We’ve all been here.  At least I’m pretty sure, and if you haven’t, count yourself as one of the very few blessed couples who does not experience this.  I’m talking about lulls in sex and libido.  You know exactly what I mean.  After those first roughly two formative years of a relationship, where you can’t seem to get enough of eachother, it is said that the chemical dopamine, which is known as the “love” hormone in the body because it is responsible for trigerring higher levels of testosterone in both men and women, goes down fairly dramatically. 

In other words, the two year mark is when many couples note that they feel that wild passion has gone out of their relationship, and from that point on, if the two people genuinely care about and deeply love eachother, it takes a little work and imaginative creativeness in the bedroom to keep those love chemicals flowing, and keep the sex interesting. 

Different things act as natural libido help for men and women, and when I say different things, I mean something that is not the “routine” or run of the mill.  It doesn’t just mean novel activities in the bedroom, or different sexual positions, places to have sex, or sex toys, but it also means doing new activities together.  Never been surfing together?  Do it.  Never gone skiing together before?  Try it.  Novel activities and new experiences keep relationships new and exciting. 

Many times vacations together can be better than supplements for multiple and more intense orgasms like Deer Antler Plus, because they are a natural high, and they make the experience more intense through the sensory side of things. 

How often have you noticed that when the two of you are on vacation together, doing new things, experiencing new places, sounds, scenery and activities, that you feel that initial attraction you felt when you first started dating come back.  It’s not just the fact that you don’t feel the stressors of daily life on vacation, although that does play a part, it’s also that your senses are being stimulated in different ways, and this heightens awareness, and makes the partners appreciate things together again, it makes it “new” again. 

Also, don’t hesitate to be the initiator.  Many times, couples expect the other one to be the instigator of sexual trysts, instead of being proactive and telling their partner they would like to be intimate with them, right there and right now.  The sponteneity angle works wonders every time. 

We get into such a rut with our routines that we forget to be the ones to “make the first move” on eachother, and this in turn just kind of acts as a domino effect where the other partner is constantly expecting the other one to be the proactive one.  For women who think they need a libido boost, there are now great female sexual enhancement products for women to try as well that can help get their chemicals going in their body to increase sexual desire as well.   It takes two! 

I just read an interesting report on the news about how many men give up after their first try at treating their impotence, if the first try in treating the disorder doesn’t work.  They just simply don’t go back to the doctor to see if their prescription for something like Viagra (see Viagra alternative) or Cialis can be increased or tweaked to meet their needs (which I guess many times will work if it doesn’t work the first time around). 

Instead of getting the treatment that will make the difference between having sex and not having sex, they apparently just decide to give up on sex all together.  The estimate for the amount of men who give up after this first try is in the area of one third!  That’s a lot of men giving up sex for not getting the results they expected the first time around! 

I gotta say, many times I’ve been to the doctor for totally unrelated things, and if “the thing” wasn’t treated correctly, I’d definitely go back for another look or an adjustment, or I’d definitely be at least getting a second opinion! 

The reasons range from not wanting to go back to the doctors for various reasons (let’s face it, men are not the best at getting to the doctors in the first place, many times when they really need to), giving up all hope that they can be treated, and simply thinking that their condition is hopeless and unable to be treated, so they don’t even bother with it or may not even bother to try an alternative herbal male enhancement product like VigRX that has been shown to work on so many men so well over the years.   

Many men with impotence and men that need libido help report feelings of depression and anxiety over their conditions, but many times feel unable to speak openly about it for fear of embarrassment or divulging too much of themselves.  The fact is guys, that if you never get the right treatment, then you never do have the hope of a fulfilling sex life, but if you stick to it and figure out what works for you, then you will!  The power is all yours. 

Hmm, not sure how I feel on this issue.  There is currently a silent (until now) controversy brewing between prisoners activists and lawmakers in the countries states about whether we should be giving prisoners in state penitentiaries access to condoms.  The downside of doing this, say the people who refute the fact that this should be a health right of prisoners, to prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, is that the handing out of condoms to prison inmates is in essence thumbing its nose at the fact that there are rules against sexual contact in prisons. 

