Strategies To Improve Your Sexual Health
Here are tips from Dr. Alice Cheng and Dr. Richard Bebb.
1 Talk to your partner: An open and honest discussion about any concerns related to your sexual relationship can offer relief and the motivation to get help.
2 Talk to your doctor: A 2010 study found only 19 per cent of women and less than one-half of men with diabetes had discussed their sexual health with their doctor. If your health-care provider does not bring up the subject, take the initiative and do it yourself.
3 Keep your blood sugar under control: High blood sugaras well as high blood pressure and cholesterolare behind many sexual problems for people with diabetes.
4 Manage your weight: Losing excess pounds can have a positive impact on diabetes management and also increase body confidence, which may give your sex life a lift.
5 Deal with mental health issues: Depression, which affects 30 per cent of people with diabetes, can contribute to a low libido. Studies show that talk therapy, medication, or a combination of the two can have positive effects on both mood and blood sugar management.
6 Be willing to experiment: Since sexual problems in diabetes can be related solely to the act of intercourse, you could gain more pleasure by expanding your range of intimate experiences beyond the usual, to include activities such as massage, oral sex, mutual masturbation, and the use of sex toys.
How Can I Prevent And Treat My Sexual Or Bladder Problems
Managing your diabetes can help prevent nerve damage and other diabetes problems that can lead to sexual and bladder problems. With your health care team, you can help prevent and treat your sexual or bladder control problems by
- keeping your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels close to your target numbers
Talk About It With Your Doctor
Discuss sexual health issues with your doctor. Sexual dysfunction can be a sign of disease progression or that treatment isnt working.
Dont be afraid to discuss sexual side effects of medications. Ask if there are different medications that dont have the same side effects.
Also, feel free to ask about ED drugs. If you arent a good candidate for ED drugs, then penile pumps may also be an option.
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What Bladder Problems Can Men And Women With Diabetes Have
Diabetes can cause nerve damage to your urinary tract, causing bladder problems. Overweight and obesity also can increase bladder problems, such as urinary incontinence . Managing diabetes is an important part of preventing problems that can lead to excess urination.
Your health care team may be able to help you manage your blood glucose levels and help you lose weight, if needed. Doctors use blood and urine tests to diagnose bladder problems or conditions with similar symptoms. Doctors also may use urodynamic testing to see what kind of bladder problem you have.
What Women Should Know
Many women with Type 1 diabetes experience vaginal dryness as a result of high blood sugar levels, which may contribute to pain or discomfort during sex, a lackluster sex drive, potential difficulties reaching climax and a generally reduced sexual response. Whether youre all about foreplay or aiming for The Big O, dont forget to keep lubricants nearby. Remember that blood glucose levels can spike depending on what products you apply to your skin, so be sure the one on your nightstand is sugar-free. In addition, practicing daily kegel exercises will strengthen the muscles in your southern regions and improve your bodys sensitivity to stimulation.
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Stay Healthy Enough For Sex
Maintain good overall health for a healthy sex life. For people with diabetes, this includes maintaining proper blood sugar levels. Sex is exercise in the sense that it uses energy, so be aware of your glucose levels.
If youre using medications that increase the amount of insulin in your body, hypoglycemia can also occur during sex. Consider checking your blood sugar levels before engaging in sexual activity.
Also keep in mind that whats good for your heart is good for your genitals. Sexual arousal, vaginal lubrication, and erection all have a lot to do with blood flow. Engage in a lifestyle that promotes good heart health and proper blood circulation.
This includes participating in regular exercise. Exercise can also have the added benefits of improving your energy level, mood, and body image.
Many people with type 2 diabetes experience incontinence. If you experience uncomfortable urine leaks, talk about them with your partner. Padding the bed can go a long way to help.
Lay down a couple of towels or purchase incontinence pads to help ease the situation.
Dealing With Sexual Problems
Sexual problems are the same as any other medical problem. You need to talk to your doctor about the strategies that will best suit you and your lifestyle.
Accept that there is a problem. Thinking it might go away will only delay treatment. The sooner you seek help the sooner the problem can be treated. If you have a partner, talk through the problems you are both experiencing. Sexual problems have the potential to cause a strain in the relationship. If you feel this is happening, you may like to contactRelationships Australia.
Learn about the condition. Finding out as much as you can and the treatments available will bring positive results and improve your sense of well being.
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Monitor Your Blood Sugar Level
“What gets measured gets managed.” A diabetic must check and monitor blood sugar levels on daily basis to avoid any sudden trigger. Checking your blood sugar first thing in the morning should be your priority when you are living with diabetes. Keeping a check on your numbers will improve your ability to manage diabetes.
