10 Surprising Things That Secretly Kills Your Sex Drive
You may not be feeling your libido simmering in bed tonight. Perhaps you are blaming less sleep, fatigue, and stress behind such missing of libido action. Be it you, or your partner you need to know what actually is cramping your sex drive. We all know the crucial role played by oestrogen and testosterone in both women and men, an instability can amp up or lessen your sex desire.
There can be several less obvious factors that are keeping your sex drive stranded in neutral. Let’s not waste any more time in finding what the reasons are, because great sex is waiting for you at the other end.
#1. You Are Extremely Tired
Being really tired to have sex sounds like an old cliché, but does carry weight than what we thought. A research by the National Sleep Foundation discovered that one out of four married Americans tell that they feel extremely tired at the end of the day to enjoy sex with their companion.
If you are experiencing fatigue due to work pressure or having hectic party sessions with your friends, your cortisol levels are most likely to be elevated due to stress of giving your best. The stress hormone cortisol is a complete mood killer and may be curbing testosterone and various hormone productions, to make the idea of getting busy between the sheets less interesting to you.
# 2. Getting Performance Anxiety
Bothering too much about sex being all about performance in bed than pleasure and mutual connect can ignite anxiety which acts like a libido killer. Worrying about your sexual performance distracts you from sexual interaction with your companion. Generally, when individuals who worry a lot have sex, they are not able to focus on the more erotic ideas and responses that normally accompany passionate sexual activities.
So, in place of erotic thinking, you may begin reflecting on how terrible it would be if you are not able to perform and the way it would show badly on your feminity or masculinity, and what would be the opinion of your partner about you.
“Sexual desire, arousal and performance have a significantly large mental component that many individuals are not aware of,” according to Natalie Stanish, an associate licensed family and marriage therapist in Chicago. Concern over premature ejaculation, she adds is a likely situation for performance anxiety and dipping sex drive. It can also heppen if you or your companion experience erectile dysfunction, take some time to reach climax, or attempts to enact sex as depicted in porn.
#3. Excess of Exercise
A robust lifestyle that comprises of regular exercise can boost sexual performance, which includes your arousal capacity. Do not overdo things as it can have contrary effect. A real heavy training puts your body under intense stress, which can disturb the endocrine system, as per research. Due to chronic overexercise testosterone levels decline, resulting in less sexual interest.
#4. You or Your Partner’s Sleep Cycle Is Out Of Whack
Research conducted at the University of Chicago indicated that sleep deficiency was associated with a decline in the testosterone levels of males, which results in a low sex drive. This also can hint at the fact that the sex urge of a woman can be negatively influenced is she is not sleeping adequately every night. Watch out on your sleeping hours as well as the quality of sleep so as to remain alert all through the day. You cannot have great sex if you feel sleepy and not awake!
#5. You Have Changed Your Contraception Of Late
Birth control pills can undermine your desire, which sounds ironic in relation to their purpose. Similar is the case for other types of hormonal birth control, such as contraceptive patches, injections, and intrauterine devices. For some women, contraception also results in weight gain, headaches, and different problems that take their toll on how much you are interested in sex.
A research at the University of Stirling held that that few women lost interest in their partner sexually after they stopped consuming the birth control pill. However, some women were of the view that their sex urge declined after they begin taking the pill. The false estrogen within the pill can generate an adverse impact on the testosterone in a woman’s body, making them lose their excitement for sex which used to be there before. If you observe any alterations in your sex life after making changes in your contraception discuss it with your doctor instantly.
#6. You Are Taking Certain Medications
Stirring your mood by taking an anti-depressant such as Prozac or Zoloft may be hampering you from getting into “the mood” as these drugs carry the side effect of making your libido fall. And though you still make an effort at sex, these medication can in the words of a medical expert “cause delayed ejaculation in men and delayed orgasm in women,” Antihistamines also do not help matter as they tend to weaken desire while in your body.
Fueling desire and indulging in sexual activity involves multiple neurological structures to function precisely such as the limbic system, cerebellum, cerebral cortex, medulla oblongata, pituitary gland, and peripheral nervous system. If any of them gets compromised or damaged libido also may get significantly undermined.
#7. An Underperforming Thyroid Gland
Hormones are produced by your thyroid gland that modulates your metabolism, which is linked not only with calories burnt and digestion, but also your energy levels, mood changes, and sex drive. Thyroid problems can enter into your bedroom as an overactive thyroid gland can result in a heightened sex drive, while an underactive thyroid gland also called hypothroidism can lower your libido.
With hypothyroidism, there is a slow down of the metabolism, which indicates the reproductive organs are also getting sluggish as well. The adrenal glands that generate hormones which convert into sex hormones also undergo a slow down. Both partners can have a low testosterone and estrogen levels. Moreover, thyroid disorder can decrease vaginal lubrication, which makes sex both unsatisfying and painful.
#8. Your BMI (Body Mass Index) Is A Wee Bit High
Studies have revealed that obese men face erectile difficulty and by losing only a fraction of their weight can be helpful in improving their sexual funciton. Same goes too for the women as being heavier than your perfect weight can dip your energy and inhibit you from getting into the mood.
Similar to oil and water, being overweight and sexy simply do not blend. For people who are already tussling with image and weight problems, that strong message can throw a wet blanket on the most overactive libido. Research has indicated that the sex drive of a woman is strongly associated with her body confidence – particularly her perception of the body parts that can be easily viewed by others. If you lack confidence and focus on the way your body appears or what your partner is feeling about it during sex, it can affect your sexual response and mood.
#9. You Are Not Eating Properly
If you have a poor diet, you will suffer from a poor self- image and low energy, both outside and inside the bedroom. Is dessert a part of your date tonight? Sugar, dairy, and carb can negatively intervene with sex hormones.
Do not go after too many cocktails as alcohol is a depressant and can put your hormone levels out of whack. Cut down your intake after one drink.
A lack of a balanced diet sabotages your sex drive and gives it a big blow. Foods high on salt and fried items can bloat you, and if you have consumed a whole plate of French fries, surely sex is the last thing on your mind. See to it that you are eating a balanced diet and sending enough calories into your body. After all, your sex life centers on it!
#10. You May Be Dehydrated
Not consuming enough H2O can be stopping your desire to get it on. Lack of hydration leads to irritability, and headaches, and there is less chances of sex with a pounding head. To add to the discomfort, less hydration can result in vaginal dryness which can make sex distressful. Another unpleasant effect of dehydration is bad breath. All these ingredients do not sound like a recipe for an exciting sex. Try sipping on an additional glass of water throughout the day and watch whether it did the trick.
The Takeaway
We may not prefer to admit it; a majority of us have felt a lack of sex drive in our lives. Though upsetting aspect to bear, as notwithstanding how much your thought hover around sex, at times you body is not able to follow through. There can be numerous reasons as to why you are feeling a libido loss from not being on the same page with your partner, being overstressed, the way you are eating and sleeping, thyroid issues, side effects of medication to performance anxiety. Luckily most of them can be easily fixed so do not fritter away your time as great sex is awaiting you.
Keep those proverbial fires ignited and follow these ways to make yourself feel sexy again
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Sujata Sanyal
Sujata Sanyal has been in the writing circuit for the past 7 years and has touched upon various genres like travel, health, lifestyle, a wee bit of technology, cuisine, product descriptions and a bevy of others. 1 part of her is interested in animated political discussions, 2nd part interested in studying biographies and the remainder part in love with music and socially relevant work. Too many parts?
