I've been on the supplements and following the diet well for about 6 weeks now. No change in libido. No sex fantasies either. I did notice a positive switch in mood which I believe is due to the fish oil. Since the diet didn't seem to work, I only now take a third of the fish oil and it keeps the positive mood. I am not on birth control pills either. I was on the pill from age 25-35 and still had high libido on the pill. I know what it's like to have high libido and this isn't it. After I had my child at age 36 I never got the libido back. I'm 40 now. My kid is very easy to care for and my relationship with my husband is good too. Even porn won't really get me going anymore. It's hard to whip up a sex fantasy, yet years ago I always thought about sex! I'm not sure what to do now. Hormone checkup? Also, I miss being on the pill. My husband doesn't get enough sensitivity to finish with a condom on and it's wrecking what sex life we have. Help!

Hormone checkup, definitely. The telltale sign is that a pregnancy signaled the change. For most women who get a drop in testosterone, it's after the second child, but sometimes it's after the first.

Do doctors not do the diaphragm or cervical cap thing anymore? Those work, and are easy, and don't decrease sensitivity for the man. Also, if you are done having children you might want to consider a non-hormonal IUD. And there's also the sympto-thermal method.

Hi, I've been taking all the supplements for two weeks now, and I've not noticed anything. I also have the gyneflex, but I'm not that bad in that department, despite being 44, having had 2 children by C-section (they are 24 & 22 now), and having a hysterectomy (my ovaries are still with me, though). I'm divorced, but have been with my current boyfriend for 5 years now...at first sex was frequent and fantastic, but now I'm lucky to be interested in doing it once every couple of weeks or so. I also have noticed some arthritic pain in my hands flaring up more in the past 2 weeks, which doesn't make sense. Any help is very welcome!

The arthritis thing is VERY strange! If anything, the diet should improve arthritis.

Two weeks is too soon to tell anything. My publicists often said two weeks, and some women do see results that soon, but I generally recommend women stay on the diet a month at the full dose to verify whether the diet works for them or not, which usually translates to six weeks in total (since I recommend women take two weeks at the beginning to gradually increase the fish oil to the full dose).

If after six weeks on the diet you see no change, then the diet does not work for you. For some women, it does not work. And I'd sure like to know why! Usually it's because of low total testosterone. That doesn't sound like your situation, though, unlike the original poster.

The arthritic pain worries me. Are you by any chance allergic to seafood? Obviously women allergic to seafood shouldn't take fish oil.

Hi, it's the original poster, Artlady, here again. I had a free testosterone test along with a number of other blood tests. Doctor said my free testosterone is within normal range. It was 1.1 pg/mL (range is 0.6-2.5). The only thing he noted was my DHEA was elevated at 9.2 ng/mL (range is 1.9-7.6) I thought a low DHEA contributes to low testosterone. I just don't get it. No sex fantasies, porn doesn't work, low clitoral sensitivity. Years ago I had the sex drive of a man - and I liked it that way. I'm on no medication. Just take 2g. fish oil, a multivitamin, calcium, and a B-complex.

Hmm... I am surprised. I was expecting low free testosterone.

The only other thing I can think of, and this is a minor change--switch your calcium supplement to calcium/magnesium/zinc for a couple months. My gut is telling me it's something with your SHBG, even though your free testosterone is a decent level.

Also it's perfectly normal for women to lose some clitoral sensitivity as they age, and for the frequency of clitoral orgasms to decrease. This helps set the stage for vaginal orgasm awakening. But your libido shouldn't drop.

Thanks for the input Marrena. Actually I read something that said that if a testosterone level comes back within clinical normal range, but is at the lower end, it may be that while still clinically normal, it is not normal for that particular woman. ie. she is used to a higher level for optimal function. Personally, I didn't think my family physician knew much at all about hormones from my interaction with him. So I'm going to go either to my gyn. or else a naturopath I found as her specialty is balancing hormones and her testing is more comprehensive.

Also, yes, I'm willing to go back on the cal/mag/zinc. In fact, I'm considering going back on the orgasmic diet again and giving it longer. I've recently started the gynoflex.

Let me know how it goes!

I also think you should keep trying the diet. The 'normal' ranges can be very misleading. Especially if you used to have a very high libido your current free testosterone level may be very low for you. Most doctor's are not trained to interpret these results. My gyno even wasn't so keep trying until you find one that is willing to work with you.

I started the diet last year but have only really been on the full dose since early January. I was taking six of the Minami capsules a day, and sometimes forgetting the evening ones, but I now take eight a day (religiously!) I have had about three erotic dreams, which is progress as before then I could count the number of times I'd had erotic dreams in my life on one hand. I've got the feelgood effect but no libido - similar to what artlady describes ie. it's hard to whip up a fantasy and even porn doesn't get me going. I'm 36 with no kids. I have a great husband who I'm wildly attracted to and madly in love with. But if I can't turn myself on then it's not going to happen with anyone is it? I'm going to get my hormones tested but I don't have much faith in medical science to help me, so I'm going down the alternative route as well. I'm going to look at body building websites to see how I can boost my testosterone levels naturally, that must be the key. If that doesn't work then I don't know, I guess I'll just have to accept that I can't have orgasms.

Here's a link I found:

http://bodybuilding.about.com/od/womensfitnesstopics/a/testosterone_2.htm

I'd still like to get my testosterone levels checked, what are the specific tests I need to ask for though? Total testosterone, free testosterone, SGHB and DHEA? Have I missed anything out?

If you have had an uptick in erotic dreams, the diet is working. That indicates that your hormones are fine, it's your neurotransmitters that need some tweaking. Something you are doing during the day is interfering with the diet. I usually see this effect with women drinking coffee--when the caffeine wears off in the early morning they have wild erotic dreams, but as soon as they have their morning cup of joe, it's all gone.

I'm really pleased about the erotic dreams! I always thought it was weird that I never had them, at least now I understand why. My diet as a teenager and in my 20s was atrocious, I just didn't have a clue, it was my husband who taught me how to look after myself. No wonder I was depressed!

I still drink coffee some mornings, but usually only one cup. I never drink coffee in the afternoons or evenings. I'm going to give up coffee completely for a couple weeks, I think it's worth a shot.

It may also be that the effects of the anti-depressants take longer to wear off than I originally thought. I still haven't lost all the weight I put on even though I've been off them since October.

By the way, my skin looks absolutely amazing and people have been commenting about me having a "glow". No doubt there will be gossip soon that I'm pregnant

I think the pregnancy glow is caused by the body releasing all its omega-3 fatty acid stores to help with fetal brain development, DHA in particular is vital.

Let me know how the no-coffee thing works; I'm always interested in new data.

Ok, am off coffee from today, for the purposes of scientific research. I'm not even going to drink one every now and then.

I'm also thinking about upping my dosage of fish oil even further. I'm wondering if the reason the diet's taking longer to kick in is because I have artificially high serotonin levels from taking antidepressants. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't it the case that they kind of "rewire" your brain so that your serotonin levels stay high even once you've weaned yourself off them? I read something along those lines once. Maybe I need a little bit more fish oil than a woman that hasn't been on antidepressants. Or maybe just a bit more chocolate?