A majority of patients that we see—both male and female—are suffering from a lack of libido, or decreased sexual desire. Absence of libido may or may not correlate with infertility or impotence. That is a separate issue. Many people, including health care professionals, believe that all you have to do to fix libido is to dose with testosterone, the hormone present in both men and women. Testosterone is usually only a part of the answer, and there are many other factors involved.
Loss of libido can be caused by psychological factors, physical factors and medications. Psychological factors can include loss of intimacy, depression, distraction and especially stressors. Psychological stress can be caused by trauma including illness and injury, sexual abuse, body image issues, or sexual performance anxiety. The fitness and attractiveness of one’s partner can also affect libido. A common cause that we quite often see is personal relationship problems with either fellow workers, the boss, or at home with a spouse or significant other, or with children or other relatives. Adrenal Gland Extract supplements can help in these situations.
Loss of libido can also be caused by physical factors such as hypothyroidism. Twenty-six percent of women at menopause have at least a physiological hypothyroidism if not true thyroid deficiency. This is where a low dose of thyroid would help. Your compounding pharmacist in conjunction with your physician can help with this.
Other factors include the availability of testosterone in the blood in both men and women, and this is where testosterone would help. Testosterone can be compounded into many dosage forms for both men and women.
Medications including certain anti-hypertensives, opioids, and certain classes of antidepressants, can reduce libido. The class of medications that will cause the biggest problem with libido are the oral contraceptives—birth control pills. Oral contraceptives increase SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin) which binds testosterone in the blood stream, thereby rendering it unavailable. This problem can continue for an extended period after discontinuation of the oral contraceptive. Left untreated, women with low testosterone can experience a loss of libido, which can cause relationship stress and a loss of bone mass, resulting in Osteopenia or Osteoporosis plus depression and low energy.
We offer complete evaluations including saliva tests and confidential health evaluations that can help determine the underlying cause of libido loss. If lack of libido is indeed due to low testosterone, we can compound a customized formula for both men and women. If low libido is due to excess stress, we can offer Adrenal Gland Supplements. If the lack of libido is due to low thyroid levels, we can compound thyroid replacement in a slow release form which is the ideal way to dose thyroid. And lastly, if vanishing libido is due to hormone imbalance, which is quite often the case, we can balance your hormones with compounded bio-identical hormones.
Call Van Mol Family Pharmacy to answer your questions and set up an appointment!
