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Sexual Health Tips for Women with Diabetes

Many women believe that it is normal to lose interest in sex when they start getting older. The same is true for many women who are type 1 and type 2 diabetics. There are sexual problems that are related to diabetes, but these problems can be prevented or improved upon. The area of sexual dysfunction is not always a comfortable subject for women to talk about with their doctors. However, health care professionals deal with sexual problems associated with diabetes all the time. Try not to feel embarrassed; your doctor can advise you on how to preserve or improve your sex life.

You may question how diabetes impacts sexual health in women with diabetes type 1 and diabetes type 2. Well, diabetes mellitus often makes women feel tired and irritable when their blood glucose levels are up. Unless women check their blood sugar levels with a glucometer from time to time, they may not even know when their blood glucose is up or down. Many women who are diabetic with glucose levels out of control suffer with depression, and when you are depressed you usually don’t feel like setting the mood for romance, or for having sexual relations. How many times have you declined to have sex because you were tired and worn out? If you are diabetic, being worn out may be more than just being tired from normal working activities.

Another problem women sometimes have is vaginal dryness. Part of female sexual physiology is for the vaginal mucosa to become lubricated in sexual arousal. If you are unable to respond sexually to your mate, you will likely not want to become sexual. You may also feel depressed when you cannot become intimate due to pain related to vaginal dryness. If all you ever feel is pain when you try to be sexual with your partner, you are not likely to engage in sexual activity very often.

Depression and anxiety are sometimes associated with diabetes mellitus, when blood glucose levels are out of control. Depression and anxiety can cause a decrease in your libido, and if you have to take any medications for it, that also can diminish sexual desire. If you have been feeling depressed or anxious for a period of two weeks or longer, you should see your health care professional, so that you can be treated for it.

Sometimes women with diabetes have something called diabetic neuropathy, in which some of the nerves don’t work properly. You may not be able to be aroused very easily for sex because those nerves don’t transmit the sensations between your body and brain. If you are having trouble achieving orgasm, and you cannot become interested in sex, you should address this problem with your health care professional.

To help improve your sexual health, you need to improve your lifestyle. Look at your lifestyle as it is, and determine how you can improve upon it. For instance, if you smoke cigarettes or use other tobacco products, and you cannot stop on your own, you should mention this to your attending physician. Of course, you know that smoking is bad for you, but you may wonder how smoking impacts a person with diabetes mellitus. Diabetics often have problems with circulation to their lower extremities, and smoking further complicates circulation by reducing the amount of oxygen that circulates in the blood. When you add poor circulation from diabetes with oxygen hungry cells in your body, you are setting yourself up for a heart attack, stroke, and stasis ulcers in the lower extremities.

You will always have to stay on top of your diabetes to keep your blood glucose levels within normal limits, or to near normal limits. You may be able to improve your sexual health by taking measures to improve your lifestyle. If you are having issues with your sexual health, be sure to mention it to your doctor if it continues for more than a two week period.

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