A fairly unexamined area of vitamins is their impact on libido. A common complaint among both women and men is low sex drive. We often hear this from women, starting in their thirties and progressing with age, who feel their libido is in decline. The cause is usually related to several factors, some psychological and some physical or hormone related. Firstly, let us be clear that any disruption in the normal cycling and ebb and flow of hormones can affect sex drive. If you think about it from both a psychological and an evolutionary standpoint, our bodies only want to reproduce when conditions are ideal (at least most women we talk to feel that way). Men tend to be a bit less particular about the circumstances.
This means that, for example, when your thyroid is not functioning properly, or you are perimenopausal or experiencing menopause, the fluctuation in these other hormones can affect the hormones that drive libido. The female body doesn’t find itself in the mood too often when it’s experiencing hot flashes, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), or other hormone-driven unpleasantness.
So, the first step in examining low libido is to investigate other hormonal issues. These can be normal processes such as PMS or menopause, or pathological problems such as a low or overactive thyroid or more rare pituitary issues (which should be looked into by a physician). One nice gauge for whether or not things in your endocrine system are functioning smoothly in younger women is the monthly menstrual cycle. If you are reliably getting a monthly period, it is less likely (though not impossible) that you have a major problem with your endocrine system. Your body reserves fertility for times when everything is functioning well. So the presence of a monthly period, which typically means you are ovulating (unless you are on birth control pills), is one sign that things are working as they should be.
If hormones are generally in balance, sex drive may be diminished for other reasons. Fatigue is a common one. New mothers often experience this. They sometimes lose interest in sex for many months to years after having a baby. Their partners are perplexed. We see and hear this all the time from our patients. Most of the time the cause is simple: fatigue. These women are exhausted from having a newborn then a toddler. They are chronically sleep deprived, stressed out, and malnourished (more on this soon). They are essentially in survival mode; it is no wonder that sexual interludes are not their first priority during those precious uninterrupted moments in bed. Generally sleep is.
Women in perimenopause are sometimes in a similar situation. They may be experiencing hot flashes, which disrupt their sleep (whether they are aware or not) and lead to fatigue and irritability. This moves sexual interest down on their list somewhat. Once women enter menopause, their interest can take a serious decline for these reasons as well as a drop in estrogen and testosterone. Testosterone is the hormonal trigger for sex drive, so its decline naturally can reduce libido. The lack of estrogen can take its toll by causing vaginal dryness and atrophy, which tends to make the act less comfortable even if the drive is there.
It is important to take libido concerns into account for both men and women when constructing a personalized vitamin routine. There are vitamins that may help in this area, but the consumer will not know which vitamins to take or at what dosage levels without first going through some type of assessment. A personalized vitamin assessment is a good first step in addressing these issues.
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