Tips for Diabetic Patients to Improve Their Sex Life

Despite what the symptoms of the disease may imply on paper, diabetes can actually affect more areas of a person’s life than what some may initially believe. As it turns out, diabetes can negatively impact a person’s performance in the bedroom, significantly affecting the sex life of both the individual and his or her partner.

Those suffering from diabetes, whether it be type 1 or type 2, have had issues associated with sex, like erectile dysfunction, vaginal dryness and a low sex drive in general. According to a study published in Diabetes Care, many men and women do not talk about their sex life with their doctor when facing these issues. While doctors don't really ask about these issues with these patients, for privacy reasons, bad sexual health could indicate other complications like nerve damage, clogged arteries and different hormone levels. While the best way to get a better handle on improving a patient's sexual health is to improve their blood glucose levels, there are other tips that patients can use to reignite the passion with their partner.

It's also important to note that patients should never feel uncomfortable discussing their issues with their sexual health with a physician and even their partner. Being honest and open will lead to further understanding and patience. Discussing your sexual performance would also help doctors understand if there is anything further that is going on with your body and point out certain inconsistencies that could be causing it. There could also be something psychological affecting someone's sexual performance, this could be issues with one's self-esteem or fear of failing to please their partner.

These are just some of the issues that both sexes can experience when they have a low sexual drive:

• Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) are easier to get when diabetes is not managed properly
• Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) can be easily given because of the dry, cracked skin patients have
• A heightened sense of pain due to neuropathy
• Risk of hypoglycemia due to activity
• Low levels of testosterone

According to Dr. Lauren Streicher, MD, of obstetrics and gynecology at the Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, conditions such as diabetes can seriously affect the person’s sexual appetite and performance. Streicher also states in her book Slip Sliding Away: A Gynecologist’s Guide to Turning Back the Clock on Your Sex Life, that diabetics, above all other individuals, have several obstacles that they must overcome in order to nurture a healthy sex life. Fortunately, once the individual understands how the disease can affect them, taking measures to boost sexual satisfaction becomes a trivial ordeal, allowing them to enjoy a regular sex life, similar, or perhaps even better, than how it was before receiving their diagnosis.

Here, we aim to share several tidbits of information that might be used by any and all diabetic patients, and which may help to greatly increase the satisfaction obtained from the sexual act, despite their disease.