Most men or women experience low libido at least once in their lifetime and there are many causes for the low libido or the loss of interest in sex. Today let’s talk about the top 6 causes for low libido in men.
In fact, men understand that libido drops over their lifetime, but don’t know what a normal libido should feel like at their age. As a doctor I see more and more patients complaining of low sex drive. So Quickly let’s see what a normal libido for men is.
What is a normal libido for a man?
If ever there was a really hard question for me to answer-this is it. There is no normal libido for a man, as there is no specific way to measure it and it’s completely up to the individual. For example, I’ve seen patients who describe themselves as having low libido when they only want sex 3 times a week instead of 5 times a week. Other men do not have sex for 8 months, but happy with their libido. So firstly, just know low libido is extremely subjective. “Low Libido” is really dependent on you and your partner, if you and your partner are happy with your sexual life, there is no low libido even if you have sex once in a month.
However, there are some very common causes of low libido in men and let’s talk about them.
Causes of Low Libido in men
1. Low Testosterone
Testosterone is one of the important hormones produced in men by testicles. It is a male hormone that helps in sex stimulation in men.
Testosterone helps in building muscles and bone mass, and for stimulating sperm production. It also promotes erectile function in men. Also, it influences the general sex performance. This hormone varies from age, for instance, old men have lower testosterone hormone as compared to young adults.
This testosterone is directly proportional to sexual desire. So when your sex hormone diminishes your desire for sex also reduces.
2. Medications
There are many medications that can lower with your libido. This is usually due to the fact that they lower your testosterone.
Medication Causes Of Low Libido In Men:
- Blood pressure medications eg ACE inhibitors and beta-blockers may prevent ejaculation and erections.
- Chemotherapy or radiation treatments for cancer
- Hormones used to treat prostate cancer
- Corticosteroids
- Opioid pain relievers, such as morphine (MorphaBond, MS Contin) and oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet)
- An antifungal medication called ketoconazole
- Cimetidine (Tagamet), which is used for heartburn and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- Anabolic steroids, which may be used by athletes to increase muscle mass
- Certain antidepressants
If you were taking a suspect medication you should talk with your doctor first before stopping it to know if there is an alternative to your current medication that you could try instead.
3. Depression
Another natural effect of sex desire is depression. Depression lowers your desire to have a romance with your lover. Depression occurs due to changes in brain chemicals (neurotransmitters). Depression causes loss of interest in all pleasures of life including sex. Chronic depression is dangerous, a proper treatment regimen could control the situation. Maximum patients do not want to take anti-depressant medication due to its side effects which include low libido. It is always advisable first to treat depression, then you concentrate on associated medications’ side effects.
4. Chronic illness
chronic health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity contribute to sex, Being more difficult due to other factors like physical pain or even erectile dysfunction. I try to advise my patients to think about what those factors are that are causing the restriction and then treating both symptoms. Here I list the chronic illnesses that cause low libido in men.
- Chronic Illnesses that cause low libido in men:
- Cancer
- Type 2 diabetes
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
- Chronic lung disease
- Heart
- Chronic kidney disease
- Liver failure
- Obstructive Sleep Apnoea
5. Exercise
This is surprising, but extreme endurance training can decrease libido in men. However, on the flip side moderate exercise is known to lower cortisol levels at night and reduce stress which can help increase sex drive, so just try to keep the balance right.
6. Stress and anxiety
When you are under high stress or pressure your sexual desire will decrease. This is because stress disrupts hormones in the body. of course, stress can be very hard to avoid but it’s important, to be honest with yourself and your partner about what you’re experiencing so that you can plan together how to improve your libido.
7. Poor nutrients May Reduce Sexual Desire
Eating an imbalanced diet can result in a reduction of testosterone. Inadequate zinc and L-arginine in the body are the major causes of low libido. Therefore, boosting L-arginine consumption is very important. L-arginine is converted to nitric oxide. It helps relax the blood vessels of the penis and increases blood circulation and erection quality.
Furthermore, L-arginine helps in erectile function as they help in oxygen enhancement and stimulate the release of growth hormones, insulin, and other substances in the body. By following a nutritious diet will improve sex desire.
A nutritious diet promotes better blood circulation and heart health. More so, eating a diet rich in vegetables, low in sugar, and high in lean proteins can help increase testosterone levels.
8. Age
With increasing age, estrogen, androgen, and testosterone level are decreased which lowers libido. For instance, in young adults, the level of testosterone is at the peak while in late old age, the level of sex hormones is few. Fatigue due to increasing age results in low physical ability thus lowers the libido.
9. Lifestyle Choices
Smoking causes associated morbidity and hormonal changes by altering the central nervous system which leads to low libido. Chronic alcoholism also hampers sexual urges. Drug abuse, disturbed sleep, dietary habits also lower sexual satisfaction. Drug abuse also restricts sperm movements and sperm production.
10. Sleeping problems
Men with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) experience lower testosterone levels. In turn, this leads to decreased sexual activity and libido. So by getting good-quality sleep helps improves your blood circulation and general health. It improves your moods and energy level. This will further increase your libido.
Good sleep also helps relax the blood vessels and increase blood circulation, therefore achieving a better erection quality.
11. Physical Inactivity
Lack of exercise is associated with several health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes, all of which can cause low libido. However, regular exercise may reduce your risk of developing chronic conditions.
Too little or too much exercise may cause low sex drive, for instance overtraining, may also well result in low libido. Therefore, you need moderate exercise to lower cortisol levels at night and reduce stress.
12. Emotional Issues
For sexual drive, emotional factors are very important. Emotional issues include a relationship with a partner, family support, and social life. Mental wavelength mismatch with partner, unresolved conflicts and low self-esteem due to appearance, unemployment, and workload-related stress may hamper sexual urge and result in low libido.
Conclusion
As we already discussed low libido increases with age and there might be a number of causes for your low libido – but all the causes of your low libido affect your testosterone which affects the low libido. If you feel that you have low libido boosting your testosterone levels can help you in increasing your sex drive. Clinics like “The ED Clinic” are offering guaranteed testosterone boosting programs that you can try to boost your sex drive.