What Is Menopause?

Menopause is divided into three stages. Namely, perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause. Perimenopause is part of your life for 10 years before menopause kicks in. While it is usually known to greet a woman in her 40s, it is possible to encounter it in your 30s as well, which falls under the category of pre-menopause or early menopause.

Perimenopause is the period when you start experiencing irregular periods along with various menopause symptoms. A year of being period free marks the beginning of your menopause, which is then followed by the everlasting era of postmenopause. You might have the impulse to be done with your pills and condoms as your periods start to become irregular during perimenopause. Our suggestion would be to hold on to them. While menopause symptoms might make getting pregnant a rare possibility, STDs could still be on the cards.Menopause symptoms are the culprits that cause physical and emotional changes that impact a woman’s life, including meddling with her sex life.

What Is Libido?

Libido refers to the enjoyment you get from sex and how willing you are to jump your partners bones and ride him like a cowgirl. A number of women notice a distinct decrease in their sex drive after menopause. This might vary from person to person though. Some women might experience an increase in libido, or no change at all. The statistics do show a steep incline in the complaints of decrease in sex drive after menopause, which is noticeable from their pre menopausal counterparts. These changes might show up right from the perimenopause stage.

How Do Perimenopause And Menopause Symptoms Affect Libido?

One of the several perimenopause and menopause symptoms include a decline in the levels of Oestrogen. This leads to reduced blood flow to the vagina. The tissues of the vagina and labia end up becoming thinner as a result, and less receptive to sexual stimulation. Vaginal lubrication is also one of the many victims of reduced blood flow. It also hampers arousal, which might cause pain or varying amount of discomfort during sex. Enjoying sex might become a thing of the past along with achieving orgasm. Your hormones enjoy a free ride on a roller coaster during perimenopause and menopause, which can affect your health and lead to a downfall of libido.

Menopause Symptoms That Decrease Sex Drive After Menopause

Acne : You might have believed acne was the curse of your teenage years. Karmic retribution for the hell you put your parents through. But hang on, acne is not done with you yet. They are poised to poke their ugly head at the most inopportune time and place on your face, ushered in by the menopause bitch. So you might greet your 40s with pimples and scars galore. We hope you learnt something about acne management from your teenage years. The difference is that you were eternally horny in your teenage years, less so in your menopausal ones. Age is a factor that is changing your body in it’s own ways. Add in problems like acne and your libido might go for a toss (excuse the pun).
Eczema : It is a condition when your skin might become rough and inflamed with blisters which cause a lot of itching and bleeding. Leaving it at acne was clearly not enough for those arsehole menopause symptoms, now it adds eczema to the mix too and you can see your libido go further down.
Acne Causes Loss of Sex Drive
Menopause Symptoms - Bone Pain
Bone Pain : As you age, your bones become brittle and aching joints might be the new normal. Not one to be left behind, menopause decides to add to it. With stiff and achy joints we usually associate with old age, the last thing on our mind is sex. 
Increase In PMS Symptoms : When we are promised the sweet release from the cage of periods, we automatically assume that we’ll get to kick PMS to the kerb as well. Unfortunately that’s just a pipe dream. Instead, perimenopause and menopause might aggravate PMS symptoms to a higher level. These might include things such as depression, irritability and bloating.

Depression : Perimenopause might set you on an emotional journey of epic highs and crushing lows. While feeling sad might be the consequence of your ever changing hormones, you need to be careful that it does not veer into the dark realm of depression.

Bloating : When you reach your 40s, the thought of being middle aged might be a source of discomfort. To add to it, ageing might make your body unrecognisable. The exercise and diet that your body readily responded to in your youth, might not be able to make a dent in your bloated belly. The period of perimenopause and menopause might see you bloating like Aunt Marge in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Just another one of the menopause symptoms at your service. Bloating is nothing new for most of us. PMS usually entails your clothes suddenly becoming tight overnight. Now imagine PMS lasting for years on end, starting with perimenopause in your early 40s or even earlier than that.

Suffering From Depression During Perimenopause

Sore Breasts : Yes, we hate menopause and rest assured the sentiment is reciprocated. Perimenopause and menopause symptoms might lead to varying degrees of soreness in your breast. If by any chance you might have reached the holy threshhold of wanting sex, your sore body parts might make it hard to achieve orgasm while navigating through the pain and various other menopause symptoms that are just waiting to cock block your sex life.

Irritability : If becoming irritable is your common baseline emotion these days, it could very well be a perimenopause or menopause symptom. The things that you used to brush aside, might now become a source of magnum fits of irritability. Such factors combined with fluctuating hormones might lead to an aversion to sex and consequent decrease of sex drive after menopause.

Weakness : You might notice your energy levels going down as you age. The number of activities that took a blink of the eye to achieve earlier, now seems to leave you gasping for breath. It might not all be age related after all. Menopause symptoms hold its own crushing amount of weight in bringing you down. Added weakness is another of the many menopause symptoms you might be getting familiar with from the period of perimenopause itself. After going through your daily set of responsibilities all you want to do is get in bed and fall fast asleep. You might not have the energy to roll over, let alone indulge in sex. Hence, R.I.P. sex life.

Hot Flushes : The mother of all menopause symptoms are the hot flushes. Hot flushes are the feeling of intense heat throughout your body without rhyme or reason. Hot flushes usually lead to intense sweating as well. So while getting hot and heavy is the ultimate goal, being boiled from the inside out with sweat pouring out from every pore in your body, just might be the most natural anti sex formula ever discovered. (Unless you’re into slippy sex)

Weakness When You Going Through Menopause

Menopause symptoms affect your mental, physical and emotional health. Therefore libido is affected during the start of perimenopause and might continue for several years after. For many women, their sex drive after menopause might either increase, decrease or remain the same. But if statistics are to be believed, there is a distinct decrease in their desire to have sex. Perimenopause and menopause symptoms do not, however have to be the end of your sex life as you now it. You can still be a lady on the streets and a legend in the sheets.