Topic: Female Sexual Dysfunction - Did Lyme Kill My Female Blood Vessels or Nerves?
tailz
Unregistered
posted
I saw some other posts on this topic, but most apply to men - and they have Viagra or Levitra. I am going to attempt to edit this and break it up some.
I'm especially concerned because the first article I clicked on concerning male sexual dysfunction blamed it on a physical problem, but the first article on female sexual dysfunction blamed it on our being raped by our great, great uncle when we all were like 7 or something.
I'm serious. Google the two and see for yourself how misinformed even FEMALE doctors are about female sexual dysfunction.
Women have been so conditioned to believe that any sexual problems are either 'normal' hormones or psychological aversions to sex.
Let me tell you - no sex drive and/or difficulty is NOT normal in either sex if one is healthy, in my opinion.
Anyway, I'm 42 year's old (almost), and I never in my life had any issues with sex. In fact, while I was married, that was the one thing we did get right.
In my late 30's, I had a hysterectomy and one ovary removed. I'm sure it was Lyme-induced endometriosis and adhesions. The right ovary remains intact.
Immediately after the surgery, my testosterone (not just my free testosterone) was low. I had desire in my mind, but my body would not cooperate.
I was put on testosterone (pre-Lyme diagnosis), and let's just say it shot up to 708 and I could have outperformed most men. ha ha!
Unfortunately, that was way too high for a woman, so I stopped the testosterone and actually did fine after that initial post-surgical boost for many years.
By 41, again before my Lyme diagnosis, I was told I was in premature 'normal' menopause. I about died. My ovary was not pumping out any hormones and had literally shriveled up.
More recently, after eliminating food allergy triggers and beginning Lyme treatment, my hormones rebounded and I was told I was not in menopause afterall.
Before you all tell me that menopause is normal - it isn't. Not at 42. Not at 52. Not at 62. Recent research suggests that women continue to replenish eggs just as men replenish sperm.
So that old diehard theory that women's egg supplies dry up is completely FALSE. Menopause occurs IN THE BRAIN - NOT the ovary.
So if you're a woman and your doctor tells you that you ran out of eggs, take him this article and tell him to get rid of your infection.
But I'm not even sure if hormones are the problem this time around. I wanted the doctor to test my 'free' testosterone, but he only checked my testosterone total.
I have enough testosterone, but if it's bound to proteins, it's worthless - the reason I wanted him to check my 'free' testosterone to begin with.
He just seems to have the typical male attitude with the little bit I have mentioned, and quite frankly, I'm getting ticked off.
I guess it doesn't really matter if my free or total testosterone is low anyway - nobody wants to give 'females' the one hormone that will preserve her sex drive, bones, protect her from heart disease, etc...
All women get is horse urine (literally).
The other possible problem here could be vasculitis - or worse yet - nerve damage.
I am thin (5' 3" and 104 lbs) and have this network of very blue, prominent blood vessels or veins all over the left side of my chest, my left breast, and down my left arm.
I showed this to my current doctor and he said they were just visible because I am thin - but these veins/vessels are not anywhere to be found on the right side of my chest, and I'm just as thin on the right side as I am on the left.
Also, initially my Lyme symptoms were primarily left-sided, so I don't think it's a coincidence that these veins are mapped out all over the left side of my chest.
I can also see veins running through my forehead when I am warm or sweaty. I imagine there are many veins and blood vessels just like these leading to my female 'parts'.
I'm guessing these veins are preventing my pupils from dilating properly as well, even in dim light. My pupils have been perpetually tiny for probably a year now.
Also, the longer I am awake, the more my eyelids droop.
In fact, 'science' calls this normal aging, but it's almost as if Lyme attacked the nerves that control the muscles that hold my eyelids up, and 'science' is going to bail on me again.
I guess I should be explicit here.
Though the desire is often on my mind, the ability is not. Just like in male sexual dysfunction, blood flow fails to reach the equivalent of the male penis (clitoris).
So basically, if I want to have an orgasm, it is a struggle to say the least. And if I am up for the struggle, my clitoris/vulva/labia do not become engorged like they used to.
And the signals from my brain somehow have to bypass the clitorus/vulva/labia to where I have to orgasm through my vagina - and it's not the same. I'm not kidding here.
I don't know what's up with my brain/nerves/signals/blood vessels. I don't even know what kind of doctor to see.
Is it vascular, neurological, gynecological?
Will my nerve endings and/or blood flow come back to life?
Perhaps blood flow to my pituitary and/or ovary is compromised as well and the signals can't reach my 'parts'?
I even started Butcher's Broom in a half-hearted attempt to treat the vasculitis myself.
Oh, God - I hope I don't regret posting this, but I really am concerned how females are so conditioned to see themselves as unattractive, frigid, and sexless, especially after 40.
I, however, refuse to be one of them, and maybe this post will help someone else in my shoes realize she isn't a freak of nature for feeling this way.
I'm just worried that my eyes and female parts will never work again. Help?
lymie tony z
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5130
posted
Hi Tailz,
I understand all the stereotypical rubbish the woman have had to endure thru the ages in an attempt to keep them downtrodden and second class citizens.
