Sex Drive And Libido After Or During Menopause

A common complaint from women is that they have little or no sex drive after the age of 35 even though they still like and love their husbands. The reason why women have little or no sex drive after the age of 35 is because of their exposure to xenoestrogens in synergy with their own estradiol. Xenoestrogens are chemicals or herbs that mimic estrogen, but they mimic estrogen in a strange way. Xenoestrogens fit into the estrogen receptor but they tell the estrogen receptor to do different things than regular estradiol. Usually, after a woman eliminates xenoestrogens from their environment and takes a little progesterone to balance out the estradiol, then your sex drive returns.

According to John Lee M.D., women that were experiencing estrogen dominance lost their interest in sex. These women had water retention, fibrocystic breasts, depression, dry, wrinkling skin, and irregular and sometimes heavy periods. Women on synthetic estrogen replacement therapy for osteoporosis usually also have fat acutely on their hips and abdomen, sore breasts, and loss of sex drive. Synthetic estrogen replacement had also destroyed their sex drive. John Lee M.D. gave them progesterone cream supplementation and the women were overjoyed to report that their sex drive had returned [1].

After the age of 35, progesterone levels drop to less than 1% of normal for most cycles but not all cycles. This is because for most cycles the woman is having anovulation. In other words, the woman is not ovulating even though she is still cycling. Estradiol levels remain constant but progesterone levels drop precipitously. Before the age of 35, the follicle comes up on the ovary and produces estradiol. The follicle pops out an egg. The used follicle becomes the corpus luteum. The corpus then produces progesterone. After the age of 35, for most cycles but not all cycles, the follicle comes up on the ovary and produces estradiol. The follicle does not pop out an egg. No corpus luteum is produced. No progesterone is produced. So for most cycles after the age of 35, estradiol is produced and remains constant compared to before the age of 35. However, after the age of 35 for most cycles the progesterone drops to less than 1% of what it was before the age of 35.

After menopause around the age of 50, estradiol levels drop to 40% of what it was before menopause. However, the fat cells produce estradiol. The more body fat you have, the more estradiol you will produce. They fat women after menopause produces more estradiol then a skinny woman before menopause.

It is well-known that testosterone increases sex drive. However, it is not so well-known that progesterone also increases sex drive. As you recall, during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy, progesterone and estriol go high. Sex drive also goes a very high during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. John Lee M.D. has observed that giving progesterone to his patients increases their sex drive. I have also observed in my practice that progesterone also increases their sex drive if and only if they eliminate xenoestrogens. I've also observed during my practice that women who completely eliminate xenoestrogens have an increase in their sex drive as well, or their sex drive returns to normal. This is because xenoestrogens seem to go into the estrogen receptor and affects the sex drive adversely.

Xenoestrogens Are Part Of Our Modern Lifestyle

Unfortunately, xenoestrogens are ubiquitous. Xenoestrogens simply mean foreign estrogens. These foreign estrogens can be synthetic chemicals or natural herbs. For instance, studies done at UC Davis demonstrated that seagull eggs injected with estradiol hatched chicks that show the same birth defects as exposed to DDT. The birth defects were chemically castrated males with feminized gonads and females with overdeveloped ovaries. Michael Fry, PhD, professor at UC Davis found abnormalities in birds exposed to zero bionics that included club feet, crossed the bills, huge thyroid glands, this with more than the normal number of eggs laid by more than one female, a surplus of females, and female to female pairing, feminization of male reproductive tracts, ovarian cortical tissue in testes, persistence oviduct's in males, and generally birds doing poorly. Organochlorine its injected into the shells showed the same abnormalities. Adult birds they had been exposed to estrogenic chemicals when their embryos had laid eggs that had been shells[2].

Researchers at University of Florida found that male and female alligators exposed to pesticides build similar to DDT called dicofol had high estrogen, and low testosterone. The female alligators had "burned out" ovaries. The male alligators had small penises. Since the 1980 Lake Apopka pesticide spill, the number of young Hal year is decreased by 90%[1].

Just because something is natural and organic does not mean it is good for you. For instance, Clifford Bloch M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist, presented in Denver, Colorado. He had several young boys with gynecomastia. Gynecomastia is "man boobs". He tested their endogenous hormones and found them to be normal. He questioned the parents and found out that the parents had been giving boys tea tree oil and lavender oil topically. He told the parents to stop giving these natural oils to their boys. After 3 to 4 months, the "man boobs" disappeared. He then took the tea tree oil and lavender oil and put them in two a breast cancer cell line in the test tube that was sensitive to estrogen. The tea tree oil and lavender oil both separately made the breast cancer cells proliferate. This means that the tea tree oil and lavender oil mimicked estrogen. Then, he put the tea tree oil and lavender oil into a breast cancer cell line that was sensitive to testosterone. He found that the tea tree oil and lavender oil both blocked the expression of testosterone. This means that the boys by taking lavender oil and tea tree oil topically were being turned into girls. Not only were the estrogen receptors being stimulated, but also the testosterone expression was being blocked.

In my opinion, many of these xenoestrogens decrease the sex drive in women after menopause. If you completely eliminate xenoestrogens, then your sex drive will return.

Surprisingly, anything on the skin is 10 times the oral dose in potency. Thus, you should concentrate 10 times as much on the things that you are putting on the skin and that come in contact with the skin than what you eat. Drugstore is sell nicotine patches and estrogen patches. The nicotine patches contain nicotine. You stick the nicotine patch on your skin and the nicotine is absorbed into your skin and goes into your body. Similarly, the estrogen patches contain estrogen. You stick the estrogen patch on your skin, and the estrogen goes into your body directly. Similarly, you wash her hair was shampoo. The residual shampoos sticks to your hair. Shampoo goes directly into your body. Similarly, you wash your clothes in laundry detergent. The laundry detergent on your clothes gets absorbed into your body. Similarly, you put it deodorant in your armpits, and the deodorant gets absorbed into your body. Many of these modern toiletries contain chemicals that are hormone disruptive and that are killing your sex drive.