Gugu Says That Diabetes Has Affected Every Part Of Her Life Including Her Interest In Sex And
Most men said they were not as yet having any problems about sex, but felt that if they did experience ED it would be a serious worry for them that could well affect their relationship with their partners but would also affect their sense of masculinity. Those men who admitted to having experienced ED at some time said that even though their masculinity was affected it would probably not diminish their long-term relationship with their partners.
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Can Sexual And Bladder Problems Be Symptoms Of Diabetes
Yes. Changes in sexual function or bladder habits may be a sign that you have diabetes. Nerve damage caused by diabetes, also called diabetic neuropathy, can damage parts of your bodylike your genitals or urinary tract. For example, men with diabetes may develop erectile dysfunction 10 to 15 years earlier than men without diabetes.1
Talk with a health care professional if you have any symptoms of diabetes, including sexual and bladder problems.
Female Sexuality And Diabetes
The problems affecting a womans sex life are not negligible and they can often reveal other diabetes complications.
Whether or not a person suffers from a chronic disease, sex is part of a persons well-being and overall health. It is well known that diabetes in men can cause , but how does the disease affect women?
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The Menstrual Cycles Effect On Blood Glucose Levels
Reproductive hormones in women of childbearing age have an impact on blood sugar. Since hormone levels fluctuate during the course of the menstrual cycle, blood glucose levels are affected and also fluctuate.
The impact is often negligible, but for some women, dietary changes and reduced physical activity that sometimes occur when they are premenstrual or menstruating can affect blood glucose levels.
How Does Diabetes Affect A Woman’s Orgasms
Dr. Betsy Dokken answers the question: ‘Does Diabetes Affect A Woman’s Orgasms?’
— Question: How does diabetes affect a woman’s orgasms?
Answer: For most of us, sex is an important part of our most intimate relationships, and, for women with diabetes, sometimes sexual issues can come up. One reason is that the autonomic nervous system is responsible for the sexual response, and this is a part of the nervous system that can be detrimentally affected by diabetes and, particularly, by poorly controlled diabetes.
So, the stages of the sexual response — arousal, lubrication, and orgasm — can all be dampened by problems with the autonomic nervous system, which can be a form of diabetic neuropathy. So, for this reason, again, improved glycemic control, or improved blood sugar control, and there are some treatments that can help women with sexual dysfunction. And so women who are experiencing these problems should talk to their primary care provider or their gynecologist for tips on how to improve these symptoms.
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To Pump Or Not To Pump
Some people think insulin pumps don’t get in the way of good sex. Others feel that having tubes attached makes them less attractive or kills the mood.
Sparling removes her pump before sex, as she does when she exercises. After sex, she checks her blood sugar again and takes a dose of insulin if it is high or has a snack if it’s low. If you’re worried about falling asleep or forgetting to reconnect, you can set the alarm on your pump or cell phone.
If you don’t want to disconnect your pump, using long tubing can give you more freedom to move around. And it helps to let your partner know where it’s attached so the person doesn’t grab it by accident. If it does get yanked out and starts to bleed, though, it’s not a problem, Roszler says. “Just put pressure on the area until the bleeding stops.”
With a regular partner, a glitch like this, or disconnecting a pump during foreplay, may not be awkward. But what if you’re with a new partner you haven’t told about your diabetes? This is not a problem for Sparling or Johnson, who are both married. But Johnson says he could see that some people might prefer insulin shots over a pump if they’re playing the field.
“With an injection, you might not have to mention your diabetes unless and until you want to,” he says. “A pump kind of forces the disclosure.”
Start Your Day With A Healthy Breakfast
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when someone talks about a healthy morning routine? healthy breakfast isn’t it? Kick-start your day with a nutritious breakfast, which can have real benefits for your blood sugar management and overall health. Eating well is a vital part of diabetes treatment and management. Research suggests that skipping breakfast, even occasionally, can raise your risk of type 2 diabetes.
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Type 1 Diabetes And Erectile Dysfunction
A man living with Type 1 diabetes may experience erectile dysfunction at certain times in his life. Hyperglycemia can cause nerve damage and reduce blood flow and thus cause erectile dysfunction and ejaculation disorders. Poorly controlled blood glucose levels can also disrupt the hormonal system and lower testosterone production, causing a drop in libido.
If you encounter such difficulties, do not hesitate to consult your doctor who can guide you if necessary towards one of the many existing therapeutic options .
Try A Different Time Of Day
If low energy and fatigue are a problem, try having sex at a different time of day when your energy is at its peak. Nighttime may not always be the right time. After a long day, and with the added fatigue that comes with diabetes, the last thing you may have energy for is sex.