A lot of psychological baggage has been thrust upon woman in out society.
Having said that.
Yes, I do believe that hypocoagulation and nerves are affected by TBD's. Yours occurred on the left side and mine on the right side...which TBD's seem to present asymetrical symptoms. Perhaps affecting different sides of the brain.
I believe I solved the initial numbness on one side of the ole fishing pole with abx. Furthermore, I employed self stimulation while on abx in an attempt to drive abx into areas that are awakened durring climax.
They have said that this function helps arthritis and other "old age" symptoms....who knows.
Initially I would get a terrible headache just prior to and most times after climax. So I believe there is a bloodflow and nerve problem.
I tried helping those symptoms with vitamin E oil all around my inner thighs and even in the highly veined and nerve buttons of my genitals.
A pretty good lubricant.
You may try either of these techniqes as I found them to be much more desirable than the blue pills and much more natural.
Your eyelids are lyme eyelids...I have them also. Don't know what to apply there.
zman
-------------------- I am not a doctor...opinions expressed are from personal experiences only and should never be viewed as coming from a healthcare provider. zman Posts: 2527 | From safety harbor florida(origin Cleve., Ohio | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged |
Andie333
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7370
posted
This is something I've experienced and something I've talked to my LLMD about, as well as my gyn.
Like you, trailz, I was dx perimenopausal in my early 40s...much too young.
Lack of libido has been one of the most distressing aspects of my disease for me. Completely different than how I once was.
I have a list of symptoms typical of Lyme that I check nightly, and loss of sexual desire is one of those symptoms. I've just accepted this as part of the disease. But after 18 months of treatment, it hasn't changed a bit.
My LLMD says some people -- men and women alike -- are affected with this when they have Lyme. For some, the condition persists; others seem to improve. I wasn't given any concrete suggestions.
So I just want to say I can empathize with you. Anxious to hear what other people say!
Oh, and like you and Tony, most of my symptoms are unilateral -- for me, it's all been right-sided.
Andie
Posts: 2549 | From never never land | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Tailz, When I was in my acute phase and then, later, during IV treatment, my libido went to nil. I think at one point we went a whole month without. This is very different for me as I usually enjoy sex 3-4 times per week and could handle more. I literally did not have that spark. I could barely remember enjoying sex earlier in the year.
Now, as I have improved, I am back to normal. Lyme and its treatment take so much out of us... But as health returns, the other joys of life, do too.
Posts: 48 | From Wisconsin | Registered: Sep 2006
| IP: Logged |
posted
Without having a clue what was going on with me, I went into artificial menopause at age 31(four years after that tickbite).
Then they thought I had a pituitary tumor and I had brain surgery. For: drum roll -- no tumor. Doctor said I was one of three out of 10,000 patients he didn't understand. So guess who I emailed when I found out last spring what all this was about? He/medical profession had no clue, said he.
So the hormones get messed up along with the rest of us.
(Hm - does that mean the other two had Lyme too?)
Posts: 13171 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
| IP: Logged |
GiGi
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 259
We use the ActiveAir to supply the needed nitric oxide (www.eng3corp.com) - hopefully another infection can never take hold and we will never get older!
Take care.
Posts: 9834 | From Washington State | Registered: Oct 2000
| IP: Logged |
tailz
Unregistered
posted
My first question, Gigi, is:
How much is this nitric oxide? Can I breathe it all day? lol I'm serious though. I can't live without sex.
I'm super bummed out here. I just can't accept menopause or irreversible nerve damage as an answer. 'Science' is copping out on us here.
Humans were made to be sexual beings, and neither menopause nor nerve damage is natural.
I even was infusing next to a teenager who essentially was having symptoms of 'menopause'. And this isn't a red flag to 'science' here? C'mon, 'science'.
Yet I've found male and female doctors alike were content to blame everything from night sweats to palpitations to anxiety on my 'aging - wrinkled up - out of gas' ovary.
In fact, I think it totally stinks that women are told they are perimenopausal beginning in their 30's - are we all supposed to like buckle down and hold mini funerals for our dying ovaries then already?
And what IS menopause called anyway? The 'change of life'. The only 'change of life' I know is death. And who's pronouncing our ovaries 'dead' anyway? - mostly men.
Again, male-dominated science here. I would not accept a diagnosis of early menopause, Andie333 - not at 40 - not at 50 - not even at 60. When my gyn suggested I 'take something if it is offered' for my 'psychosomatic symptoms' - he was referring to the Cymbalta my PCP wanted to put me on.
I cursed at him at that visit. And I have to say, I never felt so liberated in my life, and I'd do it again.
I'm sorry, but if the menses is 'pausing', there's a reason for it. And aren't all women then essentially menopausal by definition once they have their first menstrual period? 'Science' is being stupid, I think.
Do you think they'd have castrated a man like they did me and thousands of women every year if their testicles were causing them pain? Not a chance - unless it was cancer. Yet they do it routinely, almost like wisdom teeth, with women.
