Hi everyone!  Welcome to the A to Z of Sex. I’m Dr Lori Beth and I am your host.  We are working our way through the erotic alphabet one letter at a time.  Just a reminder this podcast deals with adult content, so if you don’t have total privacy, you might want to put on your headphones. Today the letter is L and L is for Libido, in this case particularly loss of libido in women. There is quite a bit of talk of the changes men go through as they get older, including erectile dysfunction and even some discussion about loss of libido. But we rarely talk openly about the loss of libido that can accompany peri-menopause and menopause and how devastating women kind find this change.  Libido in this context refers to someone’s sex drive, that is their desire to have sexual encounters (solo or with others). There are many events during the course of a lifetime that can impact libido and libido certainly ebbs and flows as a result of hormonal changes. For some women, these changes take them entirely by surprise and just at a time when they no longer have to worry about using birth control, a time when they hope to be freer and more spontaneous in relation to their sexual encounters, they can find themselves surprisingly and sometimes suddenly entirely uninterested in sex of any kind. 

When midlife mayhem descends it’s not uncommon to wake up in the morning feeling like you have been possessed by an alien. Life as you knew may seem to be a dim and distant memory. Your hormones are in the driving seat and you are left clinging on by your finger nails. Gone are the days when you roll over in the mornings hoping your partner is in the mood for some fun. Instead of snuggling up for comfort and love you are only too pleased to be in your own space busy throwing off the covers as the heat over takes you. When you cool down, hoping you will stay cool long enough to engage in passion, you may be fearful that intercourse will be a nightmare leaving you feeling sore instead of satisfied. If this sounds familiar then you will be pleased to hear from Maryon Stewart as she has been helping women to rekindle their libido naturally for over 25 years. Maryon Stewart is well known in both the UK and Australia as a pioneer in the field of non drug medicine. In 1984 she set up the women’s nutritional advisory Service, which has helped tens of thousands of women all around the world to improve their health and wellbeing. In 2010, following the death of her 21 year old daughter Hester, Maryon founded the Angelus Foundation, the only charity currently dedicated to raising awareness about the dangers of legal highs and club drugs. She has written 26 popular self-help books, co-authored a series of medical papers, written regular columns for numerous daily newspapers and magazines, had her own radio show, written scripts for, and produced many films, as well as contributed to a variety TV series, including being the Nutritionist for Channel Four’s Model Behaviour and now she presents The Really Useful Health Show.

Maryon spoke about the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause and talked at length about how many things can be resolved through the use of natural medicine. We spoke about how hard it is to make sure you have good information as the internet has so much that it can be overwhelming and most GP’s are not well versed in the alternatives to hormone replacement therapy.  Maryon spoke about the importance of community support as people often feel that they are the only one going through this and she has started a closed Facebook group called Midlife SWITCH for women going through perimenopause and menopause. She reports that since the start lots of women have written in about how comforting it is to know others are there who understand what they are going through.

You can find Maryon Stewart on www.maryonstewart.com and Midlife Switch on Facebook.  Her books are widely available.

Thanks for joining me this week for the A to Z of Sex  Write in with your questions to drloribeth@atozofsex.com and visit both websites www.atozofsex.com and www.the-intimacy-coach.com to learn about alternative sexual choices, types of sexual relationships and to learn to sizzle and create that ideal lasting intimate relationship.  For a free 30 minute session with me, head over to www.atozofsex.com and click on the button that says ‘book now’.  Please join me next week when the letter will be M for Mrs Robinson (Cougar/Cub relationships).