Causes and Solutions in Women’s Low Sexual Drive

Women who are on menopausal stage could experience lowered sexual appetite. This usually starts and ends during perimenopause (transition stages) in women. Those who are not familiar with the sexual appetite in women in menopausal stage could say that this is just normal because of the transition. But this should not be the case; a women’s sexual appetite should never wane even though she is already at the menopausal stage. Sexual appetite is a natural feeling and should be present in women whether or not they are in menopausal stage.

General Causes of Women’s Low Sex Drive

There are two general reasons why women who are in menopausal stage experience decreasing sexual appetite. The first reason is physical. At this stage, women experiences hormonal imbalance. Some of these hormones are responsible for sexual appetite and any imbalance that would happen would cause not only loss in sexual appetite but also changes in the body. A woman could experience significant weight gain if she doesn’t control her diet.

A woman’s diet is actually very tricky during the menopausal stage. One of the reasons why hormonal imbalance happens is due to the reduced fat intake during the early years. The body’s hormones for sexual appetite usually come from cholesterol. Without fat in the body, the woman may experience discomfort in the body: weight gain, inability to sleep well (insomnia) and even hot flashes.

Another reason to the reduction of women’s sexual drive is emotional aspect. Men have the capability to emphasize the physical more than their emotions. They are still interested in sex even though they are experiencing great stress. Men could be easily stimulated with what they see. Women can’t just do that. Women could be in front of a man of their dreams but their sexual appetite will not be there if they are under great stress. Stress, from any external source plays a big part to a woman’s sexual appetite. This is a natural reaction for women since their body’s adrenal glands (part of the body that arrests stress) works overtime – clouding the sexual hormones produced by the body.

Self Assertiveness During the Menopausal Stage

There are a lot of pills, professional help and articles written on addressing sexual problems during the menopausal stage. But it is only through the woman’s self assertion that this problem could be addressed.

Luckily, women at this stage are usually bolder and more assertive. For years, they have been adjusting to the society and their family and now they feel it is their time to be served. This could also be traced to hormonal imbalance wherein the adrenal glands becomes stronger and encourages them to seek out their interests first before others.

However, women are usually reluctant to take charge in their sex life because they find this “need” as a taboo or a forbidden feeling. Instead of insisting on improving their sex life, they insist on other things such as preference on being served or an increasing assertiveness at home. They could be increasingly irritated to their partner’s wrongdoings even though how small they are. It is expected since if women during the menopausal stage don’t do that, they physical well-being may be at stake. Their body tells them that they should take charge or else they will feel weaker.

Some menopausal women have to accept that this stage may mean lesser sexual intimacy with their partner because of their traditions. But women in the menopausal stage can’t just sit down and accept that fact. They could use their assertiveness to address their sexual inadequacy. Of all the mammals in the world, only the human female has the ability to get themselves sexually active without the help of a male. Women at this stage could still feel being attractive without the help of their man.

This stage is very tiring for women but their self assertion could take them places and overcome menopausal problems. They could easily address their sexual problem since they are naturally more aggressive at this stage. They know they can get what they want and they know they deserve to have it. If they could just overcome their inhibitions especially sexually, they should be able to do more than get angry over simple things.

Changes in the women’s sex organ

During the menopausal stage, the women’s vagina also experiences physical changes which could affect their sexual appetite. At this stage, the women’s vagina dries up because the estrogen level in the women’s body has significantly lowered. These could lead to certain conditions such as vaginal dryness.

Because of the lack of estrogen in the body, some women have decided to take medications such as Prempro. Although it could address hormonal imbalance, Prempro will only be effective as long as they are used. These medications are very expensive and should never be taken in the first place. Vaginal dryness and thinning could be even more likely when the user stops taking this pill. When a woman experiences vaginal dryness and thinning, sex could be difficult because of the discomfort and pain the women experiences during penetration.

Instead of taking pills, certain vitamin supplements should be more than enough. Vitamin E should address vaginal dryness and thinning. There are a lot of supplements in the market that has a high concentration of this vitamin. However, this should only be effective if a well balanced nutrition is paired with the Vitamin E supplement. Take note that the woman in the menopausal stage should never be on a diet but on a well balanced meal. That means regulated cholesterol; proteins and even carbohydrates should be part of the meal. The estrogen level in the body could be actually boosted by regulated cholesterol. That is why women who had strict fat free diets in their younger age experience intense vaginal dryness. Staying hydrated will also help moisten the vaginal area.

There are also water based lubricants that could be used. There are also pharmacies that sell vaginal cream which could help increase estrogen level in the body. However, precautions have to be made before taking any of these products from the pharmacies. Instead of helping, they could just increase the problem of vaginal dryness. When taking pills or vaginal cream with estrogen, take only products with low dosage of estrogen. The body should produce estrogen naturally and this could be done through proper nutrition and staying hydrated.

Testosterone Level in Women’s Sexuality

Testosterone also has a big role in women’s sexuality. Testosterone increases the women’s appetite as well as pleasure during sexual encounter. Before the menopausal stage, women should have more than enough testosterone in their body. Sexual pleasure is easy to achieve in women because of this hormone.

However, testosterone is significantly reduced when women starts their menopausal stage. Testosterone is produced from the ovaries and the adrenal glands. When menopause happens, the adrenal glands overcome the ovaries in terms of testosterone production. Adrenal glands don’t directly produce testosterone but they produce DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) a prohormone which could be converted to testosterone. On the other hand, the adrenal glands also produce cortisol, a hormone that fights stress in the body. When the body feels stressed, the adrenal glands starts to pump more cortisol to the body, preventing DHEA to be produced. That is why stress plays a big role in women’s sexual appetite.

It is also a possibility that the testosterone level could be greatly reduced after an operation especially when the operation is on the uterus or ovaries. Women who undergo operations in their reproductive area often experience menopause after the operations since their ovarian cycle has been affected.

Conclusion

Menopausal problems are often pointed out to the lack of testosterone, hormonal imbalance and stress. There are ways in addressing them such as supplements, a balanced diet and activities to combat stress. At this stage the women are more aggressive and they should know that their body is changing. That is why they could tackle this problem even on their own.

However, preventing problems in the menopausal stage should start even before menopause happens. Women should never stay away from cholesterol as if they are evil. Cholesterol is an essential component in hormones and the lack of it would cause hormonal imbalance. For that reason, a balanced diet is highly recommended instead of a diet that doesn’t have any fat or cholesterol. A balanced diet will not only foster a healthy body but will also prevent problems during the menopausal stage which also includes sexual problems.