What sexual changes occur during menopause?

There are some good sexual changes during menopause:

• No more menstrual periods!
• No more risk of pregnancy!
• After age 69, no more Paps unless the doctor says so.

There are some sexual changes you may need to learn to manage:

• Reduced sexual desire and prolonged response time due to hormone level changes
• Tissue dryness that may increase discomfort during intercourse
• Symptoms such as hot flashes that may occur at the most inconvenient times
• Grieving for the loss of womanhood or your self-image as a fertile woman

So there are pro's and con's. Generally, whatever your sex life was like before menopause should return when your symptoms are over or managed. Life may change but it still goes on.

Vaginal dryness becomes more prevalent during early postmenopause. Nearly 50 percent of women report bothersome vaginal dryness even three years after menopause. Some of the sexual problems women report, such as pain with intercourse, may be related to vaginal dryness.

Other changes, such as lower sexual interest and responsivity, increase in prevalence as women make the transition to menopause. Lower estrogen levels, but not lower testosterone levels, have been associated with sexual problems in a large longitudinal study of women during the menopausal transition in Australia. Recent reports from the Study of Women Across the Nation (SWAN) study indicate that testosterone levels have minimal influence on sexual desire, a finding corroborated by another study of Australian women. Your prior sexual experiences and factors related to your partners, your relationships, and other aspects of your lives influence your sexuality as well as the biological changes associated with menopause.

Find out more about this book: Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause

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