Interestingly, though my symptoms began as left-sided symptoms, it wasn't until they hit the right side of my body that my sex drive and ability went caput. Somehow I think this is significant, though I forget which side of the brain does what.
I guess I'll be brave here, too, Zman - but I've been trying to 'self stimulate' in an attempt to keep things 'awake' down there, too. I didn't care there for awhile because I could barely move.
But I actually do think this woke my ovary up from it's shriveled state at the very least. My gyn could not even feel my ovary at my last annual, but since waking it up, it does seem to be pumping out some hormones again.
In fact, I think self stimulation and sex both serve to keep those body parts in 'drive'. I believe I even read this somewhere. If you don't use it, you lose it - literally.
Unfortunately, though my ovary has finished yawning on me and is waking up, my clitoris and the rest of my 'parts' are not following suit. It's like my clitoris has el zippo sensation, and I have to redirect sensation around it.
I read that clitoral tissue is made of erectile tissue, just like in men - but where's our female Viagra or Levitra I ask? I read that these drugs show promise treating Lyme symptoms, too.
I do have lubrication though - it just takes longer to make it's way to the outside world these days. Once it starts though, I think I overlubricate. Actually, this was a problem when I was married, though I don't remember anybody ever complaining. lol
This is especially distressing for me because I am not yet remarried, and let's face it - guys want sex. But then again, I can't really blame them because I want it, too.
But I highly recommend a book I'm reading - actually two books - to ALL women, not just Lymies. Actually, these are good books for men, too, if you're brave enough to read them and want to know how women REALLY feel:
"The Whole Woman" - by Germaine Greer "The Menopause Industry - How The Medical Establishment Expoits Women" by Sandra Coney
The first one is a must-read for women everywhere. It will make you laugh, cry, and SPIT FIRE at our male-dominated world and what they've reduced us to. If you've thought it and never said it, it's in this book!
I think women in general, raised by submissive, conditioned, man-pleasing mothers ourselves, don't really realize how much of our identity has been removed by male-dominated society. We happily darn our aprons and never think twice about the roles imposed on us.
The second book deals with how women have been manipulated by 'science' because of their gender - happily, at that.
By the way, the ONLY symptoms that have been PROVEN to be hormone-related are:
1) Cessation of menses. 2) Vascular symptoms like night sweats and hot flashes.
And we Lymies know all too well how hard it is to 'prove' we even have Lyme to 'science'.
Yet mood swings, anxiety, and depression (over our dying ovaries, waning attractiveness, and empty nest, of course), and a ZILLION other 'symptoms' that affect all HUMANS are lumped into 'menopause' to make women look defective.
I recommend both books, but if you can get your hands on the first book, ladies - this book will open your eyes as to how far women have to go yet - in spite of how we've been told we have 'equal rights'. I guess it depends who's doing the measuring.
Finally, I did find some relief from my droopy eyelids anyway with Lecithin Granules, but I'm having a problem with soy now, and the capsules don't seem to be as effective.
Worth a try though for anyone with Lyme eyelids who doesn't have a soy allergy.
IP: Logged |
AZURE WISH
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 804
posted
Hi tailz,
I have never had sexual dysfunction but I did have my cycles stop for periods of time...
and with meds and time they started up again.
I have had lyme longer than my cycle so i always had irregularity the longest was 9 months without a cycle.
If it is nerve stuff going on that has taken sensation away .... I would not worry to much that it will be permanant.
I had totally lost sensation in my toes up through mid calf completely ....
and with treatment I regained full sensation.
Another thought is are you suffering from fatigue?
And please dont think I am saying it is psycological. I would be the last one to suggest any symptoms is just in anyone's head.
In my expereince as a lyme patient fatigue changes responses in my body.
everything from how much pain I feel (if the fatigue is bad enough the same amount of pain will probaly be expereinced as less by me)
and even I think slower... and my IQ will drop.... sometimes drastically... ive put the meatloaf in the oven but forgot to turn the oven on....
stand on the step screaming for my cat only to find he is inside and i forgot i let him back in....
and on and on.
I get really bad fatigue sometimes though (like just woke up from anesthia fatigue)
- Just a thought because fatigue causing it is not something I think most drs would consider.
Hopefully with treatment this symptom will resolve for you.
And I definetely understand your frustration with how women are treated. When I go look at tools no one pays attention to me... and if I go with a guy...
forget it. grrrr
Just because I am a woman does not mean I dont know how to use tools or what the difference is between them.
I am not sure how old you are but I was not raised to be submissive or be less because I am female....
Neither my mother or my father ever expected me too be anything other than me...
which is an opinoinated, stubborn, intelligent (when the lyme allows), strong willed, and creative woman. And I dont apologize to anyone for who I am.
I was raised to pursue my dreams ... and I never wanted to be a mother or wife and that has always been ok with them.
I am 30.
My hope is that the girls in the generation below me will not have to deal with all the stupid little discrimantions that I have had to.
(shopping for tools, shopping for cars, blah blah blah)
cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
I have similar problems- now after not having a period sind June, the dr are scrambling to order ultrasounds etc........when i was told for months it was due to weight loss. which it could be, but now that i am weighing more, it still has not come back.
