Transcript

Hello. And welcome back to the hormone hub. Today we are going to talk about unleashing your libido. Now libido, lack of libido is something that comes up in conversation all the time. And you know, some women are just not feeling it. Okay. I get it. And you know, there’s a few different reasons for this.

So today I just wanna give you a few different ideas about what can be causing that lack of libido and also to what you can do about it. So, you know, there’s a few sort of different areas and a different, few different angles that we can come from with this. So, yeah, I’m just gonna tap into some of those just to give you some idea.

All right. So as our hormones sort of shift and change, definitely 100%, we experience a drop in testosterone. We experience a drop in estrogen and also that drop in progesterone and [00:01:00] all of these have an impact. But, you know, on the flip side of that, what also has an impact is, you know, it’s a busy time of life.

Like if we are juggling kids and jobs and partners and parents, and you know, all of the things, we’re just a bit tired, you know? So that’s a factor. As well as, you know, just are we really feeling it? Maybe we are not, maybe we are just not into our partner anymore, you know, so all of these different things.

So today I’m just kind of try and bring it all together. Now in a few weeks time, I do have a specialist coming in and she is a specialist in uro-genitary health. So we are, we are gonna talk about the health aspect with her, and we’ll just touch on it today, but you know, it’s more about, you know, what you can do right here and now. 

All right. So when we are not feeling it, okay, so. Maybe we’ve just, [00:02:00] the sex drive has left the planet. Maybe it is just a zero. Maybe it’s painful for us, or maybe we just, we want to, but it’s just not happening. Okay. So around, you know, that perimenopause, you know, menopause, this is where it’s really common for women to experience, you know, some form of sexual dysfunction and likewise for men too.

So let’s just put on the flip side that, you know, men go through their own hormonal changes. So there is 100% a drop in testosterone, which, you know, that drop in testosterone can impact yes, sexual function for sure, but it can also affect their self-esteem and it can also, you know, a lot of men experience depression around, you know, that, that sort of man-opause or andropause as it’s called, you know, so they’ve got their own stuff going on as well. So it’s good to be, you know, while we don’t have to fix them. [00:03:00] It’s good to be aware that yes, they have hormonal changes as well. So, you know, like the saying goes, it takes two to tango, right. Okay. So let’s just have a chat about, you know, first up if things are painful. So this is a, an obvious one.

So that drop in estrogen leads to a drop in lubrication. So this can be obviously our vagina. Some women notice that lack of lubrication in their joints, eyeballs, dry skin, dry hair, it’s all part of the same sort of thing. So, you know, so to improve the, the comfort of, you know, sex if intercourse is painful.

So a few suggestions would be, you know, try different positions. So experiment what feels best for you. Definitely, you know, get checked out. So, you know, this is where a pelvic physio specialist can be really helpful. But also too, like if things have suddenly become [00:04:00] painful. It’s definitely worth checking out.

So again, could be caused by, you know, hormone fluctuations could be caused by, you know, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, you know, so all of these things need to be sort of examined. Because you wanna make sure that there’s nothing underlying. Now a pelvic physio can be amazing. I have a pelvic physio and she has seriously changed my life.

So if you are, you know, these pelvic physios, you don’t need a referral. And they specialize in women’s gynecological and pelvic floor health. So if you, you know, accidentally do a little wee when you cough or sneeze or laugh, then it’s worth getting checked out. And really the sooner you get onto it, the better.

So, you know, incontinence, which, you know, starts with the little wee, is the number two reason for being, for women being admitted to nursing homes. Okay. Number one, being dementia, number two, [00:05:00] being in incontinent. So you don’t have to put up with it. And nor does it necessarily mean you’re headed straight for hysterectomy either.

So there’s lots of pessaries they can use, there’s exercises that they can give you, and I was surprised actually, cause I had done, when I had the kids, I’d done all of the, you know, the pelvic floor exercises, all of the prenatal Pilates and, and whatnot. But the exercises she gave me were actually very different to what I had done, you know, 18 years ago when I had the kids. So it’s, you know, it’s worth getting checked out, you know, and, and, and get that support and get that, you know, opinion. And it’s a good way too, because you don’t have to wait forever to find a gynecologist to get into, you know, you can get answers right there and then on the spot and actually practical solutions as well.

 Definitely I recommend using a lubricant if things are feeling dry, but go [00:06:00] for like a water based one. So we don’t want synthetic ingredients. So you don’t want propalene, you don’t want glycol. You don’t want perfumes, you don’t want parabens. You want something water based without those nasty chemicals.

So an Australian brand that I recommend is Yes. And you can buy it online. I think from, Google it and it’ll tell you where you can buy it. It’s just called yes. And then, you know, another thing to kind of, you know, boost your interest and your desire is get active. Okay. So there’s studies that show, there’s a clear link between exercise, sexual desire, arousal and satisfaction.

