Better Health Results in a Better Sex Life

It's hard to get revved up for sex if you're not feeling well. Before you start blaming your less than vigorous libido on getting older or becoming disinterested in your partner, take a long, hard look at your health profile.

Medications used to treat everything from depression and high blood pressure to chronic pan and diabetes can have a noticeable effect on your sexual appetite, causing it to diminish, explains Mary Jane Minkin, MD, a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist in New Haven, Connecticut, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Yale University School of Medicine, and author of a paper on fertility health recently published in Women's Health.

"Depression in and of itself is a huge decreaser of libido," Minkin says. "And the classic drugs to treat it also depress libido."

Diabetes is another culprit, she explains. "It can certainly decrease libido, and people with diabetes have a higher incidence of vascular disease," Minkin says. "People who have vascular disease are on medications that can decrease libido as well."

Conditions like chronic back pain are a "double whammy" when it comes to having a good sex life, Minkin says. Not only is the person in physical pain, but then may be taking pain medications that reduce the desire for sex.

Medications for hypertension are known to decrease sex drive as well. "I have women who come in and say their husband's performance is really shot due to the blood pressure medications," Minkin says.

Giving up a wonderful sex life, however, is not the solution if you have a chronic illness, she says. Instead, take measures now to deal with the health issues, whether that means a change in a particular medication or a meal plan to get your weight into the normal range, in which case diabetes and high blood pressure may well be less of an issue.

Here's what you can do to get healthy for good sex.

● Any activity that increases blood flow is good for your sex life, says Mary Jo Rapini, an intimacy and sex relationship therapist. Exercise is crucial to improve blood flow: try exercising with your partner by doing something you both enjoy. Exercise also increases your endorphin level.  "Endorphins make you feel good and make you want to have sex," Minkin says. "Exercise is almost like a narcotic high and it has no down side."

● Take warm baths together before sex, Rapini suggests. "This is one of my treatments for intimacy," she says. "The bath is warm, the water is warm, and when you submerge yourself in water you always feel better and more comfortable. And a bath is relaxing."

● Rapini also believes certain foods can also enhance libido. Chocolate, avocadoes, almonds and pumpkin seeds are all worth trying, she says.

● If you are on medications and they're causing a diminished sexual appetite, don't suffer in silence, Minkin says. "Talking to your health care provider about whether or not your medicine is lowering your libido is very important," she says. "Don't be embarrassed. Your doctor has heard all of this before. There may be other medications to try that do not have a decreased libido as a side effect."

● Menopause is known to cause vaginal dryness, and even pain during intercourse. Again, that's not something women need to suffer with, Minkin says. "It's really easy to fix," she says. "We can get moisturizers there and get you comfortable."