Drinking, menstrual cycle, and female sexuality: A diary study

Sexual feelings in connection with alcohol intake were investigated in 97 F innish women aged 18 to 35 years. The subjects were drawn from a population sample and included both oral contraceptive users and nonusers. Structured diaries were used to monitor sexual feelings and alcohol intake during one menstrual cycle for each subject. Alcohol drinking was found to be signifi cantly associated with elevated sexual interest and arousal in the post- an d intermenstrual phases. We suggest that these phase-dependent effects coul d be due to known alcohol-mediated testosterone elevations.