Last summer my libido, having made a dignified exit two years earlier, roared back into startling action. Suddenly my mind was filled with thoughts of sex – with my husband, with the bloke who casually wished me 'good morning' at the station earlier.
![[Dr Ginni Mansberg insists your sex drive doesn't have to die as you age]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/10/21/22/88926861-13721397-Dr_Ginni_Mansberg_insists_your_sex_drive_doesn_t_have_to_die_as_-a-9_1729545110667.jpg)
A daily dab of testosterone cream on my thigh proved alarmingly effective at revving up an engine that had been resting in idle. If you buy into the popular view that every menopausal woman who loses her sexual mojo longs to get it back, then you’re probably thinking: 'Lucky old you.'.
![[Almost 13 per cent of women between the ages of 45 and 65 will be diagnosed with HSDD; however, researchers believe the real number is much higher because few women want to admit to their doctor that their sex drive has fallen off a cliff]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/10/21/22/88927011-13721397-Almost_13_per_cent_of_women_between_the_ages_of_45_and_65_will_b-a-51_1729544690355.jpg)
Well, think again, because it was awful. I'd be so het up by lunchtime that I was convinced only two things would calm me back down: a stiff drink and some frenetic sexual action. The author says that her marriage is stronger than ever now that her libido and her husband's are lower (picture posed by models).
![[She has wondered whether her husband James is experiencing a version of ‘male menopause’, as low libido affects one in five men (picture posed by models)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/10/18/00/88273079-13721397-She_has_wondered_whether_her_husband_James_is_experiencing_a_ver-a-9_1729208342870.jpg)
Doctors see it time and time again: women in otherwise happy marriages to men they adore all saying the same thing. 'The idea of making love repulses me. I don't know why - I used to love sex.'. A low to non-existent libido is common for women going through perimenopause, which refers to the time when a woman's body makes the natural transition to menopause. This typically begins between the ages of 40 and 44 and concludes when a woman has gone 12 months without a period.
![[She started taking a daily dab of testosterone on her thigh at 53, which set her libido raging and felt to her like more trouble than it was worth]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/10/21/22/88273051-13721397-She_started_taking_a_daily_dab_of_testosterone_on_her_thigh_at_5-a-8_1729545110667.jpg)