Sex file: Where have my orgasms gone?

Sex advice with Suzi Godson.

Should I give up on having orgasms?Having gone through the menopause, I now find orgasm extremely elusive. I do enjoy sex, but is it time to accept that I’ve had all the orgasms I will have?

When it comes to sex, if you don’t use it, you lose it, so don’t even think about giving up. Menopause affects women in different ways, but the most common symptoms — night sweats, sleeplessness, irritated skin, incontinence, low mood and a reduced interest in sex — are caused by declining levels of sex hormones, most notably oestrogen. Hormone-replacement therapy (HRT) has had a lot of bad press (a report in The Lancet suggested that one in 50 on combined HRT for five years would develop breast cancer), but many insist that it is worth the risk. A year or two of HRT can dramatically improve life-limiting symptoms, and help to preserve bone strength and density.