Everyday Wellness: Midlife Hormones, Health, and Science for Women 35+ Ep. 200 Digging into The Root Causes of Low Libido with Dr. Renee Wellenstein
I am delighted to have Dr. Renee Wellenstein joining me today! Dr. Renee is a double board-certified doctor who has been working with women for over 20 years. Due to her own health challenges, she stepped outside the box of conventional medicine to take a radically different approach to heal herself from the deep depths of burnout. She has had her fair share of obstacles throughout her journey, and she has mastered the art of leaping into transitions with each pivot! Now Dr. Renee empowers women to take control of their health, jump-start their energy, improve their confidence, and reignite their libido!
Low libido in women is a topic that is grossly misunderstood on many levels and does not get discussed often enough between doctors and patients. Research has shown that 43% of women experience low libido at some point in their lifetime. That is why we need to discuss it and keep the conversation open. We have to talk about low libido even though most women feel some degree of stigmatization around it and tend to feel uncomfortable talking about it with their girlfriends, loved ones, and especially their significant others.
In this episode, Dr. Renee dives into connection, intimacy, sleep, exercise, and the influence of food choices on libido. She gives her specific recommendations for women who have experienced vaginal changes and the effects of hormone replacement therapy. She discusses options that can help support women who have had breast cancer treatment whose healthcare providers do not advocate hormonal replacement therapy. Dr. Renee and I explain why we do not love pellets. We also discuss some of the physical reasons for women having low libido, including the effects of certain types of medication, alcohol, gynecological surgery, the impact of hormonal changes and fluctuations, and neurotransmitters.
I hope you will learn a lot from this conversation and enjoy it as much as I did! Stay tuned for more!
IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:
- Where did Dr. Renee's desire to talk openly to women about libido and their sexual issues stem from?
- How do the synthetic hormones in contraceptives dampen a woman’s desire to have sex?
- Medications other than oral contraceptives could also cause low libido in women.
- How does alcohol consumption contribute to low libido in women?
- Sometimes, gynecological surgery can result in women having low or no desire for sex.
- How the rhetoric around hormones being harmful hurts women.
- Some of the synthetic and bioidentical hormone options.
- Women who suspect they might have too much estrogen should consider changing their diet.
- Dr. Renee discusses the types of progesterone she usually recommends for women at different stages of their lives, their side effects, and their benefits.
- Feeding the gut microbiome can help prevent a low libido. Dr. Renee talks about the foods that will assist in keeping the gut microbiome healthy.
- Supplements can boost and support libido.
- What can women do about vulva/vaginal atrophy?
- Mindset is often a contributor to low libido.
- The problems with pellets.
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Connect with Dr. Renee Wellenstein
Resources:
Books mentioned:
Estrogen Matters by by Avrum Bluming and Carol Tavris