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Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional or sex therapist. If you have any concerns regarding your menstrual or sexual health, please consult your primary healthcare provider.
Feeling like your libido fluctuates throughout the month? Well, you’re not alone. You might be surprised to find out that your menstrual cycle can impact your sex drive in more ways than you might think. Each of the four phases of your cycle have distinct characteristics that can impact your libido. While everyone is unique and experiences their menstrual cycle differently, we will be speaking in general terms of what happens on average during the “normal” 28-day cycle.
The average menstrual cycle has four phases: menstrual, follicular, ovulation, and luteal. Throughout the month, your hormones rise and fall and it’s this ebb and flow of two hormones in particular that are thought to affect your libido. Estrogen and progesterone are instrumental here. When estrogen is high, your sex drive goes up. When progesterone is high, you’ll experience a sharp decrease in your libido.
Menstrual Phase
As the name suggests, the menstrual phase is when you’re, well, menstruating. This is the first stage of your cycle; the first day of your period is the first day of your cycle. At this point in the month, both estrogen and progesterone are low, making this the phase that is most different among women. While estrogen isn’t adding to your sex drive, you also don’t have progesterone pumping the breaks, meaning this is a very subjective experience.
During the menstrual phase, you might find an increase in sensitivity since the cervix tends to be more dilated during your period. Menstrual blood is also considered to be a natural lube which makes period sex very enjoyable for some people. Some people also enjoy shower sex during this time since you don’t need to reapply lube. Furthermore, this time of the month comes with an increase in blood flow and circulation. What does this mean? Arousal is enhanced, there’s an increase in sexual desire, and this means that you can experience more intense orgasms.
While some people enjoy having sex during this period (pun intended), it’s still common for women to avoid sex too. This can be for multiple reasons, including feeling pain and discomfort, or just feeling a bit gross about it. Some studies have suggested that your pain threshold is lower during this time, making that high sensitivity more of a pain than pleasure.
Overall, experience of sexual desire and libido is very mixed during this phase.
Follicular Phase
This particular phase of the menstrual cycle is also referred to as the “pre-ovulation phase”. This is the time in the lead up to peak ovulation. Since ovulation’s biological purpose is to encourage us to reproduce, you might be able to figure out what happens here. Since your body is priming itself to release an egg and become pregnant, your estrogen levels will start to rise (by almost 800%). And thus, your libido will start rising too.
During this phase, you might find yourself feeling more aroused, masturbating more, and experiencing more pleasurable sensations. The lead up to ovulation is also when you start producing more natural lube as estrogen is starting to rise. You may even find that you feel more satisfaction from an orgasm, especially in the last 5 days of the follicular phase – which is right in the middle of your cycle.
Overall, this is when you’re going to start feeling hornier and feeling more satisfaction from sex or masturbation.
Ovulation Phase
This is it, folks! Sex, sex, sex! This is the time when your body is telling you to get it on! Your body is ready for pregnancy and it is shouting at you to give it what it wants. The luteinizing hormone has fully triggered ovulation and estrogen is at its peak. Not only that, but oxytocin is at its highest too. These three hormones are working overtime to kick your libido into overdrive.
Similarly to the follicular phase, feelings of pleasure and desire are at an all-time high. So, you might have more intense and arousing sexual fantasies, maybe you’re masturbating more and consuming more erotica. You’ll be producing more natural lubricant and your breasts and nipples might be more sensitive. However, what’s more interesting though is that during ovulation, your cervix rises in your abdomen. This means that deeper entry positions (e.g. doggy style) are more pleasurable, since bumping the cervix can be uncomfortable.
Your body goes through more changes than you might think, for example your clitoris can increase in size by around one fifth in the days before, during, and after ovulation. It might be worth focusing on this little bundle of nerves when it’s not so little. Furthermore, since the body is priming itself for reproduction, it also creates more natural lubricant to encourage pregnancy. This could also explain why some studies find that heterosexual women find they prefer penetrative penis-in-vagina sex during this point in their cycle.
However, this super-horny time only lasts a few days while you are ovulating. Once these days pass, estrogen drops sharply and you might find a correlating drop in your libido.
Overall, the start of the ovulation phase is when you feel the most sexual desire as your estrogen peaks. This peak may only be brief, but your body is using every trick in the biological book to make sex (and reproduction) feel as pleasurable as possible.
Luteal Phase
As the saying goes, what goes up must come down. During the luteal phase, estrogen levels are at their lowest, while progesterone peaks. Out of all the other hormones mentioned in this post, progesterone has the strongest effect on your libido. With its powerful curbing effect, it does a very good job at driving down sexual desire after the ovulation phase.
Although progesterone plays a massive role in your sexual desire taking a nose-dive, there are other factors too. If you experience premenstrual symptoms (PMS), you might find that affects your libido too. For example, if your PMS includes fatigue and cramps, you’re hardly going to be in the mood for sex. However, not all women experience these symptoms; this coupled with progesterone levels dropping as you enter pre-menstruation, some might even see a rise in libido without estrogen giving a helping hand.
For those who do want to get frisky during this time, some fun biology facts might be in order. During the luteal phase, your body products the least amount of natural lube, so you may find yourself needing to reapply lube more often. The breasts also tend to become fuller and/or sore during the luteal phase too, which makes nipple play a little less exciting.
Overall, the luteal phase – like the menstrual phase – is a mixed bag. While at the start of this phase, progesterone is at an all-time high, the experience at the end of the phase is different for everyone.
To recap: menstrual cycles are complex and can impact your cycle in more ways than you may have initially thought. However, it’s important to remember that your sex life doesn’t have to be dictated by your menstrual cycle. Everyone experiences their cycle differently and there are plenty of other factors that can impact your libido: sleep quality, stress, diet, exercise etc.. The menstrual cycle and its impact on aspects of daily life still needs further research and new discoveries are being found constantly. What’s most important is to listen to your body. If you want to have sex, go and have (safe and consensual) sex!
If you have any more questions or queries, feel free to email our customer service team wecare@pleasuresntreasures.com or drop in to one of our stores! Our team is happy to help answer any questions you may have.
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