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Authors: Felice Newman
Tags: Social Science, Reference, Self-Help, Health & Fitness, Sexual Instruction, Sexuality, Lesbian Studies, Personal & Practical Guides
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against the use of estrogen creams, which have “potentially serious risks.” 29
• Exercise. Move your body, get your heart beating and your blood flowing. Along with general health benefits, the improved blood flow to the pelvic area will nourish genital tissue. 30 Declining vascular flow to genital tissue, which is not uncommon in perimenopause, can impair your ability to experience sexual arousal.
• Don’t forget your Kegels. Your PC muscles need exercise, too.
• Take good care of yourself. Sexual energy is related to overall well-being. Make sure you eat well, get enough sleep (not always easy during menopause), and attend to health concerns.
• Consider that lowered libido, reduced sexual response, and inability to orgasm may be due to medication—particularly antidepressants. (See “Sex and Depression,” above.)
Just for a few days, stop thinking hormones and menopause and estrogen replacement, and instead think about how to get your sexuality back, in the sense of losing the tension, the anxiety, and feeling yourself open, really open so that people who walk by you stop and think, “Ah, she’s open!”
NANCY FRIDAY
• Many women look to herbal supplements to enhance energy and that feeling of well-being. Herbs like ginseng and ginkgo biloba can give your libido a boost. (See “Herbal Supplements,” above.) The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing During the Change , by Christiane Northrup, is a wonderful source of information on dong quai, chasteberry, and black cohosh. Also check out New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way: Alternative Approaches for Women 30-90 , by Susun S. Weed.
• Low testosterone levels may be the cause of your lost libido. One study found that women with low testosterone levels were four times as likely to report low sex drive. 31 Testosterone deficiency may also be responsible for decreased sensitivity in nipples and clitoris and diminished orgasm—or difficulty reaching orgasm at all. 32 Testosterone may produce the sexual urge you’re looking for. This is very low dose testosterone; it should not produce male secondary sexual characteristics. Some gynecologists prescribe Estratest (a combination of estrogen and testosterone). Others prescribe low-dose testosterone in the form of a topical gel or cream or as a sublingual tablet. Dr. Susan Rako, author of The Hormone of Desire, recommends 2 percent testosterone in petroleum jelly (prepared by a compounding pharmacist) applied directly to genital tissue “to jump-start” the libido. This is followed by low-dose orally prescribed testosterone. 33 If you think you may have a testosterone deficiency, work with a health-care provider to determine if testosterone will be helpful for you, and in what dose and form.
• DHEA is an androgen and a precursor for testosterone; in some women, DHEA raises testosterone levels sufficiently to improve libido. Some health-care providers recommend DHEA for libido loss; others don’t. Some researchers say that DHEA strengthens the immune system, fights fatigue, and lifts depression. It is said to increase feelings of well-being and enhance libido.
• Once widely prescribed for symptoms of menopause and to reduce the risks of heart disease and osteoporosis, estrogen and estrogen-plus-progesterone have been discredited by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, which found both to be ineffective and potentially dangerous. 34 Still, many women weigh the risks and decide that taking estrogen is the best course of action for them.
You can replenish libido. In spite of physiological changes and health concerns, regardless of whether you take hormones or botanical supplements, you can maintain your erotic life force. Sexual energy needn’t be something that just happens to you—up in good times, down in bad. You can actively regenerate sexual energy, in much the same way you renew your energy overall. When you begin to think of your libido as
• Exercise. Move your body, get your heart beating and your blood flowing. Along with general health benefits, the improved blood flow to the pelvic area will nourish genital tissue. 30 Declining vascular flow to genital tissue, which is not uncommon in perimenopause, can impair your ability to experience sexual arousal.
• Don’t forget your Kegels. Your PC muscles need exercise, too.
• Take good care of yourself. Sexual energy is related to overall well-being. Make sure you eat well, get enough sleep (not always easy during menopause), and attend to health concerns.
• Consider that lowered libido, reduced sexual response, and inability to orgasm may be due to medication—particularly antidepressants. (See “Sex and Depression,” above.)
Just for a few days, stop thinking hormones and menopause and estrogen replacement, and instead think about how to get your sexuality back, in the sense of losing the tension, the anxiety, and feeling yourself open, really open so that people who walk by you stop and think, “Ah, she’s open!”
NANCY FRIDAY
• Many women look to herbal supplements to enhance energy and that feeling of well-being. Herbs like ginseng and ginkgo biloba can give your libido a boost. (See “Herbal Supplements,” above.) The Wisdom of Menopause: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing During the Change , by Christiane Northrup, is a wonderful source of information on dong quai, chasteberry, and black cohosh. Also check out New Menopausal Years the Wise Woman Way: Alternative Approaches for Women 30-90 , by Susun S. Weed.
• Low testosterone levels may be the cause of your lost libido. One study found that women with low testosterone levels were four times as likely to report low sex drive. 31 Testosterone deficiency may also be responsible for decreased sensitivity in nipples and clitoris and diminished orgasm—or difficulty reaching orgasm at all. 32 Testosterone may produce the sexual urge you’re looking for. This is very low dose testosterone; it should not produce male secondary sexual characteristics. Some gynecologists prescribe Estratest (a combination of estrogen and testosterone). Others prescribe low-dose testosterone in the form of a topical gel or cream or as a sublingual tablet. Dr. Susan Rako, author of The Hormone of Desire, recommends 2 percent testosterone in petroleum jelly (prepared by a compounding pharmacist) applied directly to genital tissue “to jump-start” the libido. This is followed by low-dose orally prescribed testosterone. 33 If you think you may have a testosterone deficiency, work with a health-care provider to determine if testosterone will be helpful for you, and in what dose and form.
• DHEA is an androgen and a precursor for testosterone; in some women, DHEA raises testosterone levels sufficiently to improve libido. Some health-care providers recommend DHEA for libido loss; others don’t. Some researchers say that DHEA strengthens the immune system, fights fatigue, and lifts depression. It is said to increase feelings of well-being and enhance libido.
• Once widely prescribed for symptoms of menopause and to reduce the risks of heart disease and osteoporosis, estrogen and estrogen-plus-progesterone have been discredited by the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study, which found both to be ineffective and potentially dangerous. 34 Still, many women weigh the risks and decide that taking estrogen is the best course of action for them.
You can replenish libido. In spite of physiological changes and health concerns, regardless of whether you take hormones or botanical supplements, you can maintain your erotic life force. Sexual energy needn’t be something that just happens to you—up in good times, down in bad. You can actively regenerate sexual energy, in much the same way you renew your energy overall. When you begin to think of your libido as
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