Let’s talk about sex, baby! Or actually, let’s discuss your lack of sex.
Loss of sexual desire is your body’s way of telling you something isn’t right. For women, a decrease in sexual activity stems from a variety of mental and physical elements. Lowered sex drive can lead to relationship problems, depression, anxiety, and self-harm.
The more you know about your libido, the better you’ll be at maintaining a healthy sex life. Let’s discuss the different causes behind low female libido and how can you stay sexually active.
Reasons Your Libido Is Low
Why do women lose their sex drive? Common reasons for lowered sexual drive in women include hormonal changes, stress, physical health conditions, substance abuse, and a lack of sleep. Let’s take a look at how each of these elements affects female sexuality.
1. Hormonal Changes
The female libido is driven by sex hormones. These hormones include estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. The hormones affect sexual desire, arousal, and vaginal lubrication.
Estrogen
Estrogen is the primary female hormone. Aside from regulating your menstrual cycle, estrogen has a key role in developing sex organs and thickening your uterus for pregnancy. When estrogen levels drop, women experience a lower sex drive, vaginal dryness, and mood swings.
Progesterone
Progesterone controls the menstrual cycle and supports pregnancy. Changing progesterone levels are involved in regulating a woman’s sexual drive.
Researchers believe that too much progesterone can lead to lower libido in females. This is because progesterone acts as a stop signal, creating a negative correlation between progesterone and sexual desire.
Testosterone
Testosterone increases libido. Female ovaries naturally produce mild levels of testosterone to create estrogen. Higher testosterone levels correlate with a higher sex drive.
After menopause, testosterone levels decrease. This could explain why many women experience a decrease in arousal and low libido after reaching menopause.
2. Stress and Mental Health Problems
A female’s state of mind plays a key role in her sexual activity.
Not only does stress lead to weight gain, fatigue, and inflammation, but it also lowers the female sex drive. Stress ignites bodily functions that strive for survival, not procreation. Our mentality shifts under stress.
Chronic stress leads to the overproduction of cortisol, which is our stress hormone. The higher the amount of cortisol in your body, the lower your libido.
If a female engages in sexual activity while under stress, she experiences less pleasure. Stress and anxiety make it difficult for women to orgasm and can prevent sexual climax.
Stress also increases your risk of depression, fatigue, and illnesses, which also contribute to low libido.
Other psychological causes of low libido include:
- Poor body image
- Low self-esteem
- Depression
- Relationship issues
When it comes to maintaining a healthy sex life, don’t forget how crucial it is to keep your mental health in check. These psychological implications on the female sex drive can improve when a woman takes the right steps to improve her mental health.
3. Medical Conditions and Medications
There are physical health conditions that lead to libido changes. Long-term medical complications negatively affect a woman’s sex drive. Chronic conditions lead to discomfort and fatigue that result in a lower sexual appetite.
Cardiovascular disease diminishes sexual enjoyment. Poor blood circulation poses problems for vaginal arousal and lubrication. Heart medications cause negative sexual side effects, like preventing orgasms.
High blood sugar caused by diabetes leads to nerve damage. For women, this causes issues with vaginal lubrication and sexual arousal. Some women with diabetes report pain during sex and difficulty climaxing.
Thyroid disorders are responsible for one-third of sexual problems among adults. An underactive thyroid in women causes vaginal dryness, pain during and after sex, and low sexual arousal.
For treating medical conditions, medication can be the reason behind low sexual activity in women. SSRI antidepressants cause sexual dysfunction in many people.
Cimetidine is a popular over-the-counter drug for heartburn and GERD. However, many people experience sexual side effects that lower their libido while taking the drug.
4. Alcohol and Drugs
A little bit of alcohol can set the mood during date night, but alcohol is a depressant. Binge drinking causes a decrease in sexual desire, arousal, and performance. For men and women, alcohol commonly leads to an inability to climax during sex.
The idea that drugs enhance a person’s libido is a common misconception. Street drugs, like ecstasy, can leave users uninterested or incapable of performing sexual activities. Approximately 38% of drug abusers experience a lowered sex drive.
Any kind of addiction, whether it be to cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs, limits a person’s libido. Substance abuse also leads to depression, emotional stress, and a lack of physical sensations.
5. Lack of Sleep
Why is sleep crucial for a healthy mind, body, and soul? A good night’s rest regulates blood pressure, supports a strong immune system, lowers your risk of diabetes, and keeps your libido high.
It’s simple. More sleep equals better sex. Exhaustion and fatigue open to the door for stress, irritability, and a low sex drive.
While women sleep, their bodies produce testosterone, which we know increases female sex drive. If your body isn’t producing enough testosterone, your libido suffers.
Make sleep a top priority. Get on a regular sleep schedule, decrease the amount of blue light in your room, and use a white noise machine to improve sleep quality. Practice meditation, read a book, or drink mint tea to lower stress before bedtime.
Ways to Boost Your Sex Life
The good thing is that many women don’t have to live with a low libido forever. There are many ways to improve female sex drive naturally or through a female libido enhancer.
Sometimes, lifestyle changes are enough to destress and increase sexual activity in women. Exercising and ditching bad habits (like excessive drinking) can get your libido back into tip-top shape. Increasing communication with your partner and setting aside time for intimacy also enhance sexual activity.
If you’re unsure of why your libido is low, speak with a professional. If you’re taking drugs that may have negative effects on your sexual life, ask your doctor about alternative medications.
Stay Sexually Active
Low libidos cause problems in relationships and lead to extra stress. Staying sexually active is important for mental and physical health. Women need to know what causes a decrease in their sex drive in order to fix it.
Love and relationships are amazing, but sometimes we all need a little bit of advice. Browse through our relationship articles for more tips on boosting your love life.