I can definitely understand that point, after all, how can you have rules that there is no sex allowed (except prisons that allow conjugal visits to spouses, girlfriends etc), and then hand out condoms, which are used to protect against sexually transmitted diseases?  Seems that’s sending mixed messages at best, and is essentially saying “look we know we say there is no sex allowed in prison, but we also realize you’re gonna do it anyways”.  Very counterproductive, right?

Then there is the public health concern, and that is that prisoners are having sex, and prison sex is rampant in most prisons, where it is impossible to keep tabs on inmates 100% of the time and prevent it from happening.  You’ve got overcrowding, and lax security first of all, and you’ve got people locked up that are bound to express their sexual urgings one way or another.   Hey at least I guess they’re not handing out sexual pleasure pills and ProEnhance patches or VigRX or anything of that nature, but still, it’s a license to do what they want. 

Most states do not hand out condoms, with the exception of very few who have decided to pass the legislation to make is necessary to hand them out to inmates, and another handful that only give it to prisoners who receive conjugal visits from their partners (I believe this is only in certain prisons, and with certain prisoners, maybe ones that are not in maximum security because their crimes did not warrant it). 

I’m unsure of my stance on this.  On one hand, it is sending mixed signals to prisoners about policies against sex, and they are, in fact, in prison, and sex is one of the life pleasures they should be giving up for their crimes.  However, there is a public health issue in question here too.  The spread of AIDS and other dangerous disesases could creep outside the prison walls easily when inmates are released if they are not given protection.  Whatdya think? 

For men with a dysfunctional sexual response, there is Viagra, that as we all know, has been approved by the FDA  and is commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction.  It has been found to be effective if used when the man is aroused.
For women with a low sexual desire, there are no products that are FDA approved for this problem and there aren’t a slew of female sexual enhancement products on the market - well, yet.  The FDA has been cautious about approving products containing testosterone due to concern about side effects and long term safety.    Side effects for women using products with testosterone include facial hair and an enlarged clitoris.  
Testosterone taken orally can cause liver damage.  Women with a low libido often turn to compounding pharmacies for creams, gels and suppositories that contain testosterone.   Intrinsa, which is a skin patch that contains testosterone, is available in Europe.  Research showed that the high dose patch increased desire and sexual activity in women.
Intrinsa is not approved by the FDA or available here in the U.S.  Zestra is a botanical oil used to increase sexual desire.  It is used topically and applied to the genitals.  Zestra is available as an over the counter product and is nonprescription.  Research sponsored by the company states Zestra is safe and can increase sexual desire in women, and works so far as an acceptable female sexual enhancement external stimulant.

ArginMax is a supplement with vitamins, herbal products and L-argine, an amino acid.   ArginMax is suggested for use in women to increase sexual drive.  Since it is nonprescription, research is company sponsored.  This research, a study done at Stanford University, claims it appeared to enhance sexual desire in women.
Part of the reason that women are lagging in products available for treatment of reduced libido is the difficulty in measuring and assessing a women’s sexual response.  Sexual dysfunction in women is harder to define.  More research is called for in this area of women’s health to enhance the quality and happiness of life for females.

Ech, I don’t think any guy likes to hear this lovely little euphamism for men who can’t go more than a few pumps during sexual intercourse, even if they are calling themselves the dirogatory name!  Well, there are products out there that can help you feel a little less, and hence you are supposed to be able to have sex with more thrusts without ejaculating. 

Some of them are numbing creams that help you to not get enough sensation to make you orgasm too early (this means before your partner orgasms, guys), and there are also herbal products for natural male enhancement that will help you with that stressful staying power, like Deer Antler Plus (which by the way, is supposed to give you mind blowing, multiple orgasms as well), and also others that are specifically formulated to increased endurance during sex like Enhance 9, VigRX (one of our personal favorites guys) and others too numerous to mention here in this little spot. 

