Sex drive tends to decrease over time in both men and women. As we age, our bodies produce fewer sex hormones. For men, this means testosterone levels drop and libido tends to follow. For women, sexual stimulation and arousal may become more difficult as our progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone levels drop. Here’s what most of us can expect to happen to our libido as we age.
When you’re in your 20s, your body is fertile, limber, and ready to blow off excess energy in the form of sexual acrobatics. If you’re in a healthy intimate relationship while in your 20s, you probably have no problem with arousal or libido. Sexual thoughts may be frequent during this period of life. You can rest assured that members of the opposite sex who are the same age as you are also having plenty of sexual fantasies.
Most men continue to have a strong sex drive through their 30s and into their early 40s. By the time they reach age 35, though, their testosterone does start to decrease by approximately 1% each year.
For women, the 30s are generally a busy time. We’re typically either solidifying our careers or popping out babies (or both!) But despite how busy we are, some of us may experience increased sexual desire during our 30s and early 40s. If we don’t, that’s okay. Many women experience a natural decrease in sex drive, which is no surprise, considering all the responsibilities we have on our plates. A variety of external and internal factors can impact our libido during this stage of our lives.
In our 40s, we’re approaching menopause and our hormones are changing. These changes will intensify until we go through menopause and our bodies are no longer capable of bearing children. It makes sense that this huge disruption in hormones can also cause a huge disruption in our sexual desire.