All tagged menopause
Our hormones change throughout our lifespan and this can significantly affect how we feel. Estrogen levels starts to change in general in your 40s. This can lead to irregular periods, mood swings, sleep problems and weight gain. Our testosterone levels start to decline in our late 20s, and early 30s, leading to fatigue, low libido and a decrease in muscle mass. Getting your hormones in balance can help with these symptoms.
In my practice, I see so many menopausal women who tell me that when they go through menopause, their metabolism slows down, and they’re gaining weight. They tell me that they watch what they eat, they make healthy choices, they exercise, and they just can’t lose weight.
This can be really frustrating because menopause is a big transition in life. I see many menopausal women struggling with those last 15 pounds! As women journey through the lifecycle, their bodies naturally shift in response to hormonal changes that usher them out of the fertile phase of life. Menopause is frequently accompanied by weight gain, muscle loss, and lack of energy, making it challenging to achieve a healthy weight. Many women who have gone through menopause or are going through menopause come to us to help them with weight loss and muscle gain.
We aren’t taught much about what happens during menopause and the few years before. Read on for some things you didn’t know were related to the loss of estrogen that your ovaries used to make!
Sandpaper. That is what my patients tell me about how their vagina feels during sex after menopause. There’s good news though--you don’t have to live that way. There are several things you can do to reinvigorate “down there”.
Testosterone. That lovely hormone of desire, of sex, of muscles and power and strength. We think of manly men with hairy chests when we think of testosterone. But did you know women have testosterone too? They even make more testosterone than they do estrogen. Testosterone is one thing that controls sex drive in women and does a whole host of other things. It starts to decline in your late 20s. This can contribute to low libido in women. So should testosterone be replaced? I hope to answer this question for you with answers based on scientific studies- not bogus internet marketing claims. Does testosterone make for better sex?
If you are a midlife woman, peri or postmenopausal, then in some instances the answer is yes! Testosterone has been shown to definitively improve several aspects of sexual functioning. Testosterone improves sex drive, arousal, helps you have more and better orgasms, and increases pleasure and responsiveness.
In my gynecology and sexual medicine practice, I see women every day who tell me they have lost their sex drive. Some women are desperately missing it. They say they “want to want” again. Others tell me they would be completely happy if they never had to have sex again in their entire life. Some have '“duty sex” just to please their partner. How can women improve and regain their sex drive? Yes, there are ways to improve your sex drive. Read about it here.