Okay. And don’t just overlook the power of, you know, going to the gym and working out, you know, maybe exercise with your partner, you know, and, you know, going down to a, you know, like a really cool, [00:07:00] fundamental reason is, you know, women can be aroused by smelling their partners sweat. Okay. Now we may not know this, but it’s the, you know, all consciously think, oh, darl bit on the nose. Let’s go. It’s, it doesn’t work like that. It’s the pheromones that are released, you know, your pheromones and your partner’s pheromones. So, you know, it’s yeah, it’s those chemical changes, you know, that can promote arousal as well. There’s different yoga poses that can help increase blood flow to your pelvic area.

So these can certainly help as well. So, you know, so there’s sort of some of the, the physical sort of reasons, but then, you know, if we look at some of the emotional reasons as well, You know, and this is sort of different for all of us. And I think going back to that, you know, we are just in a busy time of life is, you know, look at your relationship.

You know, if you [00:08:00] are consistently focusing on keeping things alive and hot, you know, it can be alive and hot. Whereas if we don’t we just can easily fall into a rut where life takes over and, you know, and that connection that we have with our partner can definitely suffer. So, and I think, yeah, it’s for so many women, you know, when we are serving as a mom, household coordinator, our jobs, our roles in and out of the workplace, you know, no wonder the energy for sex can be low, you know, and it would be for anyone. Okay. So sometimes, you know, there’s sexual health counselors out there that can help, you know, or just set aside some time, you know, generally nine o’clock at night on a Tuesday is not gonna be an ideal time. So maybe, you know, there is time that you can set aside. 

Now there are definitely, you know, [00:09:00] physical things as well. So we’ve already talked about, you know, that dropping the estrogen and that dryness, you know, can contribute to painful sex, but definitely, you know, things like, you know, type two diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, there’s certain medications, you know, and just those natural changes in our bodies after, you know, during, before, during and after menopause can all lead to, you know, low libido in women.

So definitely, you know, get a checkup, be sure to sort of share your symptoms with your doctor. Things like, you know, bio identical hormones can certainly help. So estrogen, testosterone can help some women. And again, it’s different for everyone. So you need to sort of have a look into what is it that, that is going to work for you. You might have to try different things. Things like ginseng has been long used as [00:10:00] an aphrodisiac, you know, zinc is a good nutrient to, to include. We’ve all heard about oysters being an aphrodisiac as well. Things like if you are perimenopausal sort of, you know, having chaste berries can help, you know, cause that’s, that can help sort of increase your natural progesterone and dopamine levels, which are all part of it. 

So, you know, and it’s also good to be aware and I’m just gonna touch quickly on this, that, you know, that decline in estrogen, you know, it does bring about, you know, changes. So hot flushes doesn’t make us feel comfortable. Doesn’t make us feel sexy. It can bring about mood changes if we’ve got low energy, you know, but also having that change in estrogen can bring along with it changes in, you know, our vaginas and urinary infections and irritations.

So [00:11:00] vaginal atrophy is a really sexy term, clearly came up with, I couldn’t imagine a woman ever coming up with that name, but let’s just assume it was a, a dude who named it that. And what that means is it’s a degeneration of the healthy cells and the tissues in the vagina. So these are cells that are normally stimulated by estrogen, and they help support, you know, the healthy vaginal microbe colonies as well.

So this is where, you know, things like bacterial vaginosis, can be really prevalent in women going through menopause, you know, and it’s due to that dropping estrogen. So again, it’s important if these are recurrent infections, you want to be swabbed. So you wanna know, like if you are having recurrent thrush, you know, is it actually thrush?

You know, so if you are, if we think of thrush as a, you know, a fungal infection, and you know, we are treating it as such but often, [00:12:00] you know, with women, what I’ve found is, you know, with recurrent thrush, if you’ve been through menopause, it is actually cause thrush thrives with estrogen. So if you’ve been through menopause, you’ve got that lower level of estrogen and it could well be that it’s bacterial vaginosis.

So that’s where it’s always good to swab so we can treat things correctly. U rinary symptoms like urinary tract infections that frequency, burning pain associated with with urinating, you know, all associated with vaginal health and that hormone imbalance. So this is where, you know, we need to, to know what’s going on so we can treat it correctly. 

And, yeah, so there are lots of different things that, you know, we can use to treat it both naturally and, pharmaceutically as well. So, yeah, so I hope this helps. I just sort of wanted to, to put it out there because I [00:13:00] know libido is a hot topic that comes up from time to time.

Well, pretty much weekly, really. And it’s something that, you know, it doesn’t mean the end of, the end of sexy time. Doesn’t mean that your, you know, your fun sex, sexual days are done. It doesn’t mean that at all, but it just does mean that if you are experiencing pain or discomfort or, you know, lack of arousal and you know, this is something, you know, that we should all have the option to enjoy.

So yeah, I just wanna make sure that you’re armed with the knowledge, so you can head off in the right direction and yeah. Do something about it. All right. Well, I hope that was helpful and I will see you next week.