Posted by grapebubblegum on June 2, 2001, at 10:07:04
In reply to Re: to paulk touchee » grapebubblegum, posted by paulk on June 1, 2001, at 23:46:59
Hey, thanks PaulK for responding to my points.
First, I was not talking about myself when I mentioned female dysfunction; thankfully I have never had it but I've heard a lot about it. The only dysfunction I've ever had was SSRI-induced delay of orgasm which was a significant problem to me. But the last thing I would need is more testosterone, (I'll keep it in mind for the future though, as things change with age) and I'll explain why below.
I've had three children and I've gotten pretty in tune with different hormonal states, and I know that the postpartum/breastfeeding phase (I breastfed for many months with all three babies) is the time when women have almost NO interest in sex, and that stage is what is replicated when hormonal b.c. methods are employed. Therefore I would not recommend hormonal b.c. to anyone unless they don't want a "real" sex life. My comment about K-Y was meant to reveal that I know, as a female, that dryness is a sign of an underlying sex drive problem and merely treating the symptom is stupid.
As for testosterone, I seem to be one of the lucky ones. I had this discussion with my ob/gyn (who is Australian and more forward-thinking than most American doctors, and seems to have a similar philosophy as your father.) He first mentioned the progesterone only pill and when I pointed out that it would basically replicate postpartum non-interest in sex and was therefore unacceptable to me, he mentioned an IUD he highly recommended and tried to talk me into it. (I'm just too scared to have a foreign object semi-permanently implanted) so then he went on to say he could schedule a surgery appt. and snip the tubes. I chickened out on that too, but the fiancee is considering the snip for himself so hopefully that will be a moot point.
But my original point was that I have somewhat sluggish ovaries, not polycystic but I have a long cycle and I have some acne and some more hair than I think is ideal on females, although it's not like I'm an ape or outside the "normal" range. And I have an actual sex drive, like many women sadly lack and I have almost no PMS or cramping problems like many women suffer from. Never had to take so much as one Advil for a cramp in my life. His explanation was that my ovaries are a bit insensitive and require a longer and stronger rush of hormones to stimulate them to do their thing (ovulate) and that cocktail of hormone naturally includes testosterone, so I therefore have higher testosterone than most women which causes (on the minus side) hairy toes and acne, but on the plus side a great sex drive and "increased vitality." I never figured out what he meant by that, but I'll take it as a good thing.
Thanks for the depression/hormonal discussion, PaulK. It's nice to talk to people who know what I am talking about.
poster:grapebubblegum
thread:64538
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010530/msgs/65149.html