Sex scene No. 1: You're just not interested any more.
It might be: Low testosterone
Lots of things can cause your sex drive to shift into neutral: work stress, falling out of love, lack of sleep. (See also: Sexless After 40? Don't Be!.) But what if those things don't apply and you'd still rather count sheep than make love? Or if the sights and touches that once turned you on leave you literally unmoved? You might have a hormone out of whack.
Sex scene No. 2: You're just not interested—and you're feeling down, too.
It might be: Depression—or depression meds
Loss of interest in sex is a classic sign of clinical depression. Yet the treatment for depression can have the same side effect. Talk about a catch-22. Drugs in the SSRI family of antidepressants (including Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft) have been found in many studies to zap desire in both men and women. (They can also cause anorgasmia—the inability to climax.)
Sex scene No. 3: More and more often, you can't hold an erection.
It might be: A heart problem (the cardiovascular kind, not the romantic kind)
Say you're a relatively healthy midlife guy, a little overweight, and you start having erectile trouble. Count yourself lucky. It might be your tip-off that you're three to five years away from coronary artery disease, says Mulhall. "Two-thirds of men who have had heart attacks had erectile dysfunction (ED) that predated angina by at least three years," he says. "Men are increasingly being diagnosed with ED due to low blood flow, which increases their chance of heart disease."
Sex scene No. 4: You suddenly can't get it up—but you were fine last month.
It might be: A blocked artery, especially if your leg mysteriously hurts, too
The occasional limp penis is a casualty of naturally decreasing hormone levels as men age and experience changes in relationships, says Adam Tierney, a urologist with Dean Health Systems in Madison, Wis. But what happens when ED comes on suddenly? An unusual but worrisome cause is aortoiliac occlusive disease, or Leriche's syndrome, a narrowing of a heart artery due to blockage.
Sex scene No. 5: Your penis aches while you're having intercourse.
It might be: Peyronie's disease
Peyronie's disease, an uncommon condition that can develop at any age, is the formation of abnormal scar tissue under the penile skin, which can cause a hardened spot in the middle or make the penis bend slightly when erect. It's often simply noticed as a constant discomfort during intercourse. "Some guys come in and say, 'My penis just aches when I have sex,'" Mulhall says.
Sex scene No. 6: Your partner, touching you, asks, "Hey, what's that?"
It might be: Testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is asymptomatic—it doesn't hurt. But it often presents as a painless bump or swelling on the testicle, which can be detected through self-exam (a good monthly habit) or by a partner's roaming hands during sex.
Sex scene No. 7: You ejaculate way too quickly.
It might be: Hyperthyroidism
Premature ejaculation (PE)—coming either before intercourse or very soon after it begins—is the bane of younger men but can strike at any age. How soon is too soon is a relative issue, but a general rule of thumb is that PE is a problem when it routinely strikes without any control within a couple of minutes of insertion and sooner than either partner would like. As many as one in three men experience it at some point in their lives. Psychological issues (too excited, too immature, guilt) were once blamed for all cases, but doctors now know there can be physical causes, especially a malfunctioning thyroid (the gland responsible for making and storing key regulatory hormones).
Sex scene No. 8: When you ejaculate, it hurts.
It might be: A muscle spasm disorder or prostatitis
In women, there's a condition known as vulvodynia, mysteriously chronic pain of the vulva (around the vaginal opening). Penile pain at orgasm is thought to be the male counterpart, Mulhall says. The latest thinking on both conditions is that they're some kind of nerve disorder, although it's not clear whether this is in response to an infection or some kind of trauma, or what. It's more often seen in young men in high-stress phases of life.
Sex scene No. 9: When you ejaculate, nothing comes out!
It might be: Your prostate meds
Retrograde ejaculation is a condition where you experience orgasm—but little to no semen comes out. (It exits through the bladder.) Alpha-blockers such as tamsulosin (Flomax), used to improve urination in men with enlarged prostate, are a common culprit. Sometimes diabetics also experience this due to nerve damage.
Sex scene No. 10: It takes forever to ejaculate—if it happens at all.
It might be: Diabetes or prediabetes in the form of a weight problem
In 9 out of 10 men with anorgasmia—the inability to reach orgasm—the root cause is psychological (anything from performance anxiety to work stress to a history of childhood sexual abuse). But in the remaining 10 percent of cases, there's a penile sensory problem, most often caused by nerve damage due to diabetes, Tierney says.
http://health.msn.com/mens-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100251260&page=1
It might be: Low testosterone
Lots of things can cause your sex drive to shift into neutral: work stress, falling out of love, lack of sleep. (See also: Sexless After 40? Don't Be!.) But what if those things don't apply and you'd still rather count sheep than make love? Or if the sights and touches that once turned you on leave you literally unmoved? You might have a hormone out of whack.
