having sex while on dialysis

[kitkatz]

My sense of adventure is Gone with the Wind!

[Sluff]

What is sex?    How many years has it been...thinking

[SpeedFleX]

and that's why I prefer beds over chairs while on dialysis^^

[slothluvchunk]

Most men on dialysis will have some sexual dysfunction at some point.

This is caused by a few different things.

One thing is the medication that men are most likely on, which may include beta blockers which make it a bit harder for the heart to pump blood where it's needed (ahem!).

Other blood pressure medications may affect this as well.

The big thing though (and the one the doctors don't seem to talk about) is all the other stuff being pulled out of your body during dialysis. 
It's not uncommon at all for men to have perfect sexual function - but no drive.
It's perfectly normal, but can be worked around.  Half the battle with "drive" is to just start.  You know, just like push starting your car when the starter's out!

Talk to your doctor about what you might be able to do to treat this.  Unfortunately for most young male dialysis patients, both fertility and drive go out the window.
Very difficult for those of us who are married and wanting to start a family. 

To answer the next obvious question - yes, having a transplant typically reverses these issues (both fertility, and drive).

There was a great thread on this recently at the DS_Support list.

[deej]

I really took a good look at the chairs and the set up in the dialysis unit and "having sex while on dialysis" just seems impossible to do! I mean come on with two needles in your arm??? And all the people around??? Make a great floor show though for the other patients! Hmmmmm!

   
Kitkatz - my first reaction was the same as yours. But here´s my 2 cents anyway. . .
    Maybe they´ll have to put the right armed fistulas in front of the left arm fistulas for things to work out!  .  But, I tend to agree with you, it would be very hard with the needles in our arms. As for the audience  -  it would be a lot more entertaining than TV and 4 hours might pass very quickly!  

[sandman]

As for the audience  -  it would be a lot more entertaining than TV and 4 hours might pass very quickly!  

Yeah but you would have to admit.  Watching a couple having sex in a dialysis clinic while one is hooked up to the machine would be very entertaining to watch but after 4 hours of watching, I'm more then sure that there will be a lot of horny patients going home that evening. 

[livecam]

This thread is getting interesting so it begs another question.  I would have to ask it of those who are on home hemo.  I don't want to exclude those on PD but I just don't see how THAT might be possible.  Someone with a home hemo machine has to have been first.  You've heard of the mile high club, what would we call an exclusive club for dialysis patients?

[Sara]

I guess you're "hooking up" while you're hooked up...  Ok, that was bad. LOL

[sandman]

You've heard of the mile high club, what would we call an exclusive club for dialysis patients?

I wouldn't know myself but that does raise an interesting thought.  Things that make you go hummm?  Sounds like a good title for a new thread. 

[goofynina]

OK,  i am on PD and to be honest,  there will be no having sex while i am hooked up, tried it and omg, i felt like a waterbed, lol,  sorry,  i just had to state my experience to ease those minds that are curious, lol,  but before i hook up and once i am off, that is a totally different story 

[Sluff]

http://www.furnitureporn.com/furnporn1.html

For those who can't but wish they could. 

[vandie]

Laughing my ass off.  That is some funny stuff, sluff

[sandman]

http://www.furnitureporn.com/furnporn1.html

For those who can't but wish they could. 

Nice one sluff. 

[Panda_9]

I didnt like doing it whilst on PD because my stomach was so huge, and like goofinya said it was like you were a waterbed.

[Epoman]

http://www.furnitureporn.com/furnporn1.html

For those who can't but wish they could. 

OMG! That is funny.  yet arousing 




J/K

[geoffcamp]

WOW that outdoor action is HOT!!!  I was laughing all day today!!

[Rerun]

I'll never look at lawn funiture the same way again!   

[sandman]

I thought the bondage seat was funny as hell. 

[Oc]

Sex on dialysis?  All I can say is "yes, please."   

I have to agree about the drive, as well as the function.  I'm on nitrates for high blood pressure, so I'll have to change my whole regimen to take advantage of the popular prescription aids.

Keeping the post PG, I counter that such activity only totalled maybe half of the fun, though.  So, now I just have twice as much "half the fun."

