A few months ago, I met a nice woman who was coming to us for treatment for low desire. She had been feeling a decrease in her sexual interest over several years and brought it up at her yearly physical more than once. But when she asked her doctor if it could be hormone-related, she was told that since she was only in her 30’s, her hormones could not be the reason for her low desire.
By the time she came to see us, she had already spent a lot of time and money in psychotherapy trying to figure out why she wasn’t feeling more attracted to her husband. The therapy was helpful in giving her better clarity on her feelings, and even though the therapy strengthened the marriage overall the sexual domain did not change at all. She still felt no sexual desire to be with her husband and they continued to have tension over this area of their relationship.
Within two weeks of coming to us at the Center, it was clear that imbalanced hormones were in fact a significant issue and heavily contributing to her lack of desire. She felt incredibly relieved when she found out that her initial gut had been correct all along and that it wasn’t an issue in the relationship that was killing their sex life. After discussing her case and agreeing on a plan, she started a treatment regimen and has already reported seeing major improvements in her sexual relationship with her husband.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for us to meet women who are nowhere near menopause, have hormonal imbalance that is affecting their sex desire, but have been told that they aren’t “old enough” to be having hormone issues wreaking havoc on their sex life. But the reality is that female anatomy is all about hormonal changes; puberty and menopause are not exclusively when sex hormones change, but are rather the bookends of constant fluctuations that affect sexual functioning.
So, if you’re suffering from low desire but have been told you’re too young for it to be hormone-related, don’t give up. It may be related to your hormones, it may not be, but age is just a number.