I have NO libido....pain in that area that NO human should ever have to endure.
Im only 31.
I also have the vulvar vestibulitis, IC , pelvic floor dysfunction diagnosis......No known cause or cure.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
AZURE WISH
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 804
posted
cantgiveup -
did the dr prescribe you provera?
It is what started my cycles again (at least for awhile)
the last time I had to take it two courses (one course for two months) for things to really start up.
posted
that has happened to me and I am not a female..I dont feel it in some areas and some I do..the same as what you are experiencing..I had tissue that was inflamed and after that no sensation to sexual energy..only in the prostate..it is not a fun thing and if it were not for idiot docs like wormser this would not be me..but it seems that if we allow it time it may heal..I hope..so I am in the same boat as you and I am 40 years old..
Posts: 593 | From long island ny | Registered: Apr 2006
| IP: Logged |
tailz
Unregistered
posted
"and even I think slower... and my IQ will drop.... sometimes drastically... ive put the meatloaf in the oven but forgot to turn the oven on...."
ha ha ha! You, too - huh???
See, because I have no uterus, I don't get periods. So to attempt to figure out what my hormones are doing is pretty much impossible without blood tests - though frankly, I think saliva tests would be more accurate.
I seem to fall into an odd category - missing my uterus and only one ovary. I truly regret that surgery though now. I think the excruciating pelvic pain I was experiencing was infection - probably Lyme since it flew under the radar pretty much.
I am suffering from some major insomnia though - still. Some nights I'm tired and can't sleep. Other nights I'm up until 5am and I'm not even tired.
I'm still worried though because it seems my pupils, eyelids, and female parts are the only parts that are not working properly. And whenever I mention this to doctors, they basically tell me to shut up - it's normal aging - not in so many words, but darn close.
I even saw an eye doctor, "Everybody's pupils get smaller when they get older." Well, maybe everybody has parasitic infections like Lyme then. I'm beginning to wonder.
I even have to wonder if the lack of light is behind my remaining symptoms, including sexual dysfunction. The brain needs a certain amount of light to be able to function properly. Do you think?
cantgiveupyet - PLEASE don't let them diagnose you with these 'symptoms'. You're so young. I'm almost 42. And whatever you do, do NOT agree to a hysterectomy. The cause is infection. They're job is finding the infection - not coming up with a bunch of fancy names to 'describe' your symptoms.
You HAVE to push them - if I learned anything through all of this, it is to stand up for myself.
I actually had cervical pain before my hysterectomy - I guess they 'cured' me by removing my uterus and with it my cervix - though if I had to do it over again, I would NEVER recommend pelvic surgery of any kind.
Also, within the last year or so one of my main complaints was suprapubic pain and this weird feeling that I was about to get a urinary tract infection at any given moment.
Polar Blast - that does sound like me. I'm bummed though - it seems so many people with these 'numbed-out' areas don't return to normal. Is it nerve damage? They say nerves can't repair themselves, but I don't like the word 'can't' very much. I'm going to figure something out here.
I have no choice. If my vagina goes numb, am I going to orgasm through my left thigh or right index finger next?
IP: Logged |
cantgiveupyet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8165
posted
Tailz i want to thank you for posting this, so i dont feel sooo alone is my pain and struggle.
I only wish I could offer yu some help or suggestions.
I was diagnosed with LD but i cant stand abx...or my bladder cannot.... I am going to see a few more dr to get their opinion on the high strep titre i have.
Azure- i tried prometrium....i was ok while on it the two weeks.....but the weeks after were HORRIBLE with bladder pain and the LLMD couldnt tell me if it was a reaction to the prometirum since progesterone is a bladder iritant.
Polar, you describe what happend to me, i had numbness...then burning nerve pain...and iritation, then what i have now...i hate it. I feell like that area of me is not even part of me anymore.
when i talk to friend off the LN board,,,i just say its bladder pain I deal with. sigh
Trailz i have all my female parts and i am in a very odd hard to figure out category.
You are an inspiration for me to keep pushing on and seeking answers.
-------------------- "Say it straight simple and with a smile."
"Thus the task is, not so much to see what no one has seen yet, But to think what nobody has thought yet, About what everybody sees."
-Schopenhauer
pos babs, bart, igenex WB igm/igg Posts: 3156 | From Lyme limbo | Registered: Oct 2005
| IP: Logged |
tailz
Unregistered
posted
Cantgiveup yet - I was nervous about posting this, but rarely are female sexual problems discussed as something other than 'psychological' in nature. I feel for you because you are way too young to have that kind of pain in probably the most sensitive part of your anatomy.
The only 'psychological' component I see here is that if you can't perform and/or it HURTS, of course you are going to develop a psychological aversion to something you may have once enjoyed and still want to enjoy. It's pretty much a no-brainer when you think about it.
I had severe pain during intercourse several years ago before my hysterectomy, but it's been so long that I've had a boyfriend that I wouldn't even know if I still had pain. I've been too sick. There were honestly nights (more like mornings) I went to sleep that I didn't even think I would wake up. That's not even an exaggeration.
