Check out other drugs that can dampen your sex drive. What can help?
Try a different beta-blocker or antidepressant. If you’re feeling good on your SSRIs and your only complaint is that you wish you felt more sexual, talk with your doctor about adjusting your dosage. Mixing a low dose of another kind of antidepressant, like Wellbutrin, with your SSRI can restore libido, Dr. Minkin says. 4. You’re not sleeping well
According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, women are more than twice as likely as men to have trouble sleeping. And sleeplessness has an enormous impact on desire.
Indeed, 23% of respondents surveyed for the National Sleep Foundation’s 2005 Sleep in America poll reported that their mate’s sleep habits drove them to sleep elsewhere. “If you’re battling over sleep, it’s hard to maintain intimacy,” says Gary Zammit, Ph.D., director of the Sleep Disorders Institute at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York. What can help?
Make your bedroom a dark, quiet, sleep-friendly haven. Banish work items, like your BlackBerry or laptop; turn off the TV and invest in a comfortable mattress. Use earplugs and a sleep mask to block out light and noise. Check your meds to ensure they don’t contain stimulants. Also ask your doctor about a short-term prescription for sleeping pills. If your partner is keeping you up, talk with him about ways to diminish his snoring (like losing weight and avoiding alcohol in the evening, for example).
If all else fails, take him to a sleep specialist. “When you sleep better and are less irritable, you’re a lot more interested in sex,” Dr. Minkin says. That should be good enough incentive for him!
What can help?
Making a pit stop before sex may reduce the chances of a spill, since involuntary bladder contractions are often triggered by volume, she says. You can also talk to your doctor about getting a prescription for medications like Detrol or Ditropan, used to treat overactive bladder. 6. You’re in menopause.
But other aspects of menopause may also leave you feeling unsexy: hot flashes, weight gain, mood swings, apprehension about getting older, and the erratic, heavy menstruation that can occur before your periods stop for good.
Menopause typically occurs around age 51, but some surgeries and chemotherapy can trigger it earlier, which may put even more of a damper on desire. A 2010 survey found that women with surgically induced menopause reported higher rates of lowered sex drives (26%) than those who experienced natural menopause (9%). What can help?
For more information and expert advice, visit Lifescript's Menopause Health Center.
What’s Lowering Your Libido?
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