I lost my sex drive. What could be the problem?

[Devo2019]

I'm a 23 year old male. For almost a year now I've been dealing with the following symptoms:

1) I have a loss of libido. My sex drive is not like how it used to be. I remember I used to get super horny. I'm not getting morning or spontaneous erections, my erections are weak, etc.

2) Fatigue. I've been feeling a bit tired.

3) No adrenaline. I'm no longer getting adrenaline rushes when I'm excited or nervous. My heart doesn't race like it used to, my blood doesn't pump like it used to. I don't get that "rush" anymore.

4) Neck pain. (This has gotten better)

5) Bit of a brain fog

I'm not sure what could be the issue, but I'm going to schedule me a doctor's appointment soon. Before I do, I want to hear from you guys on what could possibly be wrong with me?

[auntiejessi]

I always say rule out the physical first. You're young, but make sure it's not your thyroid, any hormone issues, etc. It might be depression - and that's something important to investigate, but there are some important physical issues to rule out, too.

[Paxiled]

I'm going to go in a bit of a different direction and actually ask if you're feeling depressed.  Depression isn't sadness or pandemic stress or life not being as good as it was yesterday.  Depression is a major illness.  I know we use terms very colloquially in everyday talk, and that's fine, but you know if you're depressed or not.  Depression is a disease of thoughts.  You think sad thoughts most of the time.  Things that didn't used to bother you bother you a lot.  You have no enthusiasm for much of anything, so everything is a struggle.  You think everything is going to lead to horrible results.  If you're thinking like this, then I agree, this sounds a lot like depression except for one important thing -- you don't mention any of this kind of thinking and you say stressful things appear to bother you less than they did before -- lack of "adrenaline" -- rather than more.  Depressed people get stressed very easily by very low stress things.  So when someone mentions a low dose medication, and I don't know what that is, antidepressants have a dose at which they work and a dose at which they don't, well, those medications can be hell to take and stop taking and if you're not depressed you really don't want to be seeking such from a doctor because docs are more than eager to give you drugs.  So again, you know if you're feeling depressed, it's often not well known by a given person what that means but what it feels like is very well known to the person.  To me, it's way too early to know, and googling symptoms, which is basically what has been done for you here, is dangerous as we all have symptoms that might fit a disease but don't.  It's not a bad idea to see a doc, but predicting what's wrong is impossible unless something in your life happened recently before this all started that was a big change and affected you in a way that might cause this, like a breakup or family tragedy or you stopped exercising or you stopped sleeping well.  I will also add that those morning erections don't last forever.  At some point they just go away, and you're almost past that point in age already.  So don't take that as a sign of anything.  So do take a look at your life and see if something happened.  Do see a doc.  Could be low testosterone, could be something.  You also don't mention if you're in a relationship or have an active sex life with other people.  That can also present challenges as they ebb and flow.  Good luck finding you answers.

[Paxiled]

Oh, and look to your diet as well.  Any changes there?

[GuitarRox]

Depression is a lot of things to different people and your perception of what it was for you may not be true for someone else. It can and often takes different forms.  That's a fact, ask your doctor.  Depression is different than stress.  That is true.  We aren't diagnosing here but helping him give some ideas to his doctor or think about himself.  

[Paxiled]

Not really trying to get into an argument, but no, depression isn't different things to different people.  It is only that if you're using it colloquially, which you're welcome to do but then medication would of course never be involved.  The disease of depression as with any medical condition does have different official definitions depending on where you look, so it's true, it's not the same thing for everyone.  The official diagnostic manual lists it as certain conditions that pertain for 2 weeks or more, which frankly is ridiculous but does allow for doctors to make a lot of money off of it, but most mental health practitioners do not agree with the diagnostic manual anymore as it has become very controversial and tilted by pharmaceutical company and psychiatrist overreach, but it does exist.  But whatever you use to define it, depression is a disease state, and every disease state has criteria that allows one to call it that disease.  It is not sadness.  It is not grief.  It is not a bad stretch.  It is not stress.  Everyone has those.  It is a disease that doesn't get better without treatment or luck, which usually starts with therapy unless it is so profound medication is needed.  A doctor, by the way, does not know much about mental illness any more than they know a lot about knee surgery or any other complex disease, as it takes a lot of further training to understand it and the medications used to treat it.  This is a field where you see psychologists if you want those who spend the most time studying it, or psychiatrists if you want medication, as it's very very hard to treat successfully and the meds are quite difficult as well.  So yes, it is different for different people, but it is always a disease, and if you don't have a disease you don't want to be taking meds.  That was my point.  

[GuitarRox]

You are a young guy. I'm sure libido is important to you!  Do you think you are a bit depressed?  Your symptoms kind of show that.  There is something called dysthymia.  https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/chronic-depression-dysthymia  It's like a low grade, low level depression. Wondering if that could be going on.  They can treat that usually with a bit of counseling and maybe a low dose of medication if that doesn't do the trick. Proper nutrition, sleep and daily exercise also help.

So, I see I'm agreeing with AnnieBrooke.  Yes, look into depression.  

Otherwise, any changes like you're taking a new medication? New job or life situation that has you stressed?

[AnnieBrooke]

Here's a list of possibilities from WebMD, and I wasn't surprised to see depression on the list. That would be my first guess from what you've described, especially since the time period you've described coincides with the pandemic, which is giving everyone mental and emotional stress. Along with the mention of drugs here, I'd also say if someone is taking any kind weird bodybuilding supplements, they should suspect those.

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What causes low libido in young males?

Physical issues that can cause low libido include low testosterone, prescription medicines, too little or too much exercise, and alcohol and drug use. Psychological issues can include depression, stress, and problems in your relationship.
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