Frustrated

LZemke

I am two years out from my diagnosis. Life is good. Newly re-married but I hate the fact that my meds are hurting my sex life. A man would never be expected to choose between reducing his recurrence risk and being able to get an erection. They should have at least gotten insurance to cover vaginal rejuvenation since they do cover viagra. I'm seriously considering going off my Tomoxafen.

Moderators

LZemke, sorry you had to find us, but welcome! We understand your frustration, and hope you get responses from other community members here soon sharing similar experiences and advice. In the meantime, have you checked out our thread called I Want My Mojo Back? It's one of the most popular threads we have about sex live during and after breast cancer.

We hope this helps! Looking forward to hearing more from you soon!

The Mods

Gorex

I did not come across this, sorry if I give the wrong advice. I believe that sex is multifaceted and you can satisfy your partner or yourself in many ways. I believe that health is paramount. You can find a compromise. Perhaps you need to use different warming lubricants, there are more aphrodisiacs. My wife after giving birth did not want sex for 2 years. All this time I thought that she had stopped loving me and being married to me just because of a child. I was offended that she did not want to talk about it with me. But then I realized that I did not talk about it with her either. I offered her different options. We were able to improve our marriage. Perhaps this story will be useful for you. If not, sorry.

Moderators

Thanks for sharing your story, Gorex. It can be very helpful to hear how others have managed these issues in their relationships.

macb04

LZemke, I had the same issues and gave up the tamoxifen due to "tamoxifen rage". I thought I was loosing my mind. Insane Mood Swings.

But back to sex, that was what caused the start of crazy vaginal irritation and Atrophy. I started then on Vagifem Estradiol vaginal tablets, alternating with DHEA vaginal suppositories, with the blessing of my oncologist. What a tremendous improvement! I don't know if I will ever give them up. I was thrown, unnaturally into menopause and just hated how it ruined sex. It's at least comfortable again, but I have never had really great orgasms since then, kind of so-so.

Not sure it's even worth the effort and risk of UTIs, to tell you the truth. Makes me sad.