Apeksha Shetty, an Indian woman based in Vienna, went on the pill for hormonal reasons. One of the benefits, she thought, was being able to have sex with her steady partner, without having to . “We were initially very happy that we could have unprotected sex.”
But things didn’t go as expected. The pill Shetty was prescribed stopped her periods entirely, and with it, she told DW, her sex drive vanished.
“I went back to the doctor and told him I didn’t want to live my life like this,” said Shetty. “I told him I was young — I have an attractive partner and want to have sex with him.”
Shetty’s story is not unique. DW spoke with at least half a dozen women from diverse backgrounds, including in Africa and Asia, the Middle East and Europe. All told us they had followed medical advice while on the pill. And most of them said doctors had not informed that the pill could lower their libido, and that there was no mention of the side effect in the packaging.
The relationship between the birth control pill and women’s libido has always been complicated. The pill ushered in a new era of , yet for some women, the very synthetic hormones that prevented pregnancy may have also suppressed libido.
Sexual autonomy, yes. But at what cost?
The first was approved in 1960 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It was an unprecedented step in medicine and family planning, giving women the ability to control their fertility. Women could have sex without the fear of an unwanted pregnancy.
Over time, the pill also became associated with greater sexual freedom and bodily autonomy, especially for women. But while it’s 99% effective as contraception, the pill is not a safe way to protect yourself against .
Case study: From ‘horny’ to zero
Mariel*, who is from Cyprus and based in the Netherlands, started taking the pill eight years ago when she was 20. Before she took the pill, her libido was high — she was often “horny,” as she put it.
“I wanted to have more, safer sex,” Mariel told DW. “But most of my sexual intercourse in the beginning was not driven by libido, but more because I could, almost regardless of my libido.” Only later did Mariel realize that the pill had dampened her desire.
A large review of 36 studies involving more than 13,000 women in 2013 found that around 15% of participants reported a drop in libido while using the pill.
But since then, few studies have attempted to explain why, and the results that do exist appear to be mixed. That may have something to do with the fact that the studies lack comparability — while the pill commonly consists of the , there are variations in how much of each goes into the pill, and that can lead to varying effects and side effects.
In 2016, a clinical trial involving 340 women randomly assigned participants to either the pill or a placebo. Overall, the participants did not report significant changes in their sexual activity, but women on the pill did report lower levels of desire, arousal, and pleasure.
Researchers believe this may be due to the pill’s effect on testosterone. The pill increases levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) which binds to so-called free testosterone in the body. Free testosterone gives you sexual desire. When SHBG binds to free testosterone, it effectively takes it out of action and reduces libido as a result.
Case study: Dryness, pain and psychology
For some, the pill’s negative side effects are not limited to desire. They can also affect physical arousal, particularly lubrication.
That’s something that journalist and former psychologist Shristi Pal has experienced first-hand. Pal, who spoke to DW in a private capacity, said she went on the pill to regulate her hormones, but noticed both vaginal dryness and a loss of libido.
“,” Pal said. “You’re afraid of any kind of sexual activity if it’s going to hurt. The brain tells you it’s not ready.”
Others told us they had experienced emotional swings while on the pill — feeling flat, anxious or emotionally vulnerable.
Lee*, a South African woman in her early 40s, took the pill 10 years ago but stopped after only two months because she felt it had destabilized her moods.
“I was so up and down on the pill that I stopped and moved to [an intrauterine device],” she told DW. Intrauterine devices (IUDs) are a non-hormonal form of contraception, inserted into the uterus by a doctor.
Only one woman DW spoke to reported a consistently positive experience. Based in Canada, and preferring to remain unnamed, she originally started the pill to treat acne. Years later, she’s still using it, but now primarily for contraception.
“For me, it’s been really great and helped me function a bit better. During my period, my hormones are so regulated, and leading up to days 14 and 15, libido wise, I feel very active in those days,” she said, preferring to remain anonymous.
So, does the pill dampen libido?
The short answer: It’s complicated. Libido is shaped by multiple factors: hormonal, psychological, relational, and social — not just by the pill.
Even in the study that found decreased libido in 15% of women, the majority (85%) reported either no change or an increase in desire. Researchers believe a boost in libido could be linked to the psychological relief of not having to worry about pregnancy.
Dr Tanaya Narendra, a sexual health educator from India, said that while lower libido is a known side effect of , it has not been proven universally — a “universal connection is yet to be established,” she said.
For one thing, contemporary forms of the pill differ greatly from earlier versions.
“Initially, when the pill was made, the hormones in the pill were in milligrams. Now they’re in micrograms, so there’s been a reduction in hormones, and a dramatic change in the production of the pill,” Narendra said.
Different hormone combinations are now tailored to different needs: acne, endometriosis, irregular periods and contraception. This makes it difficult to draw conclusions about their effects on sexual desire.
Narendra said the effect on libido should be taken seriously, but also that she felt there was a broader narrative at work, “pushed by conservative voices aiming to curtail women’s reproductive autonomy.”
Increasingly on the internet you can see people asking whether the pill affects their libido.
“The conservative media downplaying women’s autonomy, […] … has become suggestive in nature and led people to believe that it would have negative side effects,” she said.
But Narendra believes the bigger failure lies not in the pill itself, but in the silence and stigma around women’s health and use of contraception.
Women, said Narendra, have not been taught to understand their bodies without judgment or shame. This lack of awareness has left space for confusion, misinformation, and fear to grow, she said.
*Some interviewees for this article requested anonymity or that their names be changed.
Edited by: Zulfikar Abbany
The post Is the birth control pill destroying women’s sex drive? appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
