Contraception during menopause
How long should I use contraception during menopause?
As a rule of thumb, you should continue to use contraception for one to two years after your last menstrual period. This means that contraception is no longer an issue in postmenopause at the earliest. It is best to talk to your gynecologist. Incidentally, the time of the last menstrual period varies from woman to woman: While some women say goodbye to their periods in their mid-40s, others still have periods in their early 50s.
You can find out more about the phases of menopause in the article “Menopause – from when?
What contraception during menopause?
The known side effects of the pill include vascular occlusion (thrombosis), heart attack and circulatory disorders. The risk of cardiovascular disease increases with age. For this reason, doctors advise women in menopause not to take the pill. Alternatively, the following methods are available for menopausal contraception:
- IUD
- Sterilization
- Natural contraception (e.g. temperature method)
Libido during menopause
Menopause can sometimes cause a real upheaval in your sex life: some women no longer have any desire for sex, while others report an increase in desire during menopause. You can find out why this is the case below.
Loss of libido during menopause
We speak of a loss of libido when sexual desire is significantly reduced. Those affected simply have no desire for sex.
Men have similar problems. Admittedly, it is not menopause that affects sexuality in men. Rather, it is the physical changes due to increasing age that cause him trouble. In addition, testosterone levels drop. This increases the risk of erectile dysfunction and loss of libido.
In addition to physical causes, psychological factors are also possible for reduced or absent desire, for example:
- Grief due to losses (for example, children moving out of the parental home, death of own parents)
- stress due to new dependencies (for example, caring for parents)
- Low self-esteem
- partnership problems
- depressive moods
In addition, medications – such as antidepressants, painkillers, sleeping pills and tranquilizers – can have a negative effect on libido.
Sometimes the desire comes back during or after menopause, when the mental and physical well-being improves. Relaxation techniques (for example, Qi Gong), acupuncture or a change in diet can contribute to this. However, there is hardly any scientific evidence for the effectiveness of alternative healing methods.
You can read more about the causes and treatment options for sexual desire in women in the article “Loss of libido”.
Some women experience the opposite: menopause rekindles their desire for sex. In particular, they feel the elimination of the contraceptive burden as a liberation. In addition, the departure of the now grown-up children provides for more togetherness with the partner. These women are more willing to experiment, want to gain new experiences and rediscover their sexuality. This is even more true for women who fall in love again. They also experience increased sexual desire during menopause.
If sexuality during menopause causes pain (dyspareunia), an estrogen deficiency in the genital tract is often responsible. This leads, among other things, to:
- Thinning of the vaginal skin
- Reduction of vaginal secretion
- @ Delay in vaginal lubrication during sexual arousal
You can read more about the causes of painful sex and what can be done about it in the article “Pain during sex”.
