Starting on a course of medication? Worried it will affect your libido? Lady Friday gets your facts straight…
First things first: sexual dysfunction as a result of medical problems is more common than you think.
However, it’s also not a good reason to stop taking the medicines in the first place.
Wondering if your new medicines are causing that droop in your intimate life? Quite often the cause of the treatment – the illness itself – is to blame, and neither antibiotics nor antivirals show any sign of causing libido drops or physical difficulties.
If you’re struck down with a virus or infection, chances are it’s the cause of any intimate problems and you can just wait until you get healthy again.
With other drugs, however, it gets a bit trickier. The human body is a very complicated beast, and nobody reacts exactly the same to the same dose of drugs at the same time. It’s important not to make drugs a catch-all for every bedroom difficulty, either.
So before you start blaming your medicines, ask a variety of basic questions. Is your relationship healthy? Did the changes only happen once you took the medication, or had they been around beforehand? Are you exercising, eating healthily and taking other basic steps that contribute to a good sex life?
There’s also a nasty human habit called ‘suggestion’. This is the reason why some doctors don’t mention the possible sexual dysfunction effects of medication – they worry that they’ll implant the suggestion in the patient’s mind, and make it come true. Sex is so psychological that this is a very real possibility.
With all that in mind, here are the medications that can – in specific situations – cause intimate side affects.
One of the big culprits? Anti-depressants. This is a classic case of life not being fair, because depression is renowned for being woefully bad for the sex life, but an anti-depressant can contribute to decreased desire, decreased arousal and physical difficulties in orgasming, according to new science in Australian Prescriber magazine.
Heart drugs are also renowned for flattening intimate life, with beta blockers and other cardiovascular medications responsible for bad libidos and poor arousal. However, these drugs don’t do a thing to your ability to reach orgasm, so if that’s failing, it’s from other causes.
Cancer drugs, unsurprisingly, also steamroller arousal and general sexual function, particularly those for breast or ovarian cancer.
Anti-psychotics haven’t been studied in relation to how they affect women – only men (typical) – but they play enough havoc with neural passageways for anecdotal accounts of poor libido, complete lack of arousal and the disappearance of orgasm to be believable.
They’re also the culprits behind vaginal dryness. It’s the same story with anti-epileptic drugs, too.
However, there’s good news – there doesn’t appear to be any evidence that oral contraceptives (ie the Pill) have negative effects on the libido at all. Not directly, anyhow: if they cause you to gain weight or be more emotionally volatile, that might wreak havoc, but it’s a side affect, not a cause.
There’s a big problem in the medical world when it comes to assessing how medicines affect the bedroom – often results are only focussed on men, and what causes erectile dysfunction might do absolutely nothing to women.
So we know that steroids are notoriously bad for men in the bedroom, as are HIV inhibitors and immuno-suppressants, but we’re still not sure what they do for us ladies.
If there are any female scientists reading, you’ve got your next research project.
However, here are some surprising meds that have been seen to cause sexual health problems in a small minority of patients: antihistamines (for treating allergies), pseudoephedrine (it’s in many cough medicines that keep you awake), and opioids like paracetamol. Non-opioid painkillers like aspirin and ibuprofen appear to be perfectly fine, though.
Recreational drugs are, pretty unsurprisingly, terrible all round. Alcohol – yep, it counts – is great for lowering inhibitions, but we all know what messy drunken sex is like, and it’s not good.
The Australian Prescriber is snarky about it, but accurate: “Many substance abusers report better sexual function, but often their partners report the opposite.” So on drugs you think you’re a sex goddess, but your partner is hopelessly confused and likely slightly annoyed.
How do you deal with this? When you’re next being prescribed a drug, be aware of the risks – but if you go to see your doctor, make sure you’ve answered the basic questions at the start of this article.
If it’s a side affect of being ill, there’s nothing much the doctor can do. If, however, it does appear to stem from the meds, there are many steps you can take, including reducing frequency, taking ‘drug holidays’, trying other medications and experimenting with treatments.
For god’s sake don’t stop taking medication because you’ve read this article – take all concerns to your doctor and work out a programme with them.
Talk about it with your partner/s, too. See what they’ve noticed, if they’ve had different experiences and if your accounts of the decline of your sex life match up. It’s a tricky thing to talk about, but it’s a part of a general medical discussion, so pull your socks up and be adult.
Sex is important, but being healthy wins – so read all the medical information, go to your GP or specialist and don’t be afraid to voice your concerns.
Lady Friday xx
Taking the pillow talk out of the bedroom, every Friday…