Medications and Your Sex Life

Did you know the medications you take can have an impact on your sex life? Learn about medications known to have sexual health side effects and what those common side effects are. I also offer talking points and my best nurse tip for having a conversation with your healthcare provider about any concerns or inquiries you might have pertaining to your sexual health and the medications you are taking. Get curious and be empowered to ask questions and advocate for your health!

More on this topic
Medications and your sexual health
SSRIs and sex
Talking about sexual health with a healthcare provider

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:08

Welcome to Permission for Pleasure. I'm Cindy Sharkey, your host. I'm delighted you're here with me today to listen and learn more about your sexual health. I have been a nurse for over three decades and I can tell you for a fact that most people do not have the education they need about their health and especially their sexuality and their sexual health. In this episode, I'm going into full nurse mode to highlight some medications, how they may be affecting your sexual health, as well as how to talk to a provider about this. I do have this information available in two separate blogs on my website and I'll link to those in the show notes. If you want to refer back to this content in written form, and if you're looking for more education in general, along with the podcast, I hope you'll sign up for my newsletter, good Education for Good Sex. That's where I post my new blogs and education beyond this podcast, and the link to sign up is always in the show notes.

Speaker 1: 1:13

Now, before I jump in, let me say how strongly I feel that your sexual health is part of your overall health. Did you hear me? Your sexual health is part of your overall health. It is so important for you to know this, to embrace it and advocate for yourself and your sex life. We're going to talk about medications, because many people have prescription medications as part of their own personal health plan, and often medications are given without a lot of knowledge about the possible side effects. In general, and especially as they might affect your sex life, it is always smart to ask about side effects before starting any medication. It is also smart to ask specifically about side effects to your sexual health if your provider does not address that adequately. So let's talk about a few examples of medications that may have side effects for your sexual health. These would be antidepressants, hormones and hormonal birth control, anti-hypertensives for high blood pressure and some anihistamines, for example, how your sexual function may be affected. Well, let me tell you a few examples of that Ability to reach orgasm may be affected, natural lubrication, diminishment of sensations, erectile dysfunction or problems with ejaculation and decrease in sexual desire.

Speaker 1: 2:57

I do want to highlight SSRIs, because a significant amount of people are taking medications for depression and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, are the most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant, and these medications are also prescribed to treat anxiety disorders. While not every person on SSRIs experiences side effects, these types of medications are known to have potential impact on your sexual health. Studies indicate that these side effects may occur after a few doses, show up years afterward and can possibly persist for decades after use. This is why I'm highlighting this particular class of medications. Medication examples would be things like Prozac it's Alexa Zoloft, paxil, lexapro and Luvox.

Speaker 1: 3:56

The possible secondary sexual problems caused by these medications are things like the following, and I want to list through them and have you just think about if these things are affecting your sexual health if you are on an SSRI Less interest in sex, difficulty becoming aroused, difficulty sustaining arousal, issues reaching orgasm, delayed ejaculation or erectile problems. Genital Anesthesia this is a numbness or loss of sensation of the genitals, nipple insensitivity, decreased lubrication of the vagina, diminished capacity to experience sexual pleasure or pleasure-less orgasms. Some things to keep in mind are that depression or anxiety itself may be the underlying cause of some sexual difficulties, and this must be taken into account when troubleshooting. If what you're experiencing is related to a medication or a mental health condition, the majority of side effects are overlapping, and so this can be challenging. However, the ones that have been found specific to SSRIs are the following Genital anesthesia, nipple or glands, clitoris insensitivity or penis glands insensitivity and pleasure-less orgasms. These are specific to side effects to SSRIs. If you are experiencing these specific side effects with taking an SSRI, consider talking with your health care provider about the possibility of adjusting your dosage or switching to another medication that is known to be more sexually sparing or having less sexual side effects. We're going to talk more about how to have these discussions with a provider here in a minute.

Speaker 1: 6:05

To round this out, think through what you are experiencing by weight of side effects and how much or in what ways it's affecting your sex life. Determine if there are ways to adapt or not. Okay, for example, what I mean by this. If you notice a time of day you have the least amount of side effects, try scheduling sex for that time of day. Does that adaptation work for you? If arousal is an issue, consider using a toy or a vibrator for quicker warming up or try exercising before sex to increase blood flow to your genitals. When decreased lubrication and vaginal dryness is the issue, absolutely bring a lube for sex into your sexual toolkit. This will decrease friction and increase pleasure. You can find the link to my All About Lube blog in the show notes for recommendations For those who are partnered. Talk about what you're experiencing together. What changes has your partner noticed? Your sex life together is a we situation, not a you situation. Have an honest conversation about the changes or issues and how to deal with them together.

Speaker 1: 7:23

Many people I know find it so uncomfortable to talk about sex and sexuality with their partner, with friends, but especially with a medical provider. That can feel particularly scary Enough to keep you silent. I know it's intimidating, but your sexual health matters. As a long-time nurse and patient advocate, I encourage clients to write out a script or bullet points on a small card or in your phone and take them with you to medical appointments. This works especially well for sexual health concerns. When a health care provider sees that you have specific questions and concerns and you've written them down, it helps them to pause, listen and specifically address your concerns. It also helps you to remember what you want to talk about and the questions and concerns you have in the moment. Sometimes in these situations with providers, it all goes out of our head, so having these little notes or bullet points can really be helpful to keep us on task with what we want to address and keep the provider on task with listening and addressing our concerns.

Speaker 1: 8:43

Here are some talking points to get you started, things like I would like to discuss my sexual health, just saying that. Or just say I would like to discuss sex. Or perhaps it's easier to say something is not working correctly, or fill in the blank is happening in relation to my sex life, or blank is interfering with my sexual desire, arousal, orgasms, genitals, pleasure. Be specific with what it's interfering with and if you think you know what's going on, then state that. What I think might be going on is this or I can't figure out what is going on, or how can we figure this out, right? Also, if you don't get anywhere with your provider, say if you can't help me, who can you refer me to? And then will you please give me that referral before I leave today? You can always ask and direct these kinds of talking points with your provider. I hope that's helpful and, like I said before, I know how difficult it can be to talk about these things. So I do hope you have a medical provider that's both competent and compassionate and if not, my friends, please switch to a different provider so you can get the information and the care that you need and deserve.

Speaker 1: 10:17

As I wrap up, I want to remind you that this is not medical advice, but I do hope it helps you to think through your own sexual health and wellness and talk to your own provider about any concerns or questions that you have. Remember what I said earlier your sexual health. It is part of your overall health and it matters. If you learned something new today or you have a friend that you think would benefit from this episode specifically, please take a moment to quickly share it with them. Let's spread good sexual health education and be part of breaking the silence around sex that isn't serving anyone. Thanks for listening. Today, on behalf of your sexual wellness, I'm cheering you on towards giving yourself permission for pleasure.