Let’s Talk About Sex … and CKD

When first diagnosed with CKD, I was started on high-dose prednisolone. Along with weight gain, fluid retention, a metallic taste in my mouth, headaches, and fatigue from just getting through a day, I began to feel very self-conscious of my body and noticed a reduction in my sex drive as I progressively became sicker. I had been married for many years, and although my husband is a very understanding and patient man, it still posed a difficult challenge to our sex life, intimacy, and my self-esteem, even more than birthing and raising three children. I had little to no sexual desire; in fact, sex was the last thing on my mind.

When I reached the stage of kidney failure, I commenced peritoneal dialysis (PD). During this time, I required multiple surgeries, tube insertions, blood tests, biopsies, and intravenous treatments; thus, physical touch, particularly from clinicians during appointments, was associated with pain. I experienced a lot of pain with these procedures, bruised easily, and my body ached, so I tended to avoid all physical touch...