Diabetes – The Slow Killer of Your Sex Life

Diabetes is a progressive disease that can debilitate one’s body organ by organ when left out of control. It’s most famous for contributing to heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, blindness, renal failure. But long before any of these take place, diabetes can kill your sex life.
Diabetes itself is not responsible for the damage done to the body. Instead, it is the rise in blood sugar that comes from either insufficient insulin release (type 1) or a body’s resistance to the effects of insulin (type 2). Type 2 begins as an adult and is almost always related to being obese or overweight for some time. Often, it can be reversed if a person returns to a normal weight. Many doctors are happy if they see their diabetic patients maintain their blood sugar under 150, or even 180 if they have had the disease for some time. I believe that these levels permit slow degeneration of the tissues and nerves of the body which can severely affect one’s quality of life. Ideally, a level between 80 – 125 is best.
Good sexual functioning depends on good blood flow and the ability to not only perceive sensations, but to have the organs and tissues respond to these sensations. When a person’s blood sugar is high, cells cannot function properly and nerve endings become damaged. This can cause numbness, or worse – uncomfortable tingling. Having uncontrolled levels of blood sugar also causes damage to the blood vessels in the form of decreased ability to relax and contract when needed as well as increased atherosclerosis decreasing blood flow.
Ways that nerve damage manifests for someone with diabetes could be a decreased sensation in their genitals. When this happens, it becomes more difficult to become aroused when touched or stroked. Impaired blood flow commonly causes erectile dysfunction in men and lack of lubrication or difficulty reaching orgasm in women. To make matters worse, patients with diabetes have a poorer response to medications for erectile dysfunction.
One of my goals is to inform people of how the choices they make today can affect their tomorrow. Maintaining very careful control of one’s blood sugar can prevent this damage, but requires close attention to food choices, avoidance of sugar and simple carbohydrates, portion control, and complete compliance with diabetic medications. The damage to one’s sex life can sneak up on you, but is very disheartening when it happens. Prevention is key – before the damage is done.
Dr. Castellanos is a psychiatrist specializing in sex therapy for over 25 years, including treatment with bio-identical hormones, and functional medicine consultations. You can follow her on Instagram at thesexmd, Facebook at The Sex MD, and X at @DrCastellanos.
i have diabites i try to keep my blood sugar as low as possible,but when i have sex ,i feel like i am haveing a orgsam but there is no fluid,i am dry ,what can i do? i am 55 and i am not over weight,is there anything that can help me.
At age 55, it is probably a decrease in hormones that is contributing to a feeling of dryness more than anything else. First of all, continue to have sexual activity because that keeps good blood flow in the area. Next, use an artificial lube that is glycerin free like Sliquid Organ H2O. You should check with your gynecologist to see if you would benefit from hormone replacement, either systemically (your whole body) or just locally (just in and around your vagina). If you started menopause less than 5-10 years ago, this would be an option for you.
This article is so well written, I just bookmarked it for future reference, thanks for sharing with us!
Diabetes is a lifelong, but also a controllable disease, In most cases, diabetes can be successfully reduced or controlled by following a proper diet and increasing daily physical activities, The diet should really be composed of fiber rich as well as lots of vegetables and fruits, Junk food must be completely avoided, Try to eat little and often – four to six meals and snacks per day, and Exercise at least an hour a day.