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Revive Your Sex Drive: How to Handle 10 Top Libido Killers

By: Rachel Grumman

Reviewed By: Timothy Yarboro, M.D.

Is sex the last thing on your mind these days? Does it take you forever to get aroused? Or has reaching orgasm become a Herculean task? If so, you may have female sexual dysfunction—and you're not alone. Plenty of women experience sexual dysfunction, with problems ranging from not being able to have orgasms to having zero sexual desire.

Many things can interfere with sexual pleasure and function, from medical causes, such as certain medications, to psychological issues, such as relationship strife. Most often, sexual dysfunction is born out of a combination of the two. To help you pinpoint what's taken the sizzle out of your sex drive, we've pulled together 10 top libido killers and what your next steps should be to get your sex life back on track.

1. Oral contraceptives: The trouble with the pill is that what keeps you from getting pregnant—stopping ovulation—is also what can sap your sex drive. Your ovaries make hormones as well as eggs, and when they're put to rest for several weeks each month, hormone levels in your body drop. The second problem is that the pill causes the body to produce a protein called sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), which binds itself to sex hormones, in particular testosterone, essentially sucking them up. Testosterone plays a role in vaginal blood flow and sensitivity in the opening of the vagina, so lower levels of this hormone can lead to sexual problems. What's more, the thinking was that once you stopped the pill your body returned to its original settings, but research shows the pill's effect and the SHBG protein production can continue to be higher in former pill users than in non-pill users.

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