“Regaining Your Spark: Hormone Treatment for Low Libido Demystified”

Hormone Treatment for Low Libido

 

Are you struggling with low libido and looking for solutions? Is it your hormones? Then
read on for help!

 

Low libido is a low sex drive. It means you just aren’t interested in sex, of any kind.
While this can be super distressing, it is relatively common. In fact, it
affects about 40% of women at some point in their lives (Ajgaonkar A, 2022).

 

Lack of sex drive can definitely worsen your quality of life. Good sex has so many
health benefits so we definitely recommend trying to address any libido issues
you may be having.

 

Hormones are an important piece of the libido puzzle. We will give you solutions here using hormones, but be aware that they are not the only thing to consider. To learn more about supplements and other options for women, check out our blog: Low Libido in Women

Hormones 101:

Hormones are chemical messengers that work to regulate many functions in the body. They are critical for general health. The sex hormones are crucial for sexual
development and reproduction.

 

The two main sex hormones for libido are estrogen, E, and testosterone, T. These two
have the most direct impact on libido. You may think of estrogen as the female
hormone and testosterone as the one for men. But in reality, we all have some
of both E and T. It is just that estrogen is the dominant sex hormone in women
and testosterone is the main one for men.

 

DHEA is another hormone that is important for libido. Progesterone has a lesser effect but is still involved, especially in women.

Estrogen:

When estrogen is too low, it can cause vaginal dryness which can make intercourse painful.

 

 

Low estrogen can also affect sleep and cause mood swings. Neither of these is
very helpful for sexual desire.

 

 

Raising your E and getting higher levels of estrogen in the body increase vaginal lubrication and raises libido in women. Estrogen therapies that produce and raise estrogen levels can increase sexual desire in postmenopausal women.

Testosterone

 

Women have and need testosterone just like men do. Testosterone is involved in the regulation of libido and sexual arousal. Low levels of testosterone can reduce sexual desire in some women.

 

Testosterone can help post-menopausal women with low libido (Vegunta S, 2019). Low-dose testosterone therapy can be very effective post-menopause to raise libido (Vegunta S, 2019). T therapy, on its own, and combined with estrogen, increases sexual desire and satisfaction in postmenopausal women.

 

Testosterone is often prescribed off-label for low sexual desire in women. It can enhance the impact of low-dose estrogen therapies at increasing women’s sexual desire. It is not clear though whether it is the T or the E that is having the most effect.

 

One important thing with T therapy is to be careful not to overdo testosterone in women. Too much T brings a risk of side effects, including acne, vocal changes, excess facial hair and clitoral enlargement. This is usually only a risk when T is pushed to produce adult male levels of testosterone in women, which doctors try to avoid.

DHEA