Sex scene No. 2: You're just not interested—and you're feeling down, too.
It might be: Depression—or depression meds
Loss of interest in sex is a classic sign of clinical depression. Yet the treatment for depression can have the same side effect. Talk about a catch-22. Drugs in the SSRI family of antidepressants (including Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft) have been found in many studies to zap desire in both men and women. (They can also cause anorgasmia—the inability to climax.)
Sex scene No. 3: More and more often, you can't hold an erection.
It might be: A heart problem (the cardiovascular kind, not the romantic kind)
Say you're a relatively healthy midlife guy, a little overweight, and you start having erectile trouble. Count yourself lucky. It might be your tip-off that you're three to five years away from coronary artery disease, says Mulhall. "Two-thirds of men who have had heart attacks had erectile dysfunction (ED) that predated angina by at least three years," he says. "Men are increasingly being diagnosed with ED due to low blood flow, which increases their chance of heart disease."
Sex scene No. 4: You suddenly can't get it up—but you were fine last month.
It might be: A blocked artery, especially if your leg mysteriously hurts, too
The occasional limp penis is a casualty of naturally decreasing hormone levels as men age and experience changes in relationships, says Adam Tierney, a urologist with Dean Health Systems in Madison, Wis. But what happens when ED comes on suddenly? An unusual but worrisome cause is aortoiliac occlusive disease, or Leriche's syndrome, a narrowing of a heart artery due to blockage.
Sex scene No. 5: Your penis aches while you're having intercourse.
It might be: Peyronie's disease
Peyronie's disease, an uncommon condition that can develop at any age, is the formation of abnormal scar tissue under the penile skin, which can cause a hardened spot in the middle or make the penis bend slightly when erect. It's often simply noticed as a constant discomfort during intercourse. "Some guys come in and say, 'My penis just aches when I have sex,'" Mulhall says.
Sex scene No. 6: Your partner, touching you, asks, "Hey, what's that?"
It might be: Testicular cancer
Testicular cancer is asymptomatic—it doesn't hurt. But it often presents as a painless bump or swelling on the testicle, which can be detected through self-exam (a good monthly habit) or by a partner's roaming hands during sex.
Sex scene No. 7: You ejaculate way too quickly.
It might be: Hyperthyroidism
Premature ejaculation (PE)—coming either before intercourse or very soon after it begins—is the bane of younger men but can strike at any age. How soon is too soon is a relative issue, but a general rule of thumb is that PE is a problem when it routinely strikes without any control within a couple of minutes of insertion and sooner than either partner would like. As many as one in three men experience it at some point in their lives. Psychological issues (too excited, too immature, guilt) were once blamed for all cases, but doctors now know there can be physical causes, especially a malfunctioning thyroid (the gland responsible for making and storing key regulatory hormones).
Sex scene No. 8: When you ejaculate, it hurts.
It might be: A muscle spasm disorder or prostatitis
In women, there's a condition known as vulvodynia, mysteriously chronic pain of the vulva (around the vaginal opening). Penile pain at orgasm is thought to be the male counterpart, Mulhall says. The latest thinking on both conditions is that they're some kind of nerve disorder, although it's not clear whether this is in response to an infection or some kind of trauma, or what. It's more often seen in young men in high-stress phases of life.
Sex scene No. 9: When you ejaculate, nothing comes out!
It might be: Your prostate meds
Retrograde ejaculation is a condition where you experience orgasm—but little to no semen comes out. (It exits through the bladder.) Alpha-blockers such as tamsulosin (Flomax), used to improve urination in men with enlarged prostate, are a common culprit. Sometimes diabetics also experience this due to nerve damage.
Sex scene No. 10: It takes forever to ejaculate—if it happens at all.
It might be: Diabetes or prediabetes in the form of a weight problem
In 9 out of 10 men with anorgasmia—the inability to reach orgasm—the root cause is psychological (anything from performance anxiety to work stress to a history of childhood sexual abuse). But in the remaining 10 percent of cases, there's a penile sensory problem, most often caused by nerve damage due to diabetes, Tierney says.
http://health.msn.com/mens-health/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100251260&page=1