In this article:
- What is cortisol?
- How cortisol can impact sex drive in men
- How cortisol can impact sex drive in women
- Understanding changes to your libido
There are so many factors that can dampen your libido, from nutrient deficiencies to too much sugar. For many people, though, the cause is a hormonal imbalance triggered by elevated cortisol.
Takeaways:
- Cortisol isn’t always the bad guy, but if it becomes chronically elevated there could be consequences - such as an absent sex drive.
- Men and women have many different versions of what a typical sex drive feels like, so cortisol will affect their libidos in unique ways.
- Even though cortisol frequently plays a role in decreased libidos, sometimes it’s only part of a bigger picture.
A quick clarification before getting started: when Base uses gendered language we’re talking about physiological gender assigned at birth, not someone’s preferred pronouns.
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What is cortisol?
Cortisol is a hormone that’s mainly associated with stress, which is partly accurate - after all, it isn’t nicknamed “the stress hormone” for nothing. The thing is, cortisol is only the bad guy if it’s too high; if your levels are normal, it’s more like the “regulating daily energy cycles” hormone. It actually affects a surprising number of systems in your body:
- Immune system
- Cardiovascular system
- Nervous system
- Reproductive system
- Respiratory system
- Musculoskeletal system
- Integumentary system (hair, skin, and nails)
As you can see, cortisol is definitely something you want your body to produce; however, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and since high cortisol causes so many issues (and is so common), people often see it in a negative light.
In a perfect world, cortisol would do what it’s supposed to: help you get out of bed with plenty of energy to start the day, keep you alert when you’re supposed to be, and play nice with melatonin (the sleep hormone) when it’s time for you to turn in for the night. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world; most of us live in a stressful world, which means lots and lots of cortisol spikes throughout the day. Cortisol is in charge of many important functions within the body, but when your system consistently produces too much and the stress hormone starts running the show, a lot of very undesirable symptoms can start showing up. Brain fog, anxiety, exhaustion, and yes - a poor sex drive.
How cortisol can impact sex drive in men
As a general rule, men have higher sex drives than women. There’s still a lot of variation within whatever constitutes a “normal” male sex drive, but the average guy should have a pretty consistent libido. While men don’t have the same distinct monthly cycle like women, their testosterone levels follow a daily cycle, peaking in the morning and gradually falling as the day progresses.
What if a man’s cortisol is too high, though? That’s a whole different story. In a mild case, he could notice that his sex drive has decreased over the past few weeks or months. If his cortisol levels are chronically elevated, however, he might end up with no libido or even erectile dysfunction.
Why does this happen - doesn’t your body know how to produce the right amounts of sex hormones? Under normal circumstances, yes, but excess cortisol is produced when your brain registers some kind of threat, and signals your body to make cortisol for a quick burst of energy. And if your body is focusing on producing stress hormones, it spends a lot less effort making sex hormones, resulting in dropping testosterone levels and a decreased sex drive.
How cortisol can impact sex drive in women
Figuring out the baseline for a woman’s sex drive is a little more complicated because they experience natural fluctuations in libido during their menstrual cycles. In general, it’ll peak during, before, and after ovulation, but apart from that it’s pretty much up to the individual to say what a typical sex drive feels like for her. Then there’s, pregnancy and menopause when a woman can experience massive hormonal fluctuations that may result in poor libido.
Pinpointing the “average” level of libido for a woman is impossible, but what we do know about female biology is that cortisol affects it in much the same way as it does a man, in that it interferes with the production of sex hormones (among other things). Estrogen, progesterone, and even testosterone all play a part in a healthy female libido - and they’re all negatively affected by elevated cortisol.
Given the fact that women usually experience ebbs and flows in sex drive, it’s important to know the difference between having a lower libido because that’s just what happens at a certain point in her cycle, and missing her sex drive completely because her body isn’t able to produce enough sex hormones.
Understanding changes to your libido
Even if cortisol is affecting your sex drive, there could still be other factors that need addressing as well. For example, cortisol doesn’t just dampen sex hormone production, but also thyroid hormone production. And guess what one of the symptoms could be for depressed thyroid function? That’s right - a weak sex drive.
Identifying your symptoms as well as external factors, like a stressful job or a family history of low thyroid function, can tell you a lot about what’s going on; however, lab testing will give you much more accurate data. You can get your cortisol, sex hormones, thyroid hormones, and more tested at home with Base’s lab tests. And you don’t just have to stick with the initial results; you can also get tested a few months down the line to check on your progress and make sure you’re on the right track.
A sex drive is something that many people take for granted - until it isn’t there anymore. Whether you’re just trying to understand why your libido isn’t as consistent as it used to be, or you want to make sure your sexual health isn’t being threatened by high cortisol, this is could turn into a deep rabbit hole - but it’s also a journey you won’t regret!
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