If you take these chemicals orally, the liver 90% inactivates these chemicals. However if you put them on the skin, these chemicals bypass your liver. The most important thing you can do to resurrect your sex drive is to eliminate these xenoestrogens from your environment.

Taking Progesterone

You can increase your sex drive by taking progesterone assuming that the xenoestrogens load is not too great. Most doctors know that testosterone increases sex drive. However, most doctors do not realize that progesterone can also increase sex drive. Recall during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy the sex drive is at an all-time high. During the second and third trimesters of pregnancy progesterone and estriol go very high. These two hormones increase your sex drive. Progesterone increases the sex drive. And estradiol acts to block all the sex drive dampening xenoestrogens.

So I recommend my patients to take progesterone to increase their sex drive. They are five outcomes that can occur:

1. You completely eliminate xenoestrogens from your environment. Your sex drive returns to normal.

2. You eliminate most of the strong xenoestrogens in your environment. You take progesterone. Progesterone simulates pregnancy. Your sex drive increases.

3. You ignore my advice about xenoestrogens. You take strong xenoestrogens with progesterone. You get worse. Your sex drive decreases.

4. You ignore my advice about xenoestrogens. You take strong xenoestrogens with progesterone. The progesterone "works" for the first two months. And then and then after the first two months the progesterone does not "work."

5. You take progesterone with herbs that block progesterone at the functional receptor level. It's as if there is nothing in the bottle. Progesterone has no effect. It is because you are taking an herb that blocks progesterone. Herbs that block progesterone typically cause miscarriage.

The reason why taking xenoestrogens and progesterone at the same time is a bad idea is because your symptoms including your sex drive will get worse. Chronic xenoestrogens exposure lowers your sensitivity to estrogen. The body shuts down the estrous set the's in order to protect itself from chronic xenoestrogens exposure. This biological phenomena is called down regulation. It sort of like going to a noisy restaurant. Initially, the restaurant seems a very noisy. Then, after half an hour, the restaurant doesn't seem so noisy any more. This is because the ears become less sensitive to the constant noise. This biological phenomena is called down regulation. When you take progesterone, the estrogen receptors wake-up. Then, it seems like you getting even more estrogen even when not. It is analogous to going into the noisy restaurant. Initially, the restaurant seems noisy. Then, after half an hour, the noise seems to be quieter because of down regulation., Then, when you take progesterone, the noise is seems to go up in volume. However, is not the noise that is going up. It is your sensitivity to the noise that is going up. Similarly, when you take progesterone your sensitivity to estrogen goes back to normal. It seems as though you are getting more estrogen but you are really not. Because your sensitivity to estrogen has gone up, you get sicker. You blame it on progesterone. However, it is not the progesterone, it is your increased sensitivity to estrogen that is making you sick. You really need to blame it on xenoestrogens. Put the blame where blame it is deserved, on xenoestrogens, not on progesterone.

Iodine Reduces Sensitivity To Xenoestrogens

I don't quite understand why but taking iodine seems to reduce the sensitivity to xenoestrogens. It is also good idea to take iodine because most Americans are deficient in iodine. The danger taking iodine is that it forces out toxic bromine. When iodine is taken toxic bromine is forced out of the tissue, and people get sick from bromine toxicity. If you are not toxic from bromine, then taking iodine has no ill effect on you. The most common symptom of bromine toxicity is insomnia and vivid dreams. My wife had heart palpitations. Bromine toxicity can also result in acne, hair falling out, extremities tingling, depression, mouth and tongue sores, irritability, kidney pain, transient breasts tenderness, and brain fog. It is important to remember that these symptoms are from bromine toxicity and not from taking iodine. Bromine is found in soft drinks, sports drinks, commercial bakery products, asthma inhalers, and sleep aids. Sometimes swimming pools are brominated stead of chlorinated. It is also important to take Iodoral or Lugol's iodine.

Both Lugol's iodine and Iodoral contain iodide, the iodine ion (I-), and iodine, atomic iodine (I2). Both kinds of iodine are needed by the body. Different tissues take up different types of iodine.

Summary: How To Get Back Your Sex Drive

The most important thing to do is to avoid xenoestrogens. The most effective way to eliminate xenoestrogens is to be extremely careful about what you put on the skin because anything on the skin is 10 times the oral dose in potency. Normally, I tell my patients not to worry too much about what is taken orally with the exception of chocolate, cocoa butter, coffee and rosemary, and some others. I tell my patients to worry about what is contacting the skin because anything put on the skin is 10 times the oral dose in potency. If you buy any product from us you will get a list of salient xenoestrogens as well as products you recommend that we think are xenoestrogens free. I looked through 500 shampoos and I could only find three that were free of xenoestrogens. I could not find one lotion that was free of xenoestrogens. Topical progesterone can help increase your sex drive but only in the absence of xenoestrogens. Iodine seems to decrease the sensitivity to xenoestrogens. However, you must be careful of bromine toxicity. You must cut out sources of bromine your diet as well as slowly increase the iodine to avoid bromine toxicity.

Notes:

1. John Lee M.D. "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause." (Time Warner book group, New York, New York, 2004), pages 81.

2. John Lee M.D. "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause." (Time Warner book group, New York, New York, 2004), pages 54-55.