Guys, although there are some excellent products that you can place on the penis externally, as well has herbally based products that you can take orally to help you through a rough patch of being a “two pump chump”, but there are also some natural ways you can help the situation out yourself, without taking something to help. 

Focus on your breathing.  Some men tend to hold their breath, or breathe too fast when they are having sex, which can not only interfere with a complete and satisfying orgasm in men, but can also make you ejaculate too soon.  Yoga might be good for those of you who have a particularly hard time in this area.  Also, just breathing techniques that help you focus on your breath can help you to regulate breath during times of stress and times of stress. 

Sometimes, when you feel like you are going to have an orgasm or ejaculate too quickly, you may want to focus your attention on something other than your partner, or something that is not sexual at all, like think of going to the dentist or something that won’t further excite you, so you can hold out a little longer for a better orgasm for your partner and yourself.  And, you won’t have to be insecure or feel as though you let your partner down if you can just make sure it lasts a little longer than two pumps! 

Yeah, if you thought kids were growing up too fast nowadays, not only in every day life and hobbies and responsibilities, but also growing up to fast in a sexual way and having sexual relationships too early, then you might not want to read about this!  I for one think it may be a good step in the direction of preventing unwanted pregnancies in young women who are not ready to have a baby yet, but I do have mixed emotions about what kind of message this is sending to the kids it is offered to.

What do you think?  Do you think that distributing birth control in our schools is a good thing or bad?  On the downside though, to continue my thought process from before, I think that giving out birth control might give kids all that much more of a reason to be sexually active at a young age, since they know they can do so without the consequences, however it’s not really protecting them against STD’s it more so just protecting the women from getting pregnant and the boys from getting to be dads way too young.

Teenage pregnancy rates have declined overall, which is a good thing, but is dispensing things like birth control pills really solving the problem, and the even bigger question, why aren’t condoms being encourage more since they protect against sexually transmitted diseases?  It seems to some parents that, especially the distribution of birth control in pill form, is basically giving these kids a free pass to be sexually active, and more indiscriminantly and with more partners than if they were not on the pill.

Many parents polled are actually in favor of offering contraceptives and contraceptive options at schools, although many admit they are leery to admit their child might be having sex before they graduate from school, and some think it should fall just shy of offering the pill, since this tends to open up a can of worms when it comes to the kids thinking they can do it all with no consequences. 

However, do you really want a mistake to turn into a lifetime of raising a child at too young an age, or a young woman having to get an obortion, and be frightened at the thought of becoming a parent when she/he is not ready?  I guess this is a touchy subject, but nonetheless it’s interesting to talk about and it certainly does get a different perception as well as moral viewpoint from much of the population today, young and old, in high school and out of high school.  

Prostate cancer is really on the forefront of attention to male health, and prostate health is of increasing concern, especially for men who are 40 and over, as a preventive maintenance precaution against the cancer.  Well, now prostate cancer has crept into a more public domain, that of international politics.

The Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has just recently announced that he has the disease that strikes so many men in their later years. but that he has been lucky enough to catch it in its early stages and that it is not considered life threatening at this point.

As you probably know, there are several stages of severity when it comes to prostate cancer in men, and the earlier a man is able to catch it, or more specifically, the earlier his health care professionals can detect it, the better his chances of eradicating the cancer completely for a full
remission.  This is the reason that doctors are working on better and better advanced screening methods so they can catch the disease in it’s early stages and nip it right in the bud with hormone therapy, radiation, and surgery, or one or the other depending on the stage. 

The Israeli leader is 62 years old and succeeded the previous leader after he had a stroke, Ariel Sharon.  Olmert is having surgery to remove the cancer, and they expecting that he will make a full recovery.  These types of stories are always so great to hear, especially since prostate cancer is so very treatable when it is caught in its early stages.  It’s a shame more men don’t get screened for this sooner, it surely would save lots of lives. 

