I am in chemical menopause. No one talks about what happens when you are 35 or even younger and forced into menopause. What physically happens to your body and the mental havoc it creates.
**It really helps to have a loving, devoted and patient husband or partner. I won't lie.**
I've decided that I'm going to be brutally honest here since I have been so much so in the past. It seems in our society that it isn't okay for a woman to be open and honest about her sexuality. We are supposed to keep things under cover. Well, that is just plain old stupid. We should be able to talk about sex openly and honestly so that all women can be empowered. It's fine for me to talk about it, right? Here is a list of issues that I suffer from post-treatment and due to anti-estrogen therapy.
**It really helps to have a loving, devoted and patient husband or partner. I won't lie.**
I've decided that I'm going to be brutally honest here since I have been so much so in the past. It seems in our society that it isn't okay for a woman to be open and honest about her sexuality. We are supposed to keep things under cover. Well, that is just plain old stupid. We should be able to talk about sex openly and honestly so that all women can be empowered. It's fine for me to talk about it, right? Here is a list of issues that I suffer from post-treatment and due to anti-estrogen therapy.
Dryness
There are specific tasks that estrogen does for the female body. Keeping your lady parts in great, physical, peak, tender, soft, lubricated shape is one of them. But the vagina is also like a muscle. I'm no scientist but I do believe in mind over matter in controlling aspects of our health. After scouring the internet on menopause websites I have decided to take my sex life by the reigns instead. It's time for a very special and intimate work out.
I tried estrogen suppositories. I didn't like them and didn't seem to work for me. Plus I'm not great at having yet ANOTHER thing to do every night or every few days. Instead, ta-da, Dr. Daly recommended the E-string. I love this. I don't even know it's there. It's like a a diaphragm. It works and you don't have to worry about it except for once every three months. That keeps the lady parts closer to how they would be if I were just any normal 35 year old...
I've also decided to create a workout regimen. Are you laughing? We've all heard of kegel exercises and pelvic floor muscles, right? I've even learned that there is physical therapy for this issue!! Without exercising our kegels and pelvic floor muscles we put ourselves at risk for uterine prolapse. I think Dr. Oz had a whole show on it. Cancer or no cancer, menopause or not, work out those Kegels!!
Despite having the large physical disadvantage of no estrogen I am going to do my best and make it work. Now, as my lovely therapist pointed out, that makes sex like work. Well no one wants to think of your sex life as work (I know I never have) but with two young kids and a body fresh from a year of cancer-treatment-hell, that's partly what it is. But this is an issue even non-cancer mommies deal with. My mommy friends say they schedule "sex" appointments in order to have time to be intimate with their husbands. I laughed when one of my girlfriends even went so far as to say she just had to schedule 15 minutes. LOL.
Further more, at the suggestion of my amazing therapist Pam I have ordered adult toys to strengthen that all too important muscle and keep it relaxed and elongated. Well, they came a couple weeks ago and they freaked me out. Um, small steps grasshopper.
Lack of Libido
I tried testosterone (sublingual compounded drops) to increase my libido but have stopped since I think I am growing peach fuzz on my face (and also because I err on the side of trying to be as natural as possible). It was Dr. McAndrew's suggestion. It did help but I also was more on edge. I'm not sure I want to keep doing it. The other suggestion she gave me was to try medical mary-jane. Yep. You read that right. She said it would help me relax. I need to go fill my prescription that she gave me months ago... I'm curious to see if she's right but haven't had time to get to a dispensary.
Plus like I said earlier a lot of this is related to the fact that I am just so darn tired from being a mommy. I think the so called "yummy mummy" woman is a crock of shit. I've never met any mom of two like that. They don't exist. Raising perfect kids, running a household, working even, staying fit and healthy all while looking flawless and being the perfect sex-kitten wife? Puuulllleeeeeezzzeeee. They rank right up there with unicorns and fairies.
Thank goodness for the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. That lighted a nice little spark. I'll need to venture into other romantic or even erotic books. That really helped with the libido too. Oh and with the imagination too. Fun, fun, fun.
That's all for now.
There are specific tasks that estrogen does for the female body. Keeping your lady parts in great, physical, peak, tender, soft, lubricated shape is one of them. But the vagina is also like a muscle. I'm no scientist but I do believe in mind over matter in controlling aspects of our health. After scouring the internet on menopause websites I have decided to take my sex life by the reigns instead. It's time for a very special and intimate work out.
I tried estrogen suppositories. I didn't like them and didn't seem to work for me. Plus I'm not great at having yet ANOTHER thing to do every night or every few days. Instead, ta-da, Dr. Daly recommended the E-string. I love this. I don't even know it's there. It's like a a diaphragm. It works and you don't have to worry about it except for once every three months. That keeps the lady parts closer to how they would be if I were just any normal 35 year old...
I've also decided to create a workout regimen. Are you laughing? We've all heard of kegel exercises and pelvic floor muscles, right? I've even learned that there is physical therapy for this issue!! Without exercising our kegels and pelvic floor muscles we put ourselves at risk for uterine prolapse. I think Dr. Oz had a whole show on it. Cancer or no cancer, menopause or not, work out those Kegels!!
Despite having the large physical disadvantage of no estrogen I am going to do my best and make it work. Now, as my lovely therapist pointed out, that makes sex like work. Well no one wants to think of your sex life as work (I know I never have) but with two young kids and a body fresh from a year of cancer-treatment-hell, that's partly what it is. But this is an issue even non-cancer mommies deal with. My mommy friends say they schedule "sex" appointments in order to have time to be intimate with their husbands. I laughed when one of my girlfriends even went so far as to say she just had to schedule 15 minutes. LOL.
Further more, at the suggestion of my amazing therapist Pam I have ordered adult toys to strengthen that all too important muscle and keep it relaxed and elongated. Well, they came a couple weeks ago and they freaked me out. Um, small steps grasshopper.
Lack of Libido
I tried testosterone (sublingual compounded drops) to increase my libido but have stopped since I think I am growing peach fuzz on my face (and also because I err on the side of trying to be as natural as possible). It was Dr. McAndrew's suggestion. It did help but I also was more on edge. I'm not sure I want to keep doing it. The other suggestion she gave me was to try medical mary-jane. Yep. You read that right. She said it would help me relax. I need to go fill my prescription that she gave me months ago... I'm curious to see if she's right but haven't had time to get to a dispensary.
Plus like I said earlier a lot of this is related to the fact that I am just so darn tired from being a mommy. I think the so called "yummy mummy" woman is a crock of shit. I've never met any mom of two like that. They don't exist. Raising perfect kids, running a household, working even, staying fit and healthy all while looking flawless and being the perfect sex-kitten wife? Puuulllleeeeeezzzeeee. They rank right up there with unicorns and fairies.
Thank goodness for the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. That lighted a nice little spark. I'll need to venture into other romantic or even erotic books. That really helped with the libido too. Oh and with the imagination too. Fun, fun, fun.
That's all for now.
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