Truthfully, I get annoyed with 'science' when it comes to females and sex. I don't think they take women and sex seriously because to male-dominated 'science', women are merely 'holes' to them.
As long as we have this crevice and they can lubricate it, why do we actually need to enjoy sex? Thus, K-Y Jelly is often science's 'answer' to sexual enjoyment for us - either that or removing everything with the exception of our 'crevice'.
Whatever you do, do NOT allow them to remove any of your 'parts'. When I had my uterus and ovary removed, they told me the remaining ovary would take over. If not, there was always hormones.
About a year after my surgery was when all the BS came out over hormones and how dangerous they are. They wouldn't even offer me progesterone along with the estrogen back when my ovary was sighing.
Because I don't have a uterus and don't need to shed blood, 'science' has deemed this hormone unnecessary.
Male-dominated 'science' is even more stingy with testosterone it seems. I guess they are saving it for their own waning virility because soon something has got to give with 'science' and what they are doing to the human race - in particular, women.
I couldn't even use the progesterone creams because they all have something in them that causes severe allergic reactions. In fact, I still have scars on me from the adhesive to the leads of the halter monitor they had me wearing for a month over the summer.
They put me on heart meds at 41 to slow my heart down - metoprolol. Now that's just pathetic. I went off the heart meds on my own and totally revamped my diet.
My aortic sclerosis is no where to be found. Plus, my 'normal' liver lesion is gone. So I'm doing something right here, no thanks to 'science'.
I, too, must have a problem with antibiotics. I did well at first on the IV Rocephin until my doctor had to stop the infusions for 3 weeks because my liver enzymes went bezerk. After we restarted, the Rocephin seemed to have less of an effect on any of my symptoms.
The oral Ceftin he has me on now almost seems to be making me worse in some ways. And Ceftin always seemed to be one that 'worked' for me.
But my 19 yo daughter also has super high strep titers, and they found staph in my bloodstream - though he questions it because it grew in both the aerobic and anaerobic bottles. It's some kind of skin staph that ended up in my bloodstream somehow.
My daughter also has one band on Lyme - not enough to treat, however.
She's on Prozac and Klonopin right now - same two I started on in my 20's. She is only 19 and sometimes has trouble climaxing even at her age, even before the psych meds.
I even told her to mention Lyme and strep to the psychiatrist she's seeing. Do you think they even blink? Heck no.
Cantgiveupyet - have you tried a food elimination diet? Though most of my burning pain is and was in my back and shoulders, I do know I got some relief from the pain by modifying diet. I'm not sure it would help pain in the female genitalia, but it would be worth a try.
And this would be worth a try, too - I take Wormwood Complex - O-W and Company brand. This is the ONLY thing that has helped the burning in my bladder area at all. I take Black Walnut and Cloves, too.
I'm specifying this brand because it has other herbs in it besides wormwood, so I'm wondering if it's perhaps one of the other herbs that is helping - perhaps mullein which kills strep and staph?
Also, try taking baking soda baths. If you pour about two cups of baking soda in a tub of hot water, it will alkalinize your body.
You will begin to sweat toxins out in about 20 minutes. Sweat will literally come pouring from your temples.
It almost sounds like your pain reflex might be in overdrive.
I also discovered by accident that if I shave my bikini line in baking soda water, it doesn't burn - so you may want to try this for that reason. I get the initial YIKES when I first sit in the tub, but then it stops burning within a minute or two.
Also - and this is important - if you are sensitive to antibiotics, your soaps could be exacerbating your pain. I use 100% Olive Oil soap. Kiss My Face makes one. It has been a godsend as far as skin irritation.
I truly hope you can get relief from your pain and that we all can feel like 'that part of us' is still a part of us again. Keep your chin up! And don't ever let those doctors de-female-ize you like they did me!
posted
Re pelvic pain mentioned in a post here, I couldn't move, literally. Flunked all physical therapy. So I put myself in a pool to see if I could move anything.
And slowly began to stretch all the painful pelvic muscle area. Anything that would stretch. Little by little. I wore a torso float, and goggles and snorkle, to breathe underwater. Mostly did a lot of the splits against the side of the pool. Just any and all angles. Plus gentle swimming in between stretching.
It worked. I gradually reduced pain and increased mobility. Now I have almost full mobility restored in the pelvic area.
I didn't know this was Lyme when I was trying pool therapy; only learned that later.
Posts: 13171 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
| IP: Logged |
lymie tony z
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5130
posted
OK here's something to think about...
That "stupidity" you talk about is merely "short term memory loss"...not stupidity...
This may have some effect on our ability to concentrate and focus on sex....
especially where pain is accompanied down there...it tells the brain UP there not to bother...
Ya have to work it thru the pain...and also be on some form of abx(imho)so the abx can IMHO break thru barriers the meds did'nt get to without that special release of hormones at orgasm.
I used vitamin E oil in that particular area, like the clitoris, the penis is chock full of veins and nerves... Reworking them...I believe extensively like...every day, which may seem a little far to go for you ladies.... i believe will either awaken or re-grow nerves that were once deadened... I don't believe that regeneration of nerves is impossible...cuz I have regrown many...
it just takes lots of time and attempts(and not getting discouraged by failure or pain)...
