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Post by disturbedme on Oct 16, 2011 22:42:30 GMT -5
Hey girls. I am just wondering if any of you also have no sex drive? I haven't had a sex drive for the longest time. Luckily, my husband is amazing and sweet and is understanding. But I'm only 27 and it's not normal. I lost my sex drive years ago!!! Could this be an endometriosis thing? Is it a symptom of excess estrogen or what?  Thanks! |
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Post by Heather on Oct 16, 2011 22:48:34 GMT -5
I haven't had any sex drive whatsoever in years. I was also on Lupron though, and a few different anti-depressants. All my gyno wants to do is put me back on hormonal BC. Really frustrating, I miss being horny.
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Post by disturbedme on Oct 16, 2011 22:51:23 GMT -5
I was also on an anti-depressant in college for IBS. It helped with my IBS a lot because it 'slows' many functions in the body... so that worked, but could it really cause future damage to sex drive? I thought once you get off it, then it would come back. Same as the Lupron. It doesn't cause you to have no sex drive ever again, does it?
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Post by Karen on Oct 17, 2011 6:12:35 GMT -5
Your sex drive is significantly impacted by hormones. Testosterone and estrogen can boost your sex drive, if in the right amounts. Being on the pill for years really killed my sex drive, and being off it for a few years hasn't helped. Having my hormones tested made it plain as day why - my testosterone levels were barely measurable, and my estrogen was that of a post-menopausal woman. I'm an odd duck, have other things going on, but even supplementing all three hormones hasn't made that much of a dent. I haven't given up on my sex drive yet, but am getting impatient! In a nutshell, its a hormone thing usually.
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Post by semicolon on Oct 17, 2011 6:39:01 GMT -5
I had no sex drive for years on the pill. I had been on it for so long I didn't realize how non-existant it was! Since being off the pill almost two years it has come back. Since I haven't been on Lupron I am wondering if it can affect your hormones for a while after coming off it. Have you had your levels checked? The female body is so complicated, especially when it comes to sex!
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Post by Heather on Oct 17, 2011 10:01:36 GMT -5
I'm not sure how long the effects of anti-depressants take to wear off, but I have heard many stories of Lupron side effects lasting years. I haven't had my levels checked. I guess next time I go to the naturopath I will mention it to him.
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Post by jessabug on Oct 18, 2011 9:36:30 GMT -5
Karen is very right about hormones, as are several of the other girls about the way that anti-depressants can affect you. I'm going to weigh in on psychological effects -- while I'm affected by hormones too, I think the thing that has the biggest impact on my sex drive is the psychological barrier I have -- I remember when I used to have sex and it would hurt SO bad, and even though now I haven't been sexually active for a couple of years, pelvic exams hurt like a bitch and so does even trying to put in a tampon, so I'm often hindered by the fear of what sex would feel like now versus back then -- so even if I'm hot and heavy with a guy, it's all fun and games for me until I get the sense he's ready to have sex, and then I pull away entirely and totally lose my drive because I'm just too damn scared. Have you experienced pain with sex? If you have, this could be a reason. It's sorta hard to get turned on by something that hurts so damn bad! But if you haven't, then I'd go with the other girls' hunches about hormonal treatments (including the pill and minimally doused contraceptives like the Nuvaring) and anti-depressants.
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Post by disturbedme on Oct 18, 2011 11:35:41 GMT -5
Sex usually doesn't hurt for me. It has on occassion. I know I am lucky in that sense that it doesn't hurt all the time. But then again, I rarely have sex at all because I just don't have the drive for it and never in the mood. I usually only get a sex drive once or twice a month... and it's usually only after ovulation. But for being 27, I should have a much bigger sex drive than I do.
I am reading Dr. John Lee's Hormone Balance Made Simple and in it, he says that low sex drive is due to either low testosterone, estrogen dominance, or stress. So I am starting to believe it is hormonal for me.
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Post by JC on Oct 19, 2011 18:43:46 GMT -5
How was your sex drive before? Was it ever at a "normal" level, or what you would consider normal? I really think it could be a hormone problem too and taking antidepressants and BC's can cause that effect too.
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Post by disturbedme on Oct 21, 2011 12:19:23 GMT -5
How was your sex drive before? Was it ever at a "normal" level, or what you would consider normal? When I was younger, around 18 and just beginning college, my sex drive was what I remember as being normal. |
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Post by JC on Oct 21, 2011 13:56:06 GMT -5
I only asked because I was wondering if you were always like this or if you felt like you had a normal sex drive and then it declined.
Would you consider talking to your doctor about it? You might have a hormone imbalance causing this and you might be able to supplement your hormones naturally with bioidentical hormones if that's something you'd be open to. Karen is the resident expert on the bioidenticals.
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Post by disturbedme on Oct 21, 2011 19:42:48 GMT -5
Yeah. I am starting bioidenticals in a few days. Hoping it also helps with endometriosis and protects against getting another endometrioma. :-\
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Post by JC on Oct 21, 2011 20:14:33 GMT -5
Oh cool! I really hope it helps you! I'd be interested to hear how it goes for you!
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Post by brussie on Oct 29, 2011 18:55:57 GMT -5
I definitely sympathize. Although sex only hurts occasionally (now that I have trained my partner!), I also have a much lower sex drive than I previously did. My sex drive used to be great. Then I got the paragard IUD and all of my endo symptoms started and my sex drive took a nose dive.
Have you had your testosterone levels tested? I had mine tested recently and it was a little low in the range (my holistic MD said it should be higher in the range for someone my age). My estrogen (both estradiol and estrone) is sky high!
The current theory is that my testosterone is being transformed into additional estrogen. Apparently, we have this stuff in our cells called aromatase that turns testosterone into estrogen (it's why body-builders can develop breasts if they don't take measures to stop all of their steriods from becoming estrogen!). Studies have shown that ladies with endometriosis have elevated levels of aromatase. Apparently the endometrial implants themselves have been found to contain aromatase. For example, researchers are finding that adding aromatase inhibitors (they stop the conversion of testosterone to estrogen) to Lupron therapy has much better results than Lupron alone.
Excess estrogen (common in endo) and/or low testosterone can definitely reduce your sex drive. I guess the answer is to get the endo under control. That should reduce the estrogen and stop some of the testosterone from being converted.
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Post by mochadoll on Apr 2, 2012 17:36:09 GMT -5
This low sex drive is starting to cause issues in my relationship. Everyday I'm being asked "When are we going to have sex again", "Are you interested in someone else because we haven't had sex in a while." It is sooooo frustrating because I don't desire to have sex with my partner but yet she think's I'm interested in other people.  How does everybody deal with this that has the same issue? |
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How does everybody deal with this that has the same issue?