Low Testosterone May Be Responsible for Your Diminished Libido

Having a low sex drive can cause relationship difficulties, lower your self-confidence, and even affect your quality of life. If you’re living with a diminished libido, it may be worth exploring with help from your trusted women’s care provider. 

Highly respected gynecologist Asia Mohsin, MD, has experience balancing women’s hormones with personalized menopause care. At Progressive Women’s Health OB/GYN in Friendswood, Texas, she can help you find out why lately you’ve had little interest in sex.

Low libido can come from many causes, including natural relationship ups and downs, mood disorders, and menopause. For some women, low testosterone may be responsible. 

Here’s what you need to know about the relationship between low testosterone and low libido in women. 

How low testosterone affects women

Although people typically think of testosterone as a male hormone, everyone has it. Women, on average, have naturally lower levels of testosterone. But it’s still possible for their levels to be abnormally low, meaning a hormone imbalance. 

Low testosterone in women can cause symptoms such as a low sex drive. If Dr. Mohsin suspects low testosterone as a cause of your low libido, she may ask about symptoms like:

• Vaginal dryness
• An irregular period (or no period at all)
• Tiredness and fatigue
• Dry skin
• Sleep problems
• Mood changes
• Infertility

Dr. Mohsin might also order a blood test to check your hormone levels, which can help confirm if low testosterone is causing your low libido. 

Possible causes of hormone imbalances

The most common cause of low testosterone in women is menopause, which comes with many changes in your hormone levels. Testosterone naturally declines starting in your 30s, but menopause begins on average at age 52. 

If you’re not in menopause, low testosterone in women can also come from:

• Taking estrogen hormones
• Taking hormonal birth control
• Oophorectomy (surgery to remove your ovaries)
• Cancer treatment
• Malnourishment
• Taking corticosteroids

Dr. Mohsin explores every possible cause to provide the most effective treatment for low testosterone (and the resulting low libido) in women. 

Can increasing testosterone increase libido? 

Treatment for low testosterone in women is underresearched, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn’t approved testosterone hormones for treating low testosterone in women.

Still, hormone therapies might be part of your treatment plan if low testosterone is a cause of your low libido. Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplements can help your body make more testosterone to balance your levels.

Otherwise, Dr. Mohsin might recommend other strategies to help regulate your hormones, such as changing your method of contraception. 

Get in touch

Before making any assumptions about the cause of your low sex drive, get in touch with Dr. Mohsin. She can help you find out why you have low libido and decide on an effective strategy to treat it. 

Call Progressive Women’s Health OB/GYN or request an appointment online today.