Crazy question about libido

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tbilly20
tbilly20 Posts: 154 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Did anyone else notice a drop in sex drive while losing weight? I just turned 40, and I am recovering from a major surgery that caused a drop in Testosterone (my hair started falling out because of it). My energy levels are back after three months of strength training and my hair is coming back in. Over the past three weeks though, I have not been interested in sex. Is this normal? Could it be from being in a calorie deficit for a few months now? This is not something I experienced when I lost weight in my early 30’s.

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  • tbilly20
    tbilly20 Posts: 154 Member
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    Thank you.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,682 Member
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    Relatively small deficit in the presence of available fat reserves... Unlikely

    Large deficit and absence of sufficient fat reserves? Plausible
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,923 Member
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    PAV8888 wrote: »
    Relatively small deficit in the presence of available fat reserves... Unlikely

    Large deficit and absence of sufficient fat reserves? Plausible

    Yes, OP my first thought was that you might be losing weight too quickly.

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  • Mellouk89
    Mellouk89 Posts: 469 Member
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    Yes you're probably losing weight too quickly. I also had a drop in libido in my early twenties when I was in a fat loss phase, it's because I was cutting too quickly. If anything your libido should increase cause a high body fat percentage is detrimental to testosterone.
  • tariqari
    tariqari Posts: 38 Member
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    Mine increased.
  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,627 Member
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    I assume you are male?

    Could be many reasons, especially given you recently had testosterone problems. Have you had those levels re checked?

    And, many men, the older they get, the more their libido decreases. Your doctor may be able to suggest supplements or medications that may help.
  • tbilly20
    tbilly20 Posts: 154 Member
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    Thank you all! I am male. My weight loss is set at 1lb per week from my start of 25 pounds to lose. I have lost 12 pounds in 9 weeks. I am trying to find a happy balance, but I’m worried to add too much intake and mess things up. I have read here that I should be readjusting as I lose. Now that I am within 20 pounds of my goal, I should switch to 0.5 lbs of loss per week?

    I have also been adding noticeable muscle through strength training, and I wonder if my fat loss is bigger than my weigh loss would indicate. My arms have grown an inch, and my chest, shoulders etc are definitely bigger as well. Pants that used to fit 10 pounds lighter than I am now, fit great!

    I am also going to check in with my Dr on our patient portal and see if he thinks some tests would be good!
  • bubus05
    bubus05 Posts: 121 Member
    edited March 2021
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    TBH the more I lost the higher my sex drive went, same goes for my wife. She's 44 I am 50. To this date she lost about 50 lbs I am losing about 90. In general our whole physical condition improved, including our libido. We can run more and we do sex more, calorie deficit in itself on a balanced diet shouldn't decrease libido.
  • tbilly20
    tbilly20 Posts: 154 Member
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    @bubus05 - That’s what happened to me when I lost about 25 lbs in my early 30’s. Sex drive went up as I lost. My weight drop was rapid at that time (2-3 pounds per week). This time I am going slower, and the opposite is happening. It’s only been a couple of weeks, so I am hopefully my Dr will say to watch it and see what happens. Maybe it will pop back up....
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,550 Member
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    tbilly20 wrote: »
    Thank you all! I am male. My weight loss is set at 1lb per week from my start of 25 pounds to lose. I have lost 12 pounds in 9 weeks. I am trying to find a happy balance, but I’m worried to add too much intake and mess things up. I have read here that I should be readjusting as I lose. Now that I am within 20 pounds of my goal, I should switch to 0.5 lbs of loss per week?

    I have also been adding noticeable muscle through strength training, and I wonder if my fat loss is bigger than my weigh loss would indicate. My arms have grown an inch, and my chest, shoulders etc are definitely bigger as well. Pants that used to fit 10 pounds lighter than I am now, fit great!

    I am also going to check in with my Dr on our patient portal and see if he thinks some tests would be good!
    Sounds like low test still.

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  • tbilly20
    tbilly20 Posts: 154 Member
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    @ninerbuff - This may be an easy question, but would my muscles still grow with low T? I have been getting big gains in size and strength. Are those less testosterone related? Thank you!
  • Mellouk89
    Mellouk89 Posts: 469 Member
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    Im guessing you dont need that much testosterone, my brother was in the lower range as well and he was making decent strength gains. He was deadlifting over 400lbs and doing weighed chin ups with 45lbs.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    Female here so probably not relevant. But I noticed at my lowest weight, I had zero libido. I was so depressed about it! I was 37 at the time. Gained back 10 lb and back to normal since (I am now 44).
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,464 Member
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    You surgery that dropped your T level. Could that have anything to do with it? Maybe check with your doctor.
  • tbilly20
    tbilly20 Posts: 154 Member
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    Thank you all! I wrote my Dr today, and I wanting to hear back. I think most of the craziness I have gone through in the last 16 months has been related to my surgery in some way. The odd thing is that I had a very healthy level of sex drive up until a few weeks ago. Drops in testosterone after major surgeries are very normal. Experiencing that effect 1 year later is odd, but my body is very different now. I am sure it is related somehow.

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