Try sex in the mornings or afternoons. Experiment to see what works best for you.
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Using An Insulin Pump
Some people with diabetes wear a small pump that supplies insulin to the body. This helps them maintain their sugar levels and may enable them to enjoy sex more spontaneously.
A person may feel self-conscious about wearing the pump during sex or afraid that it may detach.
It is safe to disconnect the pump for up to 1 hour during intimacy, according to one source, and it is not dangerous for a pump to become detached.
However, the user must remember to reattach it within 45 minutes to one hour.
Explaining to a new partner about diabetes early in the relationship will lead to a better understanding and communication and reduce embarrassment on both sides.
Good Diabetes Health = Good Sex
Taking care of your diabetes is the best sex strategy. Good blood glucose control can prevent or ease sexual issues so you can “do everything you want to do in sex,” Sparling says. “And what better impetus to diabetes control is there, especially if you’re young, than getting to have a good, healthy sex life?”
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Know Your Blood Sugar Levels Before And After
Lets be real. Sex is a unique form of physical exercise in that most of us usually look forward to doing it. Like any other activity that requires physical exertion, getting it on will most likely affect your blood sugar levels. If you find yourself dripping in sweat and can hear your own heartbeat, you might be really into your partner however, theres also a chance that your blood sugar has spiked and dropped. Its good practice to check your blood sugar levels before, during and after you have sex get creative and think about incorporating this into foreplay and post coital cuddling.
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Very few men had ever discussed the possibility of sexual dysfunction with anyone face-to-face, including the GP. Most men took the view that as long as everything was going fine they didn’t particularly want to talk about ED, and that they hoped they would never have any sexual problems. Some men said they only knew about erectile dysfunction because they had read about it on the internet, or in articles in the media. One man said he first read about ED in Balance, a magazine produced by Diabetes UK. A few men had attended lectures that had mentioned erectile dysfunction at a diabetes support group.
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Id Like To Be More Sexual Wrote Marsha A 38
A lot of women with diabetes share Marshas problems. Studies highlighted by the National Institutes of Health have found that as much as 27 percent of women with Type 1 and up to 42 percent of women with Type 2 experience some kind of sexual dysfunction.
A Turkish study of 176 sexually active women found those with Type 2 diabetes had more sexual problems.
Women with higher HbA1c and women who had diabetes longer had higher rates of sexual problems.
Sex With Diabetes: Womens Awkward Bedroom Questions Answered
Diabetes could affect arousal, sexual desire, vaginal dryness, and comfort during sex. Heres what to know.
Diabetes affects nerves and blood vessels throughout your body, but its impact on sexual health might come as a surprise. For some women with diabetes, the concern may not even come up during regular checkups, but its important to speak up if your symptoms are getting in the way of your sex life.
Just like if you had any other health issue, its totally justifiable to talk to your healthcare provider about ,” says Susan Davis, PhD, bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery, a professor of womens health at the School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and president-elect of the International Menopause Society.
According to a review published in April 2013 in The Journal of Sexual Medicine, female sexual dysfunction occurs more frequently in women with diabetes than in women without diabetes. Its really important to destigmatize the ability of women to talk to their doctors about whats bothering them, says Dr. Davis.
Before voicing your sexual concerns to your provider, here are some of the fundamental underlying reasons why diabetes may affect you down there.
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How Common Are Sexual Problems Among Men And Women With Diabetes Compared To The Average Population
Cheng: Various studies report a wide range of sexual dysfunction in women with type 1 or type 2 diabetesabout 35-70 per cent. Among women who do not have diabetes, the average rate of sexual dysfunction is about 40 per cent.
Bebb: Erectile dysfunction affects approximately 35-45 per cent of men with diabetes. Studies suggest that after 20 years of type 1 diabetes, approximately 50 per cent of men will have ED. In the general population, about five per cent have ED by age 40, and this increases to 15-20 per cent by age 70.
What Kind Of Help Is Available
Cheng: For women, it depends on the underlying cause. If they are experiencing vaginal dryness, prescription and over-the-counter lubricants can be . If decreased sexual response is an issue, it may to experiment with activities other than intercourse. If there are problems in your relationship, a psychologist or sex therapist can help. Kegel exercises, which strengthen the pelvic muscles, can also improve sexual response.
Bebb: For men, the main treatment is PDE5 inhibitors . Approximately 70-80 per cent of men will find these medications helpful. Many men with ED describe a feeling of having failed. This sentiment can be lessened by avoiding a focus on penetrative intimacy as the only method of emotional and sexual connection with ones partner.
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