I don't know if some of you...perhaps igloo boy... But while self stimulating early on I could at some point hear my heart and feel my heartbeat strongly like someone was kinking a hose with water running thru it....
then wham...I would get a really bad headache which would get me to stop....
But once I worked thru that things got better and better... I'm 56 now and have always been a little "oversexed" whatever that means....
But hey....cary grant had a kid when he was 80.... my point being...my libido,sex drive and functions were definitely affected by my disease... When I asked a llmd about that DR C told me that it was "common for those afflicted with a chronic disease to have these problems" and left it at that!
BIG HELP!...so don't feel pregnant girls...they don't want to talk about it either....and a "WOMAN" doctor told me pretty much the same thing!
Numbness,nerve disfunction,ability to focus,memory,blood flow issues(especially to a place where blood flow is Essential) are all issues of lyme...
And I don't believe in "RESIDUAL DAMAGE" being permanent...cuz...I KNOW this to be false....
It takes time treatment and courage.....zman
-------------------- I am not a doctor...opinions expressed are from personal experiences only and should never be viewed as coming from a healthcare provider. zman Posts: 2527 | From safety harbor florida(origin Cleve., Ohio | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged |
Beverly
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 1271
posted
I think you have a very good question and it's a real concern. I have female sexual dysfunction and it stinks! Not only have I experienced pain in the past, but I am always numb on my left side, and sometimes all over. It's really frustrating and embarrassing.
[ 26. December 2006, 07:18 PM: Message edited by: Beverly ]
Posts: 6641 | From Michigan | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I met with a urologist last week who said my "pelvic pain" was really IC and he wants me to come in for a test...
Then if I have IC he says I have to get heparin injected into my bladder three times a week for a month, then take elmerin (sp)...
I plan to can cel this apptmt cause I think the pain is the infection and I am leery of a duck in a bow tie poking my privates.
So what to do? Right now I am not in pain (it seems to flare) I am off abx and about to begin again...so afraid of the pubic pains..they shoot through the groin and down my legs to my feet.
No sex..too painful (poor hubby). Wish I knew when and if this will go away. I am so careful with diet...no caffeine, white flour sugar etc...
I often wonder if the abx irritate the bladder and nerves in the pelvic area?
Thanks for the post...I am 43 and feel way over the hill....
-------------------- We are spiritual beings on a human journey...
posted
"Reworking them...I believe extensively like...every day, which may seem a little far to go for you ladies...."
Why did you put it that way? Let me tell you something here, "we ladies" want sex just as much as you virile guys - we're just either numb, in pain, or so infected that our ovaries aren't pumping out the right ratio of hormones.
Keep in mind, too, that we nurture one special little ovum every month. We don't shoot out 200,000 random ones at one sitting like you guys seem to pride yourselves on.
But back to the topic here, I don't have too much pelvic pain anymore - so again, I'm weird. I had excruciating pelvic pain before I had my uterus and ovary removed, but it seemed to resolve after the surgery.
Then several years ago I started having shooting pain where my cervix used to be if my boyfriend plowed in too deep, and I'd shriek, but I attributed that at the time to my surgically shortened vagina. I haven't had a boyfriend since, consequently, to know if this still occurs.
Then around this time last year I was complaining of shooting pains down my left leg, up the left side of my back, through the left side of my neck, and up the left side of my face and ear.
I burst my left eardrum around that time. Doctors just looked at me like I was high or something, but that's around the time the intermittent sexual dysfunction became more or less the norm.
Coincidentally, it was around this time that whenever I'd have my blood drawn it would clot instantly in the tube - in fact, the one phlebotomist commented on this. But no doctor will put me on blood thinners like heparin.
See, I don't really have pain in that area anymore. Sometimes my joints are sore - or maybe I've been in so much pain that pain doesn't even feel like pain anymore. Who knows? I'm just happy days when my pain isn't excruciating anywhere.
No - it doesn't hurt down there. It just doesn't seem to swell up with blood flow like it used to. I also sweat like a pig before I orgasm - something I never did before. In fact, I think I sweat spices. I haven't tried vitamin E oil yet, but I do eat fish almost every day.
I have plenty of concentration, too - that's not it. Besides, I think your concentration should be on how good it feels anyway - not thinking about getting the blood and hormones to flow to that area - how sexy is that anyway?
I'm just depressed, I guess. Some docs say damaged blood vessels and nerves won't repair themselves ever - I don't want to believe that.
And humanbeing - you are not over the hill at 43. I'm almost 42 myself, and what you need to realize is that we've been conditioned by a male-dominated world to only view Barbie dolls as sexy. If we aren't Barbie, we lose. And once we hit 40, that's the end of our sexiness for sure.
Look at the big screen - how often do we see older women in lead romantic roles?
Nope. Please pick up a copy of "The Whole Woman" by Germaine Greer. This book will put everything into perspective for you. Next to the Bible, this is my favorite book of all time.
