Men and women with diabetes, pay attention: just because you have diabetes doesn't mean your sex life has to suffer.

Great sex might be one of the first things that comes to mind when you think about enjoying life and all its joys. If you have diabetes, there's no reason you can't have a full and happy sex life. But you need to know how your illness can change different parts of your sexuality and how you behave sexually. People with diabetes talk about how to live your best life.

First, keep in mind that being sexually intimate can be very hard on the body and burn calories. Then it may put you at risk for hypoglycemia, which is not good when you're making love, to say the least.

If you want to keep your blood sugar level, you should check it before and after sex to see how your body reacts. If you know you're going to be sexually intimate soon, try having a sugary drink or a small snack before hand. If your doctor says it's okay, you could also change your insulin.
Just for women

Women's sexuality is complicated even when they don't have a long-term illness, so it's not a surprise that diabetes has more sexual side effects on women than on men. The problems are not impossible to solve, though. Some of them are:

Blood-sugar fluxes

Many women notice their blood sugar goes up a few days before their period, but this doesn't happen to everyone. Not all researchers agree, but some think that changes in female sex hormones, like estrogen and progesterone, make cells briefly less sensitive to insulin. If you think this might be a problem for you:

For a few months, write down the date of your period every day. Then, match that date to the dates of your daily blood sugar checks.If you notice a clear link between your blood sugar and your period, you should talk to your doctor about changing your insulin or medicine doses.

Think about a different cause.Some doctors believe that the real reason your blood sugar goes up before your period is because of premenstrual syndrome, which makes you eat more or less regularly, which causes your blood sugar levels to rise and fall in strange ways. To keep your blood sugar stable, try eating at normal times. Also, stay away from alcohol and caffeine, which can make you feel bad. These are the best snacks for people with diabetes.

Talk to your doctor about which pill is best for you if you take oral contraceptives.Blood sugar levels stay more stable with monophasic oral contraceptives (like Alesse, Loestrin, and Ortho-Cept), which have set amounts of estrogen and progestin. This is in contrast to triphasic (like Triphasil and OrthoTricyclen) and progesterone-only contraceptives (like Micronor and injected Depo-Provera).

Vaginal dryness

When they're sexually aroused, women with diabetes may not have enough natural lubrication. This isn't just a problem for people with high blood sugar, though. You can get water-based lubricants at any store to help with this problem.

Talk to your doctor if the problem doesn't go away. You may have low estrogen levels that can be fixed with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or estrogen cream that you put on your skin. But give the HRT choice a lot of thought. It might fix the problem with lubrication, but it might also make you more likely to get other health issues.

Infections

Bacteria and yeast can grow faster when there is too much sugar in the blood. This makes women with diabetes more likely to get yeast infections and vaginitis. If you have vaginal fluid or itching, you should get antibiotics or an antifungal cream from your doctor. These three things are always done by women who have great sex lives.

For Men Only

It may seem easier for men to have sex, but the male sexual response is a complicated mix of mind and body that can be changed by diabetes.

Men may have the most trouble with erectile dysfunction, also known as impotence, which means they can't get or keep an erection. This is a problem that many men have with getting older and isn't just a problem for men with diabetes. Most of the time, the reason is something physical. Poor circulation in the penis can stop blood from properly engorging chambers when you have diabetes, and nerve damage can mess up signals that are needed for sexual reaction.

(Fortunately, nerves that make pleasure possible rarely get damaged.) But anxiety and sadness can also make it hard to get or keep an erection, and sexual problems may be caused by more than one thing. You can do the following:

Cut it down:Talk to your doctor about what might be causing the problem so you know how to treat it. It might be as easy as changing one of your medicines. A lot of drugs, even some that are used to treat high blood pressure, can make it hard to be sexual.

If that's not the problem, look for trends. If erectile dysfunction seems to come and go, happens all of a sudden, or happens in some situations but not others, it may be a psychological issue. If you lose function slowly and consistently over time, it's more possible that something physical is to blame.

These sex drive boosts come from natural sources.
Find out about Viagra:About 80% of people who take the drug sildenafil citrate (Viagra) get and keep an erection for at least an hour. There are other medicines you can take if headaches, low blood pressure, and diarrhea bother you, though they usually don't work as well. You might not be able to take Viagra if you have heart problems.

In the worst case, try alprostadil (Caverject) if mouth drugs don't work. It increases blood flow by relaxing smooth muscle in the penis, just like Viagra. The only difference is that it is shot with a needle. There are also other drugs that can be injected, such as papaverine and phentolamine.

Surgically inserted rods that can be bent or inflated by a man (or his partner) when he wants an erection are two non-drug methods. Vacuum devices use a hand-pumped tube that fits over the penis to draw blood into the organ.

Lesson Summary

Men and women with diabetes can still enjoy a fulfilling sex life by understanding how their condition can affect their sexuality and taking appropriate measures to manage it:

• Being sexually intimate can be tough on the body, potentially risking hypoglycemia. It's essential to monitor blood sugar levels before and after sex and consider having a sugary drink or snack beforehand.
• For women with diabetes, there may be specific concerns affecting their sexual health, including blood sugar fluctuations, vaginal dryness, and increased risk of infections:
• Monitor blood sugar levels in relation to menstrual cycles to adjust insulin doses if necessary.
• Address vaginal dryness with lubricants or hormone replacement therapy.
• Manage infections promptly with prescribed medications.
• Men with diabetes may face challenges like erectile dysfunction, which can be both physical and psychological:
• Consult a doctor to identify the root cause of erectile issues, which could be related to medications or underlying health conditions.
• Consider medications like sildenafil citrate (Viagra) or alprostadil for improved sexual performance.
• Explore non-drug methods like vacuum devices or surgically inserted rods as alternatives.