When Adriana came to see me in my office, she was dealing with many symptoms of post birth control syndrome. One was the lost libido which was taking a toll on her relationship. She had been off the pill from the last two years and had never been feeling the same sex drive what she had pre-pill.

I often see women in my practice who are off the pill and now struggling to have their pre-Pill sex drive. Let us talk about why this happens. First of all, let’s try to figure out which hormone is responsible for our sex drive. It is an androgen, kind of female testosterone. When you are on the pill it replaces the production of natural hormones like estrogen and progesterone with synthetic hormones that suppress the function of your pituitary gland. So your pituitary gland stops producing follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH) which are responsible for signaling the ovaries to produce and release an egg. It doesn’t stop here only as it also messes up with the production of free testosterone.

The pill also stimulates the liver for synthesizing a protein called Sex-Hormone Binding Globulin. SHBG binds to testosterone and makes it inactive. As a result, natural hormonal rhythm stops and available testosterone is not enough to kindle the sex drive. The same thing was happening in Adriana’s case. She was suffering because of low testosterone and high levels of SHBG. You might be thinking she was off the pill then why she was having high levels of SHBG.

Post effect of the pill on your libido

When women decide to go off the pill for any reason may be side effects or wants to conceive, their bodies start to produce natural testosterone again. Research has shown that even after quitting the pill, there is a high level of SHBG left in the bloodstream which binds the free testosterone and lowers the available levels of free testosterone which affects your libido. Yes, you read it right, even after quitting the pill SHBG levels remain elevated as Women who stayed on the pill are left with 4 times the amount of SHBG they would normally name. Adriana was put on homeopathic detox and within few appointments, her libido was back.