When Sex Is a Problem
When Sex Is a Problem
Men have Viagra. But what about women with low libido?
Peggie is one of those women who don't give up easily. She and her husband of 25 years had always enjoyed an active sex life. Then, at age 51, she started experiencing hot flashes and, along with them, something she never expected -- a loss of sexual desire.
"No one told me that when you hit menopause, forget about sex," she says. "It was a shock to me." Other women confided that their libidos had plummeted, too, with menopause. They told Peggie, "That's just the way it is when women age."
But like other women who came of age during the sexual revolution, Peggie felt that women's sexual pleasure is as important as men's. So she went looking for help.
First, Peggie tried what millions of other women going through menopause try. She went on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to relieve menopausal symptoms like hot flashes. But standard HRT (estrogen and progesterone) does not always solve sexual problems. And it didn't for Peggie.
So her doctor suggested another strategy: adding a little of the male hormone testosterone, taken in pill form. Based on studies, including one published in the October 1998 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, doctors are finding it can improve sexual desire and satisfaction in women. Peggie, too, had good results with it.
Testosterone boosts a woman's sex drive, sexual appetite, sexual fantasies, and the intensity of her orgasms. Why does testosterone, often thought of as a guy-only hormone, work for women? Because the ovaries make not only estrogen and progesterone, both of which decline after menopause, but also small amounts of testosterone. And testosterone, too, declines after menopause.
Younger, premenopausal women can also experience low testosterone levels, says Gloria Bachmann, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick. Levels can be measured with a blood test. Fears that testosterone will make women grow facial hair or develop deep voices are unwarranted, Bachmann says, because the dose is very small. But some experts caution that the long-term consequences of supplemental testosterone in women are unknown.
When Sex Is a Problem
Men have Viagra. But what about women with low libido?
One Woman's Story
Peggie is one of those women who don't give up easily. She and her husband of 25 years had always enjoyed an active sex life. Then, at age 51, she started experiencing hot flashes and, along with them, something she never expected -- a loss of sexual desire.
"No one told me that when you hit menopause, forget about sex," she says. "It was a shock to me." Other women confided that their libidos had plummeted, too, with menopause. They told Peggie, "That's just the way it is when women age."
But like other women who came of age during the sexual revolution, Peggie felt that women's sexual pleasure is as important as men's. So she went looking for help.
Finding Relief
First, Peggie tried what millions of other women going through menopause try. She went on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to relieve menopausal symptoms like hot flashes. But standard HRT (estrogen and progesterone) does not always solve sexual problems. And it didn't for Peggie.
So her doctor suggested another strategy: adding a little of the male hormone testosterone, taken in pill form. Based on studies, including one published in the October 1998 issue of the Journal of Reproductive Medicine, doctors are finding it can improve sexual desire and satisfaction in women. Peggie, too, had good results with it.
Testosterone boosts a woman's sex drive, sexual appetite, sexual fantasies, and the intensity of her orgasms. Why does testosterone, often thought of as a guy-only hormone, work for women? Because the ovaries make not only estrogen and progesterone, both of which decline after menopause, but also small amounts of testosterone. And testosterone, too, declines after menopause.
Younger, premenopausal women can also experience low testosterone levels, says Gloria Bachmann, MD, an obstetrician-gynecologist at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick. Levels can be measured with a blood test. Fears that testosterone will make women grow facial hair or develop deep voices are unwarranted, Bachmann says, because the dose is very small. But some experts caution that the long-term consequences of supplemental testosterone in women are unknown.