Unfortunately, there are many things that can affect the libido and chemistry of your relationship, even a long term one with somebody you’ve known virtually forever and feel completely comfortable with. Sometimes these changes that come about are completely out of your control, while others might be a little easier to handle on your own. When it comes to physical and chemical reactions within the body there’s really little you can do without professional help from a physician in order to at least decipher the root of the problem and find out if there’s a way to counteract it. One problem that many men face, but aren’t always aware of is low testosterone. Knowing what symptoms to look for can certainly help in understanding your situation, and being informed as to what kind of long term effect it can have on your romantic life is also important.

Body Changes
One serious way that low testosterone can affect your relationship is through the physical changes it can cause in your body. This is not only in reference to the stimulation problems you may find through erectile dysfunction, but also in more severe issues you could face in an effort to control low testosterone by taking enhancement drugs and performance boosters. Anne Harding of MSN Healthy Living says:

In men, taking steroid hormones such as testosterone as performance boosters can cause testicles to shrink and breasts to grow.

This problem is one that can be permanent, so taking any kind of hormone therapy without the consent or recommendation of your family physician is definitely not a good idea. Any occurrences of this nature can definitely have an impact not only on how your partner perceives you, but how you perceive yourself and, therefore, how you react toward your spouse or significant other.

Mood Swings
Any kind of hormonal imbalance in the human body, whether it is too much or too little of something tends to create a problem with your emotions, and this means mood swings. As you are probably aware, too much testosterone can cause problems with over aggressive behavior. Well, too little testosterone pretty much has the opposite effect in that rather than becoming overly ambitious about something you wind up not bothering with it at all. Peaktestosterone.com states:

When you are low on testosterone, you often just don’t care about anything – you just “exist”. Pleasure and desire can be greatly decreased greatly affecting your career and your relationships.

The down side in this condition is that it can definitely affect your sex life and romantic life in a number of negative ways including not being able to perform in the bedroom. Not only is it probable that these emotional concerns could lead to physical issues where you aren’t able to get a tactile response from your sex organs, but you also just won’t want to bother. This kind of not caring one way or another can actually make your partner feel inadequate and as though you aren’t attracted to her and don’t want to be with her anymore.

Jumping To Conclusions
Along with the above problem comes the possibility of your partner jumping to conclusions due to this sudden display of nonchalance in regard to her body and your sexual appetite. It could be misconstrued as you wanting to break up, or she may assume that the reason you don’t want or need sexual relations with her anymore is because you’re getting this kind of physical release from elsewhere. Lowtcenter.com explains:

If you have noticed a problem with your sex life, your partner probably has, too. He or she may interpret this as a lack of interest – or a sign of interest in someone else.

This could cause a breakdown of your marriage or relationship over your inability to feel or process the problems that you’re facing. Unfortunately, it may be difficult for you to express why you don’t want to be intimate because you may not really understand it yourself. This is another reason why seeking an external opinion through a doctor or other professional medical practitioner is important in resolving issues related to hormonal deficiencies.

Lack Of Communication
All of these problems combined can bring about an inability and unwillingness to communicate, either on your part or that of your partner. Eventually, the attitude of not wanting to breach the subject or not knowing what to say about it can turn into resentment toward not just the problem but to each other, too. The fear that you might be cheating could turn into an actual need for external intimacy with somebody else, or a breakdown of your romantic attachment all together. This communication could stem from one relationship and spread into all of your emotional attachments, even towards people who you aren’t intimate with romantically at all like friends, colleagues and family members whom you may lash out at or cut off due to embarrassment and low self-esteem.

Coping
There are many different ways that you can cope with low testosterone and how it affects your relationships. Some of these methods require you to seek medical help and possibly take medication of some kind in order to supplement the hormonal imbalance. Other possible solutions may not extend to the physical issues at hand, but can alleviate many of the emotional upsets that the imbalance has caused in your life; sparkpeople.com advises:

If you find that you’re having trouble coping on your own, couples therapy may help you both get through this challenging period in your relationship.

Working with a couple’s therapist can address your lack of communication, thus halting any need to jump to conclusions. Even though other more physical problems aren’t being addressed this way, it can help your spouse or partner understand your mood swings and inability to feel what you should be feeling, which can help hold your relationship together while you’re getting help. It can also give them a reason to stand by you and allow you to feel supported while you’re going through this hard time in your life.