As I head into my 50s and reflect, I can honestly say I have enjoyed my life. I have worked hard but also taken the time to appreciate the best things in life: time spent with my family, holidays, good meals accompanied by a bottle of sparkling wine and a packet of cigarettes (the latter a habit I have now thankfully given up) and I have always had a more than healthy sex drive.

My interest for sex was still as strong but I started to notice how my libido did not sparkle as it used to. How my enthusiasm for lovemaking had started to diminish. Although it is rarely discussed, men too as they grow older go through a change of life or something that has been described as a male menopause (when a man’s hormones change with lowered testosterone and increased oestrogen). Could this be the reason?

I also knew I was too busy at work, there was other stress too but this was hardly something new. However, I had to be honest with myself and knew my libido was simply not as strong as it used to be. Was this another inevitable part of growing older? Was this the beginning of the end of my sex life? The idea of the rest of my life without sex – and its physical and emotional intimacy – was pretty bleak and depressing to say the least. So I started looking at the options.