It appears there is still a little inequality in what is considered “compassion” and hytserical, irrational crying when it comes to the way crying women are perceived versus men crying.  Many times, according to recent reorts on studies, undoubtedly prompted by they crying of Ellen DeGeneres over her adoption fiasco with a dog named Iggie, women are seen as weak, irrational, and unable to control their emotions if they cry publicly, while with men (with limits of course, a wet eye versus blubbering is obiviously a different story), it’s seen more as a show of morality and being “human”.

Yes, it’s not fair, but it’s a stigma that women still bear to this day.  That stigma is really two fold for women too though.  If they never cry, women tend to be seen as robotic, unfeeling people who have no real emotions, whereas if a woman does shed a couple tears publicly she may be seen as sort of a lunatic that is unable to control herself, or unstable.  It’s hard to find a delicate balance between the two for women in power such as Hillary Clinton, who has often been attacked as being inhuman and unemotional.  So women really can’t win when it comes to the crying game.  No pun intended of course!

I suppose the safest bet for women is to tread the fine line and only shed tears when it is most appropriate, not for, say a dog adoption, which udnerstandably has lead to a lot of ridiculing.  However, this is not to suggest that women should mask their emotions.  They just have to think more about when to express those emotions, which isn’t really fair, but according to the way the general population feels, it’s a real fact of life right now.  Hopefully this stigma can be removed some day, but it is a reality. 

Locally made condoms were recalled in Africa lately, to the tune of hundreds of thousands of the homeland made condoms, because they failed the all too important, blow up test.  Well, they “blew up” when they shouldn’t have with a standardized air pressure test to see if they could reasonably withstand the pressure of sexual intercourse.  They failed miserably, and Africa’s efforts to fight AIDs by self manufacturing condoms for cheap distribution was set back. 

Africa still suffers a terribly high rate of the HIV virus, and this is in part due to a lack of sexual education, too much unprotected sex because of poverty an unavailability of condoms, which protect against the HIV virus when used to have sex, and because of a more rampant, deadly and quick spreading strain of the disease. 

This all happened at a really bad time, since a government agency was caught trying to be bribed to approve some obviously faulty condoms.  Wow, great political system I see!  The US does have efforts going on in the form of sexual education and other aids going on over in Africa, but the problem still remains a largely unsolved one, with thousands dying every year, many of them children with no chance to even really “live”.  Very bad, sad state of affairs.  When you think your life is bad, remember, it could be much much worse! 

There’s been so much discussion about vaccinating women when they’re young against HPV or Human Papiloma Virus, but there really hasn’t been much ado about men or younger boys getting vaccinated against the HPV virus.  The reason is very justifiable though.  Women are noted to have a significantly higher risk of getting cervical cancer if they have HPV, enough so that people have lobbied for young women to recieve the vaccine for the HPV virus automatically, as preventive health, when they are young and may not have even had sexual contact yet with any partners. 

Some may object to it since it is sexual in nature, but the fact is, parents cannot guarantee their children aren’t fooling around unless they keep them locked up 24/7 or have them wear chastity belts, so it’s the better safe than sorry mentality at play, which I actually tend to agree with since I have no religious objection to it. 

Women actually have to get annual pap smears, where a smear of tissue is taken from their cervix, to make sure they do not have the human papiloma virus that can lead to cervical cancer, so anything to make this risk less I think is prudent on the part of health professionals.  Just my opinion though! 

Well, now there is some discussion about giving young men the HPV vaccine.  Well here’s the kicker, it may not be as much of a connection for men to these rare types of cancer, but there has been a link made.  There is a link between the HPV virus and anal cancer as well as oral cancer.  The rise in these rare cancers in men has been thought to be linked to the presence of the virus, and that is really why the vaccine is now being pondered for men.

Problem is, men carry the HPV virus silently since there is really no good screening method for it, and they pass  it on silently to their sexual partners, and if that sexual partner is a woman, the man has just unintentionally increased her likelihood of getting cervical cancer.  Hmm.  There really are two sides to every story, aren’t there?  I’d still say the more important vaccine is for female sexual health, since the evidence is pretty straight forward that HPV leads to it in some cases, and since the screening methods are so good for HPV in women.