Women's Health Community

Your first step should be a trip to your gynecologist to rule out any medical issues to explain your loss of libido. For example, are you at the age where menopause might be the cause?

Gail

Dear areb04: Gail is correct, but I would like to add if there was a product proven to enhance sexual desire ("libido") in women it would be an even greater financial success than the erectile drugs for men! The issue of low desire is one of the most common sexual complaints in women of all ages.

There are two important components to "sex drive" in women. The first is arousal. Arousal is about blood flow to the genitals, lubrication, orgasm. The second is libido. Lidido is about desire (thinking, feeling, etc). The medical name for low desire is "hypoactive sexual desire disorder" or HSSD for short.

Arousal tends to be easier to "fix". There are more medications which can be tried for arousal problems than there are for HSSD. HSSD can be linked to some medical conditions (eg depression, low thyroid, drug/alcohol use, and medications such as spironolactone and hormonal birth control methods). There is purported to be a contribution to libido/desire from hormones such as testosterone.

Some researchers have tried "Viagra-type" drugs on women. One well known female researcher (Berman, 2003) gave Viagra to 180 older women who had arousal problems and/or low desire problems. It was found that Viagra was not helpful when HSSD was present. Another researcher (Seagraves 2001 & 2004) treated a total of 92 non-depressed women with the antidepressant Wellbutrin. Unfortunately, the response rate in the first study was only 29%. In the second study it was not helpful.

So were does this leave you (or someone else with low desire)? If you were my patient I would test you for thyroid problems, I would look very closely at your medications especially those which stop ovulation such as birth control pills. If you have changed methods of birth control over the past three years you may want to consider changing back.Given that depression can itself cause low desire, you might benefit from treating the depression. Remember that one anti-depressant mentioned above helped libido even in non-depressed women.

If your GYN cannot effect a change, or find a cause to be treated, you can be referred to someone with more expertise. This can be a GYN with specialized training or a certified sex therapist. You are right, your sexual quality of life is important to both you--- and your spouse. Here is some additional information:

http://women.webmd.com/features/when-desire-dies-bringing-your-sex-drive-back-life

In Support,
Jane