Your Sexuality at Midlife

Another hormone important to your sexuality is testosterone, an androgen hormone. Its levels begin slowly dropping in your twenties, so by the time you reach menopause, your ovaries and adrenal glands are producing about half as much testosterone as when you were younger. Although there is no reliable test to evaluate testosterone levels in women, it's an issue worth discussing with your health care provider.

While there are no FDA-approved medications to treat low sexual desire in women, many health care professionals prescribe low levels of testosterone therapy "off-label" for patients. If your symptoms improve, it may mean your levels were too low. Additionally, Estratest, a combination estrogen/methyltestosterone hormone therapy may be used to treat vasomotor symptoms (hot flashes and night sweats) for women for whom using estrogen alone is not effective or not appropriate.

Finally, the most important component to a satisfying sex life is not hormonal but emotional. Are you happy in your relationship? Does your partner know how to please you sexually? Are you experiencing significant stresses in your life that make sex the last thing on your mind? Midlife is a time of change. Career changes. Relationship changes. Family changes. Sometimes it might feel as if you're on an emotional roller coaster. And, as you've probably learned by now, a roller coaster is no place for a good sex life.