IP: Logged |
lymie tony z
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5130
posted
Sorry tailz...did not mean to offend...
For whatever reason...perhaps the same upbringing as the downtrodden women scenario...
I have experienced MANY women who don't get aroused NEARLY as often as men...and don't put a lot of stock in orgasms...
They are shocked a lot of times having been with me that they are multi-orgasmic...
But that fades after awhile as well...
Like I say down in my disclaimer...only stuff I have experienced...
that's why the comment...for whatever reason it's a fact...
One that I find aggravating as well...unfortunately the women I have encountered with sterotypical "male sex drives and libidos" have also had "wanderlust"...
Or happen to belong to the dominant woman gay relationship.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Anyway...one other thing that I tried as a result of having had knee surgery is a tens unit... It woke up nerves and muscles along with blood flow to my knees for healing and function...
you may give that a try... Not directly on mucous membrane...but surrounding the area.
you can use mild stimulation or re-adjust for deep muscle massage...
I believe in this as a good adjucnt for re-educating all sorts of things...
go to library and look up accupressure and punture points for various spots to place electrodes... You may be amazed at the outcome...
Also...please realize that when one has any body part traumatized by surgery or injury...the spirochetes like to attack that area preferrably... I still get pain in teeth that are no longer there...in much the same way you get pain in places where you have had your surgery...
I mean no offense here tailz...just trying to help ya out!
worked for me....zman
-------------------- I am not a doctor...opinions expressed are from personal experiences only and should never be viewed as coming from a healthcare provider. zman Posts: 2527 | From safety harbor florida(origin Cleve., Ohio | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged |
tailz
Unregistered
posted
z-man - I can't speak for all women here, but my guess would be that healthy women want sex as much as is needed to expand the species and fill the earth and BOND with their mate - which is plenty - I don't think God goofed here.
Just because a man 'fills up' every hour on the hour does not mean they were meant to ejaculate every hour on the hour - nor does it mean women who aren't ready to go every hour on the hour are somehow 'defective'. Perhaps the reason men fill up every hour on the hour was so that they'd be ready.
And who knows? Maybe I have 'phantom pains' where my cervix used to be. It happens to amputees. Why not Lymies?
But you're just sticking your foot in your mouth by assuming that women are somehow defective because their drive doesn't meet yours. Plus, you are perpetuating the unreasonable expectation that women are SUPPOSED to be ready to go, and if they aren't, they are frigid. Gee - it looks like women can't win either way here with you.
And then to say that the few you've had that were that way were somehow skanky. I don't know the stats, but my guess would be that men stray more often than women do.
I look at it this way - female parts are hidden from sight. If my uterus or ovary was infected, how would male 'science' know? On the other hand, if your testicle gets infected - the infection is pretty obvious and you get treated.
So my theory is that even menopause is not normal. It's infection - maybe Lyme - maybe some other bug. Since women are not put on antibiotics until way after they've complained of chronic pain (if at all), eventually they're ovaries kick - or maybe it's infection in the brain or nerves that causes it. Male-dominated science has done this to women, and then they turn around and pass the blame on to women.
If you click on the link in my first post, you'll see women are every bit as able as men to restore their egg supply throughout life - just like men restore their sperm supply.
Why haven't women heard about this? Men are tucking it away because it's too darn hard for them to handle that women can do what men thought only males could do.
Either way my guess is that if a woman doesn't have damaged blood vessels, nerves, and/or reproductive organs, of course she will enjoy an orgasm every bit as a man does. She may not LIVE it and BREATHE it 24/7, but who ever said that was normal either?
And one good orgasm 'done right' is plenty. See, there's another sign of how you have misinterpreted the purpose of women. I can't believe you sit there and count them in order to toot your own horn. Heck - if all the women you've been with are 'frigid' in your eyes, how do you know they all weren't faking? I've never faked one, and I never will. If it doesn't happen, trust me, my partner will know about it.
The one factor that you've left out here is LOVE. If you love the woman you're with, just being with them should be enough. Right now I love a guy I've never slept with. Can you say that about any of the women you've been with?
I'm just bummed here - I mean, picture yourself not being able to get an erection - do you even realize healthy women get them, too? You should be compassionate to women who for whatever reason can't feel or feel pain.
And if your wires went dead on you, would you want women to impose the expectations you've imposed on them on you?
I don't know - I just think wanting to want it or wanting it not to hurt should count for something here.
Anyway, what's a TENS? I'm getting a Rife Machine in another month and a half.
IP: Logged |
Truthfinder
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 8512
posted
It is my observation that if women had the same sex drive that men do, we would be stacked 3-deep in people on this planet.
Isn't it possible that a decline in sex drive of female humans is actually normal, in order to preserve the planet from an infestation of humans? Most men I've ever known could give rabbits a run for their money.
Risks in pregnancy increase as a woman gets older - for both the mother and the child. Maybe decreased libido and function in women at an earlier age is a natural preventative to reduce these risks.
I'm not saying I necessarily believe what I've suggested above. I'm saying that I just don't know. In fact, let's face it - none of us really knows what NORMAL is, and neither does science. It is all speculation.
