How Lupus Impacts a Patient's Sexuality

Lupus is an autoimmune diseases that occurs when the immune system of a body attacks its own organs and tissues. The constant fatigue and pain associated with this disease can often make it hard for an individual to cope with the emotional and physical aspect of sex.

Not only that, but some of the drugs used to treat lupus can have a negative impact on someone’s sex drive, sometimes making it hard to achieve an orgasm and also prevent arousal. Inflammation caused by the disease can also affect numerous body parts, such as the kidneys, lungs, brain, blood cells, heart, joints, and skin.

Negative impact of lupus on sexuality

Some individuals with lupus have a condition called Raynaud’s phenomenon. In this case, a patient may experience spasms within the tiny blood vessels in toes and fingers, especially after being exposed to the cold. This lowers the rate of blood flow and causes the toes and fingers to turn blue or white and feel numb.

During sex, more blood flows to the genital organs. This means that less blood will move to the other parts of the body such as the fingers. Any individual with Raynaud’s phenomenon is likely to experience pain and numbness during sex. Other challenges that can interfere with the actual sexual activity are genital and oral sores, yeast infections, and vaginal dryness.

An individual with lupus can experience skin rashes. This may make him or her not to look attractive, hence having a negative impact on the feelings of his or her partner. A person engaging in sexual activity with an individual with lupus may not realize when the desire of a patient changes owing to the challenges he or she is going through.

On the other hand, the patient may feel that his or her partner is trying to avoid him or her when the partner tries to be more sensitive to the desires of the patient. This only proves that chronic fatigue and pain associated with this illness can interfere with someone’s sexual life.

Some of the people with this condition find it hard to talk about the challenges they go through when having sex. However, it is important for these people to have honest and open discussions with their partners in order to solve problems affecting their relationships. If there are issues that cannot be resolved, seeking help from a doctor, counselor, or nurse can be helpful.

Men with lupus

Although lupus is more common in females, it also affects men. Males with this condition tend to experience sexual problems similar to those experienced by women. In addition, men may experience erectile dysfunctions, especially after taking some blood pressure medications. In fact, some men find the act of having sex uncomfortable and may not like it at all.

Traditionally, men are expected to dominate when it comes to issues concerned with sex and intimacy. In most cases, men with this condition feel shameful and uncomfortable to disclose problems they might be experiencing when having intercourse with their partners. This can actually have an unpleasing impact on the family if appropriate measures are not put in place at the right time.

Here are some of the challenges patients can experience during sex.