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Sex Drive After Going Gluten Free


soulcurrent

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soulcurrent Explorer

I'm in a period of experimentation and trying to determine if any outside influences are affecting my sex drive, which has always been quite low. Has anyone noticed any difference in libido after going gluten free (I'm hoping for up rather than down..)?


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tarnalberry Community Regular

For me, my low sex drive was linked to low testosterone levels and dysthymia. It was difficult to get tested for testosterone levels when I was 23, but my gyn specialist for vulvar vestibulitis (the other, major!, cause for my low sex drive) was happy to test for it when I asked him.

Not trying to say this is the case for you, just putting in one of many suggestion posts. :)

OptimisticMom42 Apprentice

Now that I feel healthier and less tired my body is ready for some excitement but all this talk of rashes and poop has put the damper on the mental part of it :huh: There are somethings that my guy didn't need to know :lol:

soulcurrent Explorer

True dat :P

  • 1 month later...
Liveenjoylife Apprentice

I might add that after I went gluten free and my sex drive went through the roof. It is nothing like it was when I ate gluten. It has been a very positive thing for me, lol. :D

AndrewNYC Explorer

My low sex drive is due to being married for 2 years.

  • 3 months later...
WheatChef Apprentice

I'm about to reach the 3 week mark of my gluten-free life and right around the time when my mind finally started clearing up I noticed my libido sky-rocket. It's the sort of surge in hormones where you just feel the need to punch a hole in a wall but instead drop and do pushups or some other manly thing to use up some of that excess energy. I also find myself flirting almost nonstop with any new female I meet which was definitely not the norm 3 weeks ago.

Alternatively I purposefully glutened myself this morning (double checking, again) and my sex drive went from being high before I did it, to nonexistent. Looking forward to tomorrow when this can clear up some.


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  • 4 weeks later...
miaryan Apprentice

mine got better! i just wish my husband's was with me!!! and i'm newly married (7 months) guess honeymoons over lol

MRM Apprentice

mine got better but it's most likely because i wasn't a lethargic ball of sadness and pain. i have energy again and feel good about myself.

  • 2 weeks later...
MagpieWrites Rookie

Well, I can honestly say there are few things that will kill a gal's libido than being nauseous and tired all the time.

Almost a year now since going gluten free and, um... well.

Still tired. But grinning a lot about how I got there!

Added bonus? Hubs and I have been married for 3 years now, and I can honestly say we're having LOTS more sex than we did back at the beginning.

I'm not the only one that is tired and grinning..... lol

  • 3 weeks later...
GaryH Newbie

I'm about to reach the 3 week mark of my gluten-free life and right around the time when my mind finally started clearing up I noticed my libido sky-rocket. It's the sort of surge in hormones where you just feel the need to punch a hole in a wall but instead drop and do pushups or some other manly thing to use up some of that excess energy. I also find myself flirting almost nonstop with any new female I meet which was definitely not the norm 3 weeks ago.

Alternatively I purposefully glutened myself this morning (double checking, again) and my sex drive went from being high before I did it, to nonexistent. Looking forward to tomorrow when this can clear up some.

This has been almost exactly my experience: right around the time I started sleeping soundly, jumping out of bed in the mornings, and feeling shockingly alert (most shocking is that dull mental state I'd apparently grown used to over the years) is when I found my libido coming back, just as welcome and sudden as these other great developments. Spot-on with the pushups and other manly things, ha -- I felt totally drained halfway through my workouts before; now I just feel energized and hungry for more (I imagine this will only help with proper hormonal balance in the future). Oh, and I am definitely more given to flirting as well.

I'm only just getting into my mid-20s, but I haven't felt like this since I was a teen. No more glutenings for me, that's for sure!

  • 2 weeks later...
conniebky Collaborator

Well, yep, yep, I have been single for about a year. Want to be single. I will have been gluten free for ONE WEEK TOMORROW! Yay me!

Already, this notions are creeping into my mind.....you know....notions..... B)

So, yes, I agree with most everyone else, lack of gluten gets your feelings cookin!

  • 2 years later...
wonderingman Newbie

I have gone gluten free and have been for the last 2 months now and my libido is gone, it has done a complete vanishng act. I am taing vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes, and probiotics. Still no response from my sex drive. I am otherwise healthy and 35 years old and noticed this only after going gluten-free. My lab work from the endo came back last week and says all is normal. No thyroid issues, cortisol levels are normal too.

 

So does anyone on here know when this side effect will go away? I have read that gluten antibodies become half after 3 months after going gluten free and then another three months those antibodies become half and so on. This process could take 6-9 months from what I read. Some people say recovery depends on the person. If anyone knows more or has gone through this libido crash after going glute-free, please send a message. I really need your sound advise. Thank you -

foam Apprentice

I'm still waiting for my teenage hormones to calm down and I'm 41... Apparently high levels of Histamine will do that to you. Gluten free or not hasn't changed anything as far as that goes. Now these vitamins affect most things but B12 is especailly important to a male regarding sexual performance, Vitamin D also but a B12 shot will make you super human for a week or so. Don't bother will pills for B12, the injections work and work within a few hours.

pricklypear1971 Community Regular

AI diseases take a toll on many systems- including hormones. Personally, my estrogen/progesterone/testosterone were (are?) out of whack, which affects libido.

Have they checked your testosterone/progesterone/estrogen? Yes, men have estrogen and progesterone.

I don't know why going gluten-free can cause such a shift in other body systems, or cause things to happen that haven't happened before. But it does. Some are good, some not so good.

  • 2 weeks later...
EmiPark210 Contributor

It might be related to just overall nutrition, which is of course affected by your celiacs. I've always had a ridiculously high drive which gets worse when I exercise (so this thread is a little scary) but my boyfriend was naturally malnourished due to other factors and once he got that straightened out he came up more to my level. So it's logical that going gluten-free will help.

  • 1 month later...
wonderingman Newbie

Its been 3 months, gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free. My libido is Gone!. Please anyone whenwillit come back?My labs from the doctor are normal, as in thyroid and cortisol. What is the time frame?

kareng Grand Master

Its been 3 months, gluten free, dairy free, and sugar free. My libido is Gone!. Please anyone whenwillit come back?My labs from the doctor are normal, as in thyroid and cortisol. What is the time frame?

Maybe it has nothing to do with gluten? Have you told your doctor about this? Had testosterone tested? A side effect of a medication for other medical issue? Maybe google this and find some reputable sites like Mayo clinic and see what they say.

  • 1 year later...
Simon-Australia Newbie

I noticed a massive improvement in my sex drive after going 100% gluten free - it took around 5 weeks before I began to notice a difference.   It's probably important to point out that I was and still am very strict with my gluten-free regimen so I am guessing this is why I noticed such an improvement.  My own research tells me that the reason for the improvement is that the hardening in my arteries has reversed significantly. Apparently, repeated consumption of wheat accelerates glycation which contributes to artery hardening.  

 

I would recommend for any guy who with erectile disfunction and low libido to consider going 100% gluten free as a 6 week trial - just to test out the results.

 

Another benefit to going gluten free is my pot belly is gone, gone, gone - after all these years my stomach is now flat!

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