and it’s no wonder you’re having a hard time tuning in to the romantic atmosphere that used to keep you and your partner close.
Diagnosing Your Low Libido
Before determining the best treatment to get your libido back on track, you need to figure out exactly what’s causing it. It’s probably a combination of factors involving your hormonal changes, your overall lifestyle, and your physical health.
As you enter perimenopause at the beginning of your journey into menopause, your body starts creating less of the hormones that have kept your cycles in balance. Instead of maintaining a balance between estrogen and progesterone, progesterone levels go down dramatically, and estrogen fluctuates, creating a variety of unpleasant symptoms. This can include vaginal dryness, hot flashes, bloating, and irritability. Hormone fluctuations combined with unpleasant physical symptoms lead to less interest in sex. Natural progesterone therapy can help restore the balance and bring relief from these symptoms, which are caused by unopposed estrogen. In addition, testosterone production decreases during perimenopause, affecting blood flow, vaginal lubrication and arousal. Vaginal testosterone is a common treatment for women who experience loss of sensitivity, vaginal dryness, or difficulty becoming sexually aroused.
Similar issues can develop due to imbalances in the adrenal glands. If you are overly stressed, the body produces an overabundance of cortisol. If cortisol production remains constantly elevated, this can reduce the natural production of estrogen and testosterone. Estrogen and testosterone are key components to maintain a healthy sex drive. These vital hormones keep the vaginal area lubricated and maintain your arousal during intercourse. Some women can develop adrenal fatigue, a state in which the adrenals are unable to produce cortisol even when the body needs it. This is a sign of a more severe adrenal dysfunction with an even more negative impact on sexual function, causing extreme fatigue, brain fog and mental exhaustion, low blood pressure, and low blood sugar.
DHEA replacement therapy appears to be an effective strategy to alleviate adrenal fatigue. This therapy also improves your libido and addresses a number of other accompanying symptoms. Supplements to support the adrenal glands, such as Rhodiola and Ashwagandha, can work with the body to balance cortisol production. In addition, because the adrenal glands synthesize progesterone, adrenal health is important to maintain an appropriate balance between estrogen and progesterone in peri- and post-menopause. In other words, by supporting adrenal health, we support progesterone balance.
The thyroid gland also affects your sexual health and libido. When your thyroid is out of balance, you can experience profound mental and physical symptoms. An underactive thyroid, for example, affects blood flow, which can decrease arousal. Numerous conditions affect the thyroid and its function, including deficiencies in vital nutrients like selenium, iodine, vitamin D, vitamins B6 and B12, magnesium, and iron, among others. In addition, high cortisol due to stress can affect the body’s ability to activate the necessary thyroid hormone.
Changes in your hormone levels can lead to physical changes as well, including vaginal dryness, vaginal atrophy, and chronic pain in the vulva (vulvodynia). The result is pain during intercourse, which understandably would reduce your desire to have sex. Hormone treatments, including topical creams, can help improve blood flow to the genitals, alleviating these symptoms.
Hormone-Free Treatment for Low Libido
Another approach, which provides treatment without hormones, is ThermiVa. This state-of-the-art treatment applies carefully modulated heat to the genital tissues, stimulating collagen growth and improving blood flow. Rejuvé offers ThermiVa to help our patients recapture their diminished joy in intimacy. Many people have reported significant improvement after a single treatment, experiencing increased arousal, a stronger sex drive, and easier orgasms.
Lifestyle Changes
Your overall lifestyle can ease your way through perimenopause or make it more uncomfortable. If you’re constantly stressed, eat poorly, and don’t exercise, you’re more likely to experience unpleasant symptoms during this time in your life. However, making changes to your life can improve not only your libido, but your energy levels, stress levels, and your life in general.
Some lifestyle changes you can make that will have a positive effect include:
• Stop smoking, if you’re a smoker
• Drink only in moderation
• Exercise regularly
• Be sure to eat a good, well-balanced diet
• Include Omega-3 fatty acids in your diet
• Drink plenty of water
• Get plenty of sleep
All these healthy habits help increase blood flow to your brain, your body, and, yes, your sexual organs. Healthy blood flow improves your cardiovascular health, gives you more energy, increases your stamina, and helps you feel better about yourself. The better you feel, the more likely you are to be interested in sex.
Dietary supplements can also help. Many supplements have been used for hundreds of years to support sexual function, including ginseng, ginkgo biloba, and Maca, an herb from Peru. Here at Rejuvé, we offer FemGuard+Balance™, a nutritional supplement specially formulated for hormone balance and to counter other effects of aging. FemGuard+Balance includes:
• Black Cohosh to support estrogen function
• Chaste Beery to help balance progesterone
• Calcium-D-glucarate to help your body remove extra estrogen
• Antioxidants including rosemary, green tea extract, and reseveratrol
• B-complex vitamins
• Magnesium and calcium to support bone health
If you’re feeling out of synch with your partner regarding your sexual desire, or if you’re experiencing uncomfortable symptoms associated with perimenopause, we can help you feel like yourself again at Rejuvé. We would do a comprehensive history and comprehensive blood and/or saliva tests to look for hormone imbalances and nutritional deficiencies. Please contact our office at 408-740-5320 to schedule a consultation, and we’ll get you back on the road to a comfortable, healthy, satisfying sex life. Rejuvé is proud to serve the communities of Saratoga, Los Gatos, Campbell, and the larger San Jose Bay Area.