But, to quit with the levity, I can't deny it's sorely missed.

[devlinswife]

Jeez if my sex drive is supposed to be lowered because of dialysis I pity my husband once I am transplanted!!!!!!!! (horny little devil)

[angieskidney]

OK,  i am on PD and to be honest,  there will be no having sex while i am hooked up, tried it and omg, i felt like a waterbed, lol,  sorry,  i just had to state my experience to ease those minds that are curious, lol,  but before i hook up and once i am off, that is a totally different story 

I have had sex while on PD as well. Wasn't so bad since I wasn't about to go 4 years without sex! I was on the Cycler every single night and he (my ex that I lived with) was a truck driver so not like I could dictate when it would be.  I was soooo afraid he might get caught on the tube. Such a worry!!!!

[JerseyGirl]

Seriously now I have known male dialysis patients that have conceived children with their wives while on (probably literally off) hemodialysis, so I can fairly state that yes men can have sex and reproduce.

[Zach]

Not only can low hemoglobin levles reduce libidio, but also, the high toxin levels which dialysis cannot clear often cause the pituitary gland to become unable to signal the testes and ovaries to produce sex hormones, which can cause impotence and infertility in men, premature menopause in women, and low or totally absent sex drive in both genders.

I guess you can't believe everything you read.       

We all have different experiences.  But as my Nephrologist told me when I began hemodialysis at age 24, "whatever you are able to do before starting treatment, you'll be able to do after treatment has begun."  He was right.  If you're in your 20's or 30's, you'll have fewer problems than when you are in your 40's and 50's.

[RichardMEL]

Interesting topic (and yes I had a laugh at the literal interpretation of the topic line... hey I only wish I had good looking nurses in my unit... although the first dietician I saw is a cutie.... )

Anyway getting back to serious stuff... my experience is mixed... I don't have a loss of drive and I have no problem with the equipment per se... so no need for any little blue pills... but I have found that my energy just drains out on me and usually at the worst time! And the worst part is it just goes all of a sudden so I'll be in the middle of.. well you can imagine and then all of a sudden it's like a super drain on the battery and the energizer bunny just falls in a heap. It really sucks! And not just for me of course but for the lady I am with.. This doesn't happen all the time, but also something I do find is.. gee I hope I won't get in trouble for being too explicit here keeping in mind the various audiences but I didn't see a rule against it anyway.. whn I orgasm I find thatejaculation is really poor.. like a little trickle rather than a flood (you know what I mean, right?!)... I don't really worry about that so much as I am more concerned with my partner's enjoyment, but I guess it is another sign of the various problems caused by kidney failure.

Just back to the light hearted side of things.. I find when on hemo and the BP is dropping a little too much and I fear I am in danger of entering the Cramp Zone I tend to try to think of similar themes to the above to get things... ahem.. moving (no, I don't need a blanket!)... sometimes it helps! (blush)

[Sluff]

Interesting topic (and yes I had a laugh at the literal interpretation of the topic line... hey I only wish I had good looking nurses in my unit... although the first dietician I saw is a cutie.... )

Anyway getting back to serious stuff... my experience is mixed... I don't have a loss of drive and I have no problem with the equipment per se... so no need for any little blue pills... but I have found that my energy just drains out on me and usually at the worst time! And the worst part is it just goes all of a sudden so I'll be in the middle of.. well you can imagine and then all of a sudden it's like a super drain on the battery and the energizer bunny just falls in a heap. It really sucks! And not just for me of course but for the lady I am with.. This doesn't happen all the time, but also something I do find is.. gee I hope I won't get in trouble for being too explicit here keeping in mind the various audiences but I didn't see a rule against it anyway.. whn I orgasm I find thatejaculation is really poor.. like a little trickle rather than a flood (you know what I mean, right?!)... I don't really worry about that so much as I am more concerned with my partner's enjoyment, but I guess it is another sign of the various problems caused by kidney failure.

Just back to the light hearted side of things.. I find when on hemo and the BP is dropping a little too much and I fear I am in danger of entering the Cramp Zone I tend to try to think of similar themes to the above to get things... ahem.. moving (no, I don't need a blanket!)... sometimes it helps! (blush)

Richardmel your a trip.