By Sophora Editorial · Evidence reviewed · Published June 2026 · Last reviewed June 2026
Everything you have read about perimenopause talks about losing something; your patience, your sleep, your interest in sex.
So when the opposite happens, when you find yourself wanting sex more, thinking about it more, feeling more present in your own body during it, it can feel confusing rather than welcome.
You half expect something to be wrong. Nothing is wrong. There is a real, specific reason this is happening, and it deserves the same honest explanation as every symptom that takes something away.
Is it normal to have a higher sex drive in perimenopause?
Yes. Increased libido during perimenopause is a recognised, if less discussed, experience — happening because oestrogen and progesterone decline at different rates than testosterone, shifting the balance between them in a way that can intensify sexual desire. It affects a meaningful minority of women during this transition, and it is just as biologically real as the more commonly discussed decrease in desire.
What is actually happening in your body
Oestrogen and progesterone decline during perimenopause, but testosterone tends to decline more gradually and unevenly, which shifts the ratio between these hormones in a way that can intensify sexual desire for some women.
Testosterone is a key driver of sexual desire in women, and when it holds relatively steady while oestrogen and progesterone drop or fluctuate sharply, its influence becomes proportionally stronger even though the absolute amount of testosterone in your body has not increased.
Progesterone in particular tends to have a calming, somewhat dampening effect on libido. When progesterone falls faster than testosterone during the early stages of perimenopause, that dampening effect weakens before testosterone’s influence does, which can produce a noticeable rise in desire rather than the more commonly discussed decline.
This is not the same hormonal picture every woman experiences fluctuation in perimenopause varies considerably from person to person, which is exactly why some women notice a significant drop in desire while others notice the opposite.
According to Gennev, a virtual menopause care provider, this shift is sometimes referred to informally as a midlife sex surge, occurring as oestrogen dips while testosterone’s relative effects become more pronounced, alongside situational factors like reduced fear of unintended pregnancy that many women also describe as freeing.
It is worth knowing that the broader relationship between testosterone and female libido remains genuinely debated in clinical research some studies have not found a clear link between testosterone levels alone and sexual desire, which is part of why testosterone therapy for low libido is still considered an off-label, individually variable treatment rather than a guaranteed fix.
The ratio shift described here is a narrower, separate idea from that debate: it is about the relative balance between hormones during perimenopause’s fluctuation, not a claim that testosterone alone determines desire.
Your body was not malfunctioning by wanting more. It was simply showing you what one hormone sounds like once it is no longer being quieted by another.
Someone important to you needs this too.
The Complete Picture: Why This Gets So Little Attention
Increased libido in perimenopause is less commonly discussed than decreased libido simply because it affects fewer women and challenges the dominant cultural narrative of perimenopause as a stage defined by loss.
This means most of what you encounter in conversation, in articles, even in some medical appointments is built around managing decline, leaving little language or framework for an experience that runs the opposite direction.
A natural follow-up question is whether something else might be driving the change instead of hormones. Lifestyle and emotional shifts common at this life stage genuinely contribute too: reduced fear of pregnancy, fewer caregiving demands as children grow older, and a level of self-confidence and self-knowledge that often builds with age all play a real role alongside the hormonal picture.
Why your doctor may not have told you this
Most perimenopause conversations in a medical setting default to addressing decreased libido, vaginal dryness, and discomfort, because that is what the majority of patients are there to discuss.
An increase in desire rarely comes up as its own topic, and even when it does, there is limited established language for explaining the hormonal ratio shift behind it, since most clinical training and patient materials are built around the more common decline.
If you have wondered whether something is wrong with you for wanting this more, that gap in available information is not yours to carry.
What this means for the rest of what you are feeling
If your desire has shifted upward, it is worth knowing this sits within the same broader hormonal picture as everything else happening in perimenopause the same fluctuating oestrogen and progesterone driving mood changes, sleep disruption, or cycle irregularity are also behind this specific shift in testosterone’s relative influence.
It is not a separate, unrelated symptom. It is one more expression of the same transition, simply moving in a different direction than expected.
Questions you may be asking
Is it normal to have a higher sex drive in perimenopause?
Yes. A meaningful minority of women experience increased libido during perimenopause, driven by testosterone’s relative effects becoming more pronounced as oestrogen and progesterone decline at different rates. It is less commonly discussed than decreased libido, but equally valid and biologically grounded.
Why does my libido feel stronger now than it did in my twenties?
The relative balance between testosterone, oestrogen, and progesterone shifts during perimenopause, and for some women this shift intensifies desire rather than reducing it. Reduced fear of pregnancy and increased self-confidence at this life stage often contribute alongside the hormonal change.
Should I be concerned about an increased sex drive?
An increased sex drive is not inherently a medical concern. It is only worth discussing with a doctor if it feels distressing, disruptive to your life, or paired with other symptoms that concern you otherwise, it can simply be understood and, if you choose, enjoyed.
You now know: Increased libido in perimenopause has a real hormonal explanation — the testosterone-to-oestrogen ratio shifting, not something being wrong with you.
One thing to do: If this has felt confusing or isolating to navigate alone, know that talking to a partner or a menopause specialist about it is just as valid as discussing any other symptom.
Hold onto this: Wanting more is not the opposite of what is happening to your body. It is part of it.
Someone important to you needs this too.
The next step
This shift in desire is one part of a bigger picture — your cycle, your hormones, your whole experience of this transition, all the changes you have been living through with no map for any of it. Sophora draws that map for you. Not a general guide. Your specific picture. Four steps. One session.
When→Where→What→Reveal
Wanting more is not the opposite of what is happening to your body. It is part of it.
Last reviewed: June 2026 · Review due: September 2026 · Not therapy. Not medical advice. For your own use and understanding only. · mysophora.com