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When a person is healthy, sex problems may surface only once in a while. But sex is greatly affected when a person has a long-standing disease.

Diabetes, for instance, affects a woman’s sexual libido, lubrication, and ability to achieve orgasm; it causes impotence in men, on the other hand. According to studies, sexual dysfunction caused by diabetes is more prevalent in women (at 43%) than in men (at 31%). This remains a silent problem especially for women, especially since women do not talk to their doctors about it, and neither are doctors discussing it with their female patients. As a result, sexual problems caused by diabetes remain unnoticed.

- Diabetes causes a woman to get vaginal lubrication problems, making intercourse difficult. It becomes painful for the vagina when the man inserts his member, rendering sex a negative experience for the couple. Her partner might think she dislikes sex when she might actually be craving for it, but her vagina just can’t take it. When a woman has diabetes, the pleasurable feeling from genital stimulation is replaced with discomfort and pain.

- Tiny blood vessels in the vagina are also affected, inhibiting the intimate sensation. Uncontrolled sugar levels destroy “myelin” (nerve covering), usually resulting to numbness or a tingling sensation, and may impact the nerves in the pelvis—which are directly connected to sexual stimulation.

- Women with diabetes are prone to yeast and other urinary tract infections. The vagina is moist and warm, which are among the conditions for yeast to develop; add excess sugar to the equation and you have the ideal breeding ground for yeast. This makes love-making uncomfortable even if the infection has been cured. It produces vaginal irritation and a painful burning sensation—enough to make a woman want to avoid sex for a long time. To make it worse, the longer a woman goes without having sex, the more difficult and sometimes painful it can be for her to begin doing the act again.

These are just some of the sexual problems a diabetic woman faces; we haven’t even mentioned the depression it results to.