Most often when we talk about low hormones causing difficulties in sexual functioning for both men and women, we assume that the culprit is low sex hormones.
And, in many cases it is.
For men, testosterone, the primary male sex hormone, is not only necessary for triggering sex drive, but is also necessary to maintain the chemical balance in the penis to achieve an erection. Too little testosterone, and erections don’t happen.
Fortunately, your physician can easily check your hormone levels when you have lab work done.
For women who have finished menopause, there is almost a total cessation of estrogen production. Many women find their sex drive dries up as their hormone production ceases. Again, your physician can check the levels of your sexual hormone with your lab work up.
However, it is not only your sex hormones that can diminish your drive, sexual abilities, and sexual pleasure. Many men and women find low thyroid the culprit in the changes they experience, especially changes in drive and desire.
If you are having trouble just feeling desire, you know, the nagging feeling that you’ve lost those loving feelings, it might be hormonal.
Ask your doc to do a full hormone work up. Including thyroid.
Your thyroid hormones are one of the primary regulators of body functioning. When it is either too high, hyperthyroidism, or too low, hypothyroidism, your sex life can take a hit.
Well over half of the men in one study with undiagnosed hypothyroidism were found to have low sexual desire, premature ejaculation and delayed ejaculation. Men with hyperthyroidism were found to have difficulties with premature ejaculation, low sexual desire, and erectile dysfunction.
When the men with low thyroid levels were treated, the incidence of premature ejaculation dropped by 80%, while their low sexual desire and delayed ejaculation disappeared for most of them.
When the men with thyroid levels that were too high were treated, virtually all of their symptoms disappeared.
While it’s still not clear just how too low or too high of levels of the thyroid hormones are related, some of the researchers went so far as to state that sexual problems for older men might not be as much an age factor as a hormonal issue.
So, if you are having trouble, this is one time you really need to ask your doc to check your thyroid levels. You’ll be glad you did. Even if your thyroid is doing its good thing, it will rule out thyroid as a cause of your problems, and help you get closer to the real reasons you’re not feeling like your normal self.
