3 Ways the Birth Control Pill Can Slow Down Your Sex Life
Besides the most obvious benefit of taking the Pill—reliable contraception—there are a lot of other bonuses: glowy skin, light periods, elimination of menstrual cramps, and a significant decrease in the risk of certain cancers.
The flip side includes warnings, some of them terrifying: risk of blood clots, stroke, nausea, headaches, breast tenderness, and anxiety (possibly about scary side effects).
But there are also side effects that are less commonly discussed, and three of them affect your sex life. They’re not as dire as those above—and your doctor may not mention them—but they’re still important to know about:
Lack of libido
Libido is complicated and influenced by many factors. But if your sex-drive crash directly coincided with starting the Pill, your birth control could be the culprit. In fact, roughly 15% of women report decreased sexual desire when taking the Pill. Birth control pills increase a protein secreted by the liver known as sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). SHBG binds to testosterone (a hormone that increases libido) and makes the molecule inactive. The higher the SHBG level, the lower the functional testosterone level.
Action step: A different brand of Pill may ease the problem. But some women have this issue with every type, and they need to decide whether to use another form of contraception.
Vaginal dryness
Changes such as lack of lubrication and thinning of genital tissues are most commonly associated with menopause. But the Pill may cause these changes in women for whom menopause is decades away. An estimated 15% of women have a genetic variant that results in inefficient testosterone receptors in genital tissue, and these women require much more testosterone to keep vulvar and vaginal tissue healthy. The effects are not obvious until testosterone levels become lower than normal, which happens to every woman who takes the Pill.
Estrogen and testosterone receptors in the vagina both contribute to lubrication, so it’s understandable that low testosterone makes things not only drier but also more painful. One study found that after only three months of using the Pill, some women had thinner labia and smaller vaginal entrances that correlated with increased pain during intercourse.
Action step: Talk to your doctor about whether you should stop the Pill and use another form of contraception such as an IUD. A prescription hormone cream may be needed to reverse the changes.
Bleeding with sex
Bleeding that occurs with or just after intercourse should always be checked out, since it may be the result of a sexually transmitted infection or a cervical polyp or another growth. But once those possibilities are eliminated, ectropion is high on the list. This is a condition in which the cells that normally line the cervical canal are exposed on the surface of the cervix and bleed when touched. It occurs commonly in pregnancy but can also happen as a result of the Pill. The condition is easily diagnosed by a gynecologist.
Action step: If this is an issue, there are treatments—but you don’t need to do anything. If the bleeding is scant, you may choose to live with it or else pick a different form of contraception.
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