Sexuality and chronic kidney disease

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Sexuality and chronic kidney disease"

Ashlee Carson
6 years ago
Views:

1 Sexuality ad chroic kidey disease

2 T H E K I D N E Y F O U N D A T I O N O F C A N A D A 1 Sexuality ad chroic kidey disease Let s talk about it Sexuality is a vital part of us all. It icludes may aspects such as how we feel about ourselves, itimacy, ad how we commuicate with others. Sexuality ivolves a rage of activities that may or may ot iclude itercourse, touchig, huggig ad kissig, holdig hads ad talkig. Over half of all people with chroic kidey disease experiece some problem with sexual fuctio. This ca vary from just a lack of iterest to a complete iability to reach orgasm. For may people, this ca have a devastatig effect o their self-esteem ad put further stress o a already stressed itimate relatioship. Talkig with oe s parter or the healthcare team about sexuality, orgasm, or sexual problems may cause feeligs of embarrassmet. Because these topics sometimes make us feel ucomfortable, may people choose to igore the problem. Whatever the cause or difficulty, sexual problems ca ofte be corrected.

3 2 This brochure is meat to help you uderstad the causes of sexual problems related to chroic kidey disease, idetify where you ca go for help, suggest some thigs you ca do for yourself, ad provide a list of questios to help you talk to your doctor or other member of your healthcare team. Causes of sexual problems Fatigue Fatigue is a major factor. Ay chroic illess is tirig, ad chroic kidey disease, which is ofte accompaied by aemia ad a demadig treatmet, practically guaratees fatigue. Depressio Depressio is aother commo issue. Almost everyoe experieces periods of depressio, ad oe of the symptoms of depressio is loss of iterest i sexual itimacy. Medicatios Medicatios ca also affect oe s ability or desire to have itercourse. Sice there may be other medicatios which are just as effective without the side effect of loss of sexual fuctio or desire, talk to your doctor about your pills.

4 3 Feeligs about body image Havig a peritoeal catheter, or a fistula or graft, may cause some people to avoid physical cotact for fear of feelig less attractive or worryig about what people thik whe they look at them. Diseases Some diseases, such as vascular disease ad diabetes, ca lead to decreased blood flow i the geital area, decreased sexual desire, vagial dryess ad impotece. How ca I get help? The most importat thig is to feel comfortable discussig your problems. Talk to the member of your healthcare team with whom you feel most at ease your doctor, social worker, urse or pharmacist. The first step is a medical review to determie if the problem is physical. You may also be referred to a social worker, psychologist, psychiatrist, urse specialist or sexologist to look at o-medical factors. Assessmet is ofte followed by cousellig ad educatio. Learig how to speak more opely with your parter is essetial. By clearly expressig your persoal eeds, you ca ofte reduce axiety ad improve your feeligs about your sexuality.

5 4 For me Commo cocers may be erectile dysfuctio (problems achievig or keepig a erectio), reduced sexual desire (low libido), ad ejaculatio issues. Treatmet optios may iclude cousellig, peile implat, male hormoes, oral medicatios or those which are ijected. Ask your doctor for a referral to a erectile dysfuctio specialist for a complete evaluatio icludig a review of your medicatios. For wome Wome may also experiece decreased libido. For those who have problems with vagial dryess, a umber of optios are available: creams or devices that cotai estroge ca be put ito the vagia; lubricats ca also be used. I additio, regular sexual stimulatio i ay form helps improve vagial moisture. Talk to your parter about your eeds.

6 5 What ca I do for myself? Here are some thigs that may help chage how you feel about yourself. Take extra care with persoal groomig. Whe you look good, you feel good. Try ot to thik of sexual itercourse as the oly sex act as this may cause you uecessary distress if you have limited desire or eergy. Sexuality does t have to iclude itercourse. There are may forms of sexual expressio that do t require as much eergy ad are ejoyable such as huggig, kissig ad caressig. Work with your parter to fid ejoyable ways to give ad receive pleasure. If you are shy, books ca be a good source of self-help. Go to your local library or a book store ad fid a book that deals with your cocers. O the iteret you ca search for useful Web sites: for example, there are sites where dialysis patiets post messages about sexual fuctioig. It ca be helpful to see that sexual cocers are commo, ad that help is available. Most importatly, do t igore the problem ad keep i mid that a positive attitude is a importat part of good physical health.

7 6 Questios to ask your healthcare team What medicatios or treatmets ca help me with impotecy or lack of lubricatio? How ca I protect my peritoeal dialysis catheter, fistula or permcath durig itercourse? What about birth cotrol whe I m o dialysis? For me: Ca I father a child whe I m o dialysis? For wome: Ca I get pregat whe I m o dialysis? What about sexual itimacy after a trasplat? Will I be able to have a child after a trasplat? Notes

8 T h e K i d ey Fo u d a t i o OUR VISION Kidey health, ad improved lives for all people affected by kidey disease. OUR MISSION The Kidey Foudatio of Caada is the atioal voluteer orgaizatio committed to reducig the burde of kidey disease through: fudig ad stimulatig iovative research; providig educatio ad support; promotig access to high quality healthcare; ad icreasig public awareess ad commitmet to advacig kidey health ad orga doatio. For further iformatio, or if you wish to help us i our efforts, please cotact The Kidey Foudatio of Caada office i your area. You ca also visit our Web site at This brochure is a joit veture betwee The Kidey Foudatio of Caada (KFOC) ad the Caadia Associatio of Nephrology Social Workers (CANSW). It has bee made possible i part by a educatioal grat from Ortho Biotech This material is available i accessible formats upo request by cotactig ifo@kidey.ca or callig R E F. N O. : B R - S E X U A L I T Y- E N G - 0 8

RADIESSE Dermal Filler for the Correction of Moderate to Severe Facial Wrinkles and Folds, Such As Nasolabial Folds

A PATIENT S GUIDE RADIESSE Dermal Filler for the Correctio of Moderate to Severe Facial Wrikles ad Folds, Such As Nasolabial Folds Read all the iformatio before you are treated with Radiesse dermal filler.