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Sexual health is a serious concern for many people, and it’s disturbing that most don’t know that diabetes is at the forefront of the major causes of low libido. Namely, diabetes is highly correlated with sudden and steady sexual problems that many people experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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While not as popularized as other diabetes complications, there’s been established research on how diabetes and high blood pressure decrease men’s and women’s libido, leaving them undesiring of sex. More concerning is that the change and fall in the sexual drive are often fast, almost uncontrollable, and usually frustrating for couples. Diabetes could see one of the genders who once had a thriving libido and desire become indifferent and almost irritated by sex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Diabetes affects sexual life either directly or indirectly. For the former, high blood sugar drastically decreases libido, while for the latter, diabetes triggers symptoms like depression, causing a psychological loss of interest in sex. The problem with the two situations is that they could permanently hinder and block a person’s passion for sex, leading to serious dissatisfaction from the more willing partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Some similar conditions that affect sex life in men and women include:<\/p>\n\n\n
- Diabetes medications side effects<\/li>
- High blood pressure or hypertension<\/li>
- Chronic, consistent loss of energy<\/li>
- Depression<\/li>
- Hormonal changes<\/li>
- Stress, relationship issues, and anxiety<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
While the above are major causes of low sex drive in people that have diabetes, the condition also affects sex in men and women by causing the following:
<\/p>\n\n\n\nDiabetic Neuropathy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
This condition is common in people with diabetes and manifests as a loss of sensitivity in almost every body area, including their genitals. While the effect may be physically evident, it actually starts in the brain, making it a serious condition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The condition may affect different nerves, and people may simply feel numbness and zero sensitivity during sex. Notably, some women may feel pain instead of pleasure, while men may experience erectile dysfunction. Generally, the condition makes sex extremely bland, numb, and even painful.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nRelationship Concerns<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The effects of diabetes on sex life may not be severe initially. However, a lack of communication and extreme self-pressure between people experiencing dying sex drive only worsen sexual performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Due to the inherent human behavior of trying to hide their flaws and vulnerabilities from others, once sexually active partners often attempt to mask their fading libido from their other half. They often try to get better as soon as possible, leading to serious nervousness during intimacy, which is often counterproductive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Most sexually active partners who choose this option experience a faster decline in their intimacy life compared to those who open up to their partners. Studies indicate that the latter is more likely to get help and fix their problems. In a worst-case scenario, they usually find ways to ensure it’s not a big issue.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow It Affects Men<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
While diabetes does present some sex-related effects common to both genders, research indicates some are more specific towards the male gender, as we’ll observe below.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nErectile Dysfunction<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Sexual performance has long been used as a yardstick to gauge a man’s prowess in a relationship. While this bias may seem a bit unfair, this sentimentalism still exists to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Two reasons are attributed to this bias; male biology and societal expectations. However, the first is more evident in a relationship with unsatisfied intimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The male biological makeup requires men to put up a higher level of commitment to have a satisfying intimacy with their partners. The male penis is extremely sensitive, and diabetes-influenced health concerns are immediately evident in the form of erectile dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Compared to a woman’s body that doesn’t always need arousal to achieve coitus, the male penis requires blood flow from blood vessels to achieve an erection. Diabetes and high blood sugar increase blood pressure and make blood flow to the penis area difficult to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Apart from distorted blood flow, high blood sugar also causes a drastic decrease in testosterone, which plays an essential role in male arousal. Without arousal and the desire to share intimacy, there’ll be no mental will and physical ability to achieve an erection. In other words, low testosterone also causes erectile dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Without an erection, there can’t be penetration, explaining why most sexually frustrating relationships usually have males as the culprits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Retrograde Ejaculation<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
This is a sexual complication that men experience during sex. This condition is characterized by semen being ejaculated inside the bladder instead of the normal release through the penis. This condition occurs when the internal sphincter muscles (ISM) don’t function properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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The ISM is responsible for opening and closing passages in the body. In a normal male, the muscles close the passage of the bladder during ejaculation, forcing semen to come out of the penis. However, high blood sugar distorts the muscles’ function, leaving the bladder passage open and semen stored there until urination.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nHow It Affects Women
<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe female gender isn’t left out, as diabetes does trigger a series of events that alter their sex life. The following section talks more about this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Low Libido<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Low libido is often more common in women than in men. Many research<\/u><\/a> suggest that women are more prone to draw close to celibacy in a relationship than men, and diabetes only makes it worse. While most women can still manage or try to be intimate with their partner, their high blood sugar-induced low libido only worsens with time and eventually becomes noticeable to even their partner.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nDryness and Pains During Sex<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Apart from being a consequence of low libido, vaginal dryness is common in women with high blood sugar. This condition leads to painful sex due to excessively high friction during penetration. If not properly handled, it could lead to serious vagina peels, bumps, and other sexual health problems like inflammation in the vulva area.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nReducing and Preventing the Effect of Diabetes on Your Sexual Life<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Your sex life doesn’t necessarily have to suffer if you have diabetes, thanks to groundbreaking discoveries in this field. Here are the best ways to ensure enjoyable intimate moments with your partner despite having high blood sugar levels.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nTherapy Medications<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Diabetes-influenced poor sexual performance can deal a great blow to a person’s confidence. Moreover, most people typically kickstart treatment with non-diabetes treatment methods having little results may create their psychology that nothing might work. However, using a diabetes-reacted therapy medication will gradually revive patients’ performance and increase sexual desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) works for men and women by improving their sexual function and encouraging a healthy sex life. HRTs may come in the form of pills, creams, patches, and injectable medications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Lubricants for Women<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
While opting for therapy helps in many ways, lubricants can also help women have less painful sex while treatments are yet to take their full effect. There are many safe and vaginal-friendly lubricants that women can use to make penetration effortless. Using them can help women look forward to having sex and warm up to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adopt Natural Diabetes Management Methods<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Implementing healthy natural lifestyle changes will help achieve low blood sugar and improve healthy sensitivity and arousal in males and females. This section highlights some of the major natural methods people diagnosed with diabetes can consider.
<\/p>\n\n\n\nDieting<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Eating a balanced diet can help prevent you from developing diabetes. When dieting, you have to limit how you eat some foods and eat more of others. Overall, the key to avoiding diabetes through dieting<\/a> is eating a bunch of healthy foods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following tips should serve as pointers when kickstarting your dieting journey:<\/p>\n\n\n
- Avoid sugary drinks<\/li>
- Eat smaller portions of food<\/li>
- Eat more fiber that you could find in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans<\/li>
- Choose healthy grains like brown rice and quinoa<\/li>
- Stop drinking alcohol<\/li>
- Go for healthy proteins like eggs, tofu, salmon fish, and nuts<\/li>
- Your source of fat should be fish, avocado, olive oil, seeds, and nuts<\/li>
- You should avoid meat sometimes<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n
Try Intermittent Fasting<\/h4>\n\n\n\n