Tag Archives: female sexual dysfunction

Dr. Drai: 12 Unexpected Causes Of Female Sexual Dysfunction

Ask an OBGYN No Comments

Hello #GYNEGirls, #Preggos, and #GENTs. It’s me Dr. Drai. Let’s talk about female sexual dysfunction today. Do you experience difficulty having sex and are you not able to satisfy your partner in bed? If you answered YES, then you may be suffering from sexual dysfunction. Ladies, sexual dysfunction is common. It affects more than 40% of women in their lifetime. Every day I see a patient in my office that has this problem. You are NOT ALONE. Female sexual dysfunction (FSD) includes problems with desire, arousal, orgasms, and sexual pain that causes significant distress in your life. Having problems with desire (aka libido) is the most common. Women with this problem don’t want to engage in any type of sexual activity, including masturbation. They also don’t want to have sexual thoughts or fantasies. Ladies with arousal problems have issues with the physical and emotional changes that occur in the body as a result of sexual stimulation. Women that have orgasmic problems don’t have orgasms during sexual activity or the intensity of orgasms have decreased. Ladies with sexual pain have pain during intercourse.

Here are 12 unexpected causes of female sexual dysfunction.

  1. Aging– A women’s libido and sexual activity decreases w/ age
  2. Birth Control– Causes decreased estrogen levels leading to vaginal dryness and pain during intercourse
  3. Stress– Stress from work, finances
  4. Relationship problems– Fighting with your partner or having No trust in your relationship
  5. Mental Illness such as depression and anxiety can lead to FSD
  6. Past negative experiences– Sexual trauma (rape)
  7. Medications– Antidepressants
  8. Medical Conditions– Congestive Heart Failure, Diabetes, Hyperlipidemia, Hypertension
  9. Poor Body Image– Being Obese
  10. Smoking cigarettes– slows down blood flow to sexual organs and cause arousal problems
  11. Alcohol-affects how the body responds
  12. Illegal Drugs– affects how the body responds

Since women sometimes hesitate to discuss their sexual problems with one another, many of them start believing that they are not normal and their sexual problem is shameful. Don’t believe the HYPE. Be open and honest with your doctor. If getting older has affected your love life. There a fix. If you have some concerns about your sex life. There is a fix. If you do not enjoy sex like you use to. There is a fix. Your doctor will perform a thorough history to pinpoint any problems surrounding the FSD diagnosis. She will do a physical exam and a pelvic/bimanual exam, re-create the pain by touch, and order blood test to measure hormone, cholesterol, and glucose levels. Each type of female sexual dysfunction is treated differently. Treatment is complex. Your doctor may refer you to a sex therapist, couples’ therapy, or individual therapy.

Until next time… it’s Dr. Drai.

drdrai

Dr. Draion M. Burch, DO (Dr. Drai) – a highly respected, board-certified Obstetrician and Gynecologist – is a nationally-recognized author, speaker, consultant, and go-to media expert on women’s health and transgender health issues. He travels the country to meet with women one-on-one and in groups to provide and instruct on healthcare.Dr. Drai always makes time to genuinely help those in need. He is the founder and chief medical advisor of DrDrai.com, where he discusses actionable ideas and real-world strategies to help women take control of their health. 

Is A Lady Viagra Pill Closer To Reality?

Love and Sex Opinion 2 Comments

Viagra was introduced over 15 years ago, and today, there are over 24 FDA-approved options for male sexual dysfunction to help gentlemen with their “performance.” But, we ladies are still waiting for a medical solution to our libido issues – studies in JAMA show around 43% of US women between 18 and 59 have some sexual dysfunction. What’s up with that? Yes – there are non-pill, topical ointments to helps us like Zestra. But, we should have a pow-pow option that a pharmeceutical pill offers just like the men do. And we shouldn’t have to wait until we hit menopause to get it!

Well, we may be closer to getting our needs met. Or at least having more options.  (And, ladies, it’s all about the options, right?) After pressure from women’s advocacy groups and other efforts, on February 11, 2015 the FDA gave Sprout Pharmaceuticals the okay to resubmit a New Drug Application (NDA) for flibanserin, a once-daily treatment for Hypoactive Sexual Desire Disorder (HSDD) in premenopausal women.

Flibanserin would be first-in-class, first-in-disease treatment of female sexual dysfunction acting on the neurotransmitters in the brain.

But, not all women think flibanserin is a good thing.  Some feminists over at Slate.com  believe that a lot of women’s sexual issues are due to boredom and not wanting to have sex with a particular man. They don’t think it’s a physical problem. Also, the drug was twice rejected by the FDA out of concern that the risks outweighed the benefits and the drug  could interact badly with other medicines a lady was taking.

But, there are studies supporting the drug’s effectiveness such as the June 2014 article in Menopause showing 38% of the women who got the drug saw improvements in their sex lives. And, while 30% did experience side effects like headaches and nausea only 8% found it so bad that they wanted to stop treatment. (You know that’s right…)

With so many options for men and none for women, it seems like flibanserin should be made available for the women and couples who find it helpful. Ladies, let me hear your thoughts!

Keep it sexy!

Keep it healthy!

SuzyKnew!