Is the Pill killing your sex life?

Or is it all just a case of hot air?

Ah, the Pill.  It’s a winner in so many ways.  But new research shows it may have an unsexy side-effect.

When Kate*, 25, and her partner got serious, she went on the Pill.  Bit after two months, “I seemed to lose my sex drive,” Kate says.  “And when we did have sex, it was like a desert down there.”

When Kate saw her doctor to find out what was going on, he dropped a bombshell: oral contraceptives can sometimes affect you libido. Huh?

Lost your mojo?

A recent study by Boston University Medical Centre in the US suggests that the Pill dampens a woman’s desire by raising the level of a certain protein in her body, which blocks the production of testosterone.  While not all doctors agree that testosterone is linked to our sex drives, the study suggests that lowered testosterone can impair our ability to become aroused.

That’s a big deal when you consider the Pill is the most popular contraceptive for women, with around 34 per cent of fertile Australian women using it.
So why don’t doctors warn patients about this side effect?  For one thing, many doctors haven’t known about the sexual side effects until recently.  For another, the majority of the women aren’t affected at all.  “Some women’s libidos actually benefit from taking the Pill,” says Dr John Bancroft, a researcher at the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University in the US.

“While (the pill) doesn’t protect against STIs or HIV, its very effective when its used properly.  It also (protects) against ovaries cysts as well as cancer of the ovaries and uterus,” says sexual health expert Dr Susan Kellogg.  But the World Health Organisation estimates that of all the women on the pill, 32 per cent of them discontinued use after the first year**.  The reason for this drop-out rate is unclear, but if the Pill stops you wanting sex at all, were guessing it’s not the sort of birth control you had in mind (no matter how effective).

But is the Pill to blame?

Most women assume the Pill works by pumping you up with hormones, but its actually the opposite.  It works like this; “the two synthetic hormones (oestrogen and progestin) found in each pill down-regulate your body’s hormonal balance,” Kellogg says.  This hormonal change can also contribute to vaginal dryness and lack of interest in sex.

But many women’s sex drives aren’t affected by the Pill.  “Low libido can be (due to) lots of things – stress, work and other medicines,” says obstetrician and gynaecologist Dr David Archer.

How to deal with it

Before you bin your blister pack in search of a better sex life, ask your doctor if you can try a different pill.  There are about six types, all with varying combinations of hormones and side effects.  If you do experiment (with a GP’s guidance, of course), give your body at leats three months to adjust to any type whether your libido’s being affected.