How Lupus Impacts a Patient's Sexuality
Common challenges experienced by patients
Fatigue
In most cases, fatigue is actually the biggest barrier to a good sexual relationship. The results of a research done by Dr. Meenakshi Jolly revealed that more than a third of individuals suffering from lupus have low desire for sexual intimacy. In fact, about half of the women involved in the study avoided sex owing to lupus-related flares.
Around 40% of the women involved in Jolly’s study revealed that the ailment has affected their relationships negatively. Jolly said that the sexual drive of the patients who had a more active disease had it worse. Jullian Rose, who is a worker in one of the many hospitals in New York, said that the patients may want to have sex with their partners, but physically they cannot do it.
Rene Jones, who is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Amherst, N.Y., said that most fatigued women with this condition tend to place sex at the bottom of their to-do list. This is common especially to women who have children.