Until I know what NORMAL is, how do I know if I'm broken and need fixing?
Tracy
-------------------- Tracy .... Prayers for the Lyme Community - every day at 6 p.m. Pacific Time and 9 p.m. Eastern Time � just take a few moments to say a prayer wherever you are�. Posts: 2966 | From Colorado | Registered: Dec 2005
| IP: Logged |
lymie tony z
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5130
posted
Look tails...even one of your own makes an observation that libido of women(and men) "naturally" slows with age...yes even and especially around 43...like when I started needing glasses...
However I don't need glasses or a teacher of communication skills to detect from you either a disdain for all men(men doctors especially)and the male population in general...for what they "DID" to all of you women...
OR Maybe it's just ME you dislike...even though I have tried my best not to offend you...you are offended and use words I did not! like "skank" I have never been with a "skank" thank you!
And I have had several relationships of love without sex... You really have a lot of misconceptions about me...
Like my Native American Indian friends, my Black friends, my Mexican friends...
Honestly...I nor any of my ancestors had anything to do with the annexation of Mexico,the slaughter of indians, or slavery...
So do not lump me in the crowd that perpetuated the woe's of womankind...
And if you're trying to get me angry...mores the pity...which is all I feel for you now...
Furthermore...I have probably read more on sex of both sexes than you have ever heard about...
starting with the ABC's of lovemaking to kinsey,thru xavier...
I am somewhat perplexed at your attack on my good natured observations and attempt to help...me thinks you're looking for something bad in my rhetoric...
and not finding any you presume you know me and assert unfounded theories about me...
you are quite transparent in these regards...
what say you folks out there??
Is she being a little bit like Rosey O'donnel here...ya know over the top male stereotypical only against males...???
As far as the good lord is concerned...the phrase "go forth and multiply" I suspect was written by an author of a fledgeling religeon to increase the believers...
Otherwise Christianity would have ended up like the SHAKERS... dead...
A tens unit is an electric musculo stimulator...
It may be tens or tems...common mispronounced terms...
Try it you'll like it...especially the deep penetrating muscle massage....
However if you persist on ragging on me...kindly put your tens unit on high and jump in the bathtub!
and grab your "partner" and take him/her for a ride with ya...no sex...just love and stimulation!
:kiss:zman
-------------------- I am not a doctor...opinions expressed are from personal experiences only and should never be viewed as coming from a healthcare provider. zman Posts: 2527 | From safety harbor florida(origin Cleve., Ohio | Registered: Jan 2004
| IP: Logged |
tailz
Unregistered
posted
zman - Though you say you don't mean to offend, you slip little 'digs' in that show your disdain for women - and YES, I do have problems with men like that. And even doctors, male or female, that engender us like that with assumptions.
"Furthermore...I have probably read more on sex of both sexes than you have ever heard about...
starting with the ABC's of lovemaking to kinsey,thru xavier..."
Right there is yet another one of your 'digs' on women, and I caught the other ones, too.
Now see, though I'm not as 'well read' about sex and lovemaking as you might be (and who's to say I'm not? another one of your assumptions, I guess) - but let's just say for all practical purposes you are 'correct'.
Does 'reading' about sex make you an expert on it? If that's the case, my 19 yo daughter might be more of an expert than both of us. Maybe we should ask her and find out what she's 'read' about the sexual response of males and females after the age of 40-something?
Tracy is right. Who's to say what is or is not 'normal' here? My guess though is that if we are broken, most likely a man was behind breaking us - so they should fix us - not just remove female organs like they did to me.
Here's a quote from The Whole Woman by Germaine Greer:
"Socio-biological explanations of the human males competitiveness put it down to his vast fertility, which greatly increases his reproductive opportunity. If this is true, we ought perhaps to rejoice that the human sperm count seems to be dropping precipitously.
When we can see that we will need all the males we have got in order to survive as a species, perhaps male competition can be abandoned as entirely maladaptive.
This argument only holds as long as we accept biology as a given: once we argue that gonadal activity is responsive to cultural and behavioral influences, we have to some extent undone the socio-biological hypothesis.
By degrees over our long history, the human male may have, because of his capacity to learn and teach, actually created his own hyperfertility along with his ability to ejaculate independently of any trigger stimulus connected with reproduction."
I don't think I could have said it any better. By the same token though, since you assert most women don't have as high a drive as most men, maybe men 'taught' us to be less interested in sex - afterall, if men need multiple partners (which seems to be the norm today), would any 'one' woman really NEED to be ready to go 24/7 when he has a harem on the side awaiting him? - one at least of which will always be ready?
Maybe if men had been faithful from day 1, women and men would be completely in sync with their sex drives and evolved together.
Since you like reading about sex so much, get a copy of this book. I couldn't quote the best parts.
Your tub comment is kind of cute though. Now where do I plug that in and when are you coming over so I can throw it in the tub with you?
IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[cussing]](graemlins/cussing.gif)
![[bonk]](graemlins/bonk.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
:kiss:zman
Printer-friendly view of this topic