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Revving Up a Low Libido: Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
Conventional wisdom tends to be more convention than wisdom, and the idea that women have a low libido while men’s sex drive is stuck in high gear is a perfect example. Truth be told, a lot of guys don’t find their engines running as hot as they might like.
“It’s an interesting hidden problem,” says Louanne Cole Weston, PhD. Weston is a marriage and family therapist and board-certified sex therapist in Fair Oaks, California. “Men who have a reduced sex drive don’t want to talk about it, and the women with them don’t want to talk about it either. The women are afraid if they say much about it, people will think either the man’s really gay, or she’s a ‘bad lay’ or too unattractive to stir his passions. And the man has the myth that you’re supposed to want it all the time, anywhere.”
In her role as a sex therapist, and as former author of the WebMD Sex Matters board, Weston has found that low libido in men is a much more common complaint than our popular culture would seem to indicate. She says, “When people wrote in about the discrepancy of frequency and desire, about 40 percent of the time it was men wanting less.”
Exactly what is a low libido?
According to Weston, the definition of low libido is subjective - and defined by the person who has one. “A man has to perceive his libido as low, and it has to be distressing to him,” she says. A partner may have a vote in the matter and may have initiated a trip for both of you to the sex therapist, but it’s what works (or doesn’t) for you that counts.
Couples need not feel they have to have sex a certain number of times a week to have a good sex life. “It’s really about compatibility,” Weston says. She recalls a pair of married scientists who came to see her about the frequency of sex in their marriage because they were afraid they were freaks.
“They came in saying, ‘We have sex twice a year, once on Christmas and once on his birthday. Is there something wrong with us?’ We went through it all and found they didn’t really want to change. They were coming in out of cultural pressure. Their true joy lay in doing what they were doing together in the lab. They liked each other; they didn’t fight. Sex was not a high priority for either of them. They were real cerebral types. I think we met twice and then I sent them home. I said, ‘I’m not going to make you guys broken; I think you fit very well together.’'
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Men's Health Guide
Indication
Uroxatral® (alfuzosin HCl 10 mg extended-release tablets) is an alpha1-blocker for the treatment of the signs and symptoms of BPH.
Important Safety Information
Do not take UROXATRAL if you have liver problems or if you are taking antifungal drugs like ketoconazole or itraconazole, or HIV drugs like ritonavir.
UROXATRAL can cause a sudden drop in blood pressure, especially when starting treatment. This may lead to fainting, dizziness, and lightheadedness. Do not drive, operate machinery, or do any dangerous activity until you know how UROXATRAL will affect you. This is especially important if you already have a problem with low blood pressure or take medicines to treat high blood pressure. There may be an increased risk of low blood pressure and fainting when taking UROXATRAL in combination with blood pressure medication or nitrates, or erectile dysfunction medication.
If considering cataract surgery (clouding of the eyes), tell your eye surgeon that you are currently taking UROXATRAL or have previously been treated with an alpha-blocker.
Before taking UROXATRAL, tell your doctor if you have kidney problems.
Also, tell your doctor if you or any family member(s) have or take medications for a rare heart condition known as congenital prolongation of the QT interval.
BPH and prostate cancer can cause the same symptoms. However, UROXATRAL is not a treatment for prostate cancer.
The most common side effects with UROXATRAL are dizziness, upper respiratory tract infection, headache, and tiredness.
Please see UROXATRAL full prescribing information.
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