DOES IVF TREATMENT AFFECT LIBIDO?

One of the areas often neglected in the IVF treatment is the toll it takes on the normal conjugal pleasures associated with procreation. It’s quite common that for couples undergoing infertility treatment face difficulty in maintaining sexual relations. Many studies have shown that women who undergo IVF treatment tend to report a lack of sexual desire and overall sexual satisfaction.

Regimentation

The normal sex life for couple is undergoing infertility treatment tends to become more of enforced and mechanical and it is likely to affect its pleasure quotient. This is common issue across the world. But one problem peculiar in India is the taboo associated with talking about sexual desires and issues. Experience at the Indira IVF and Test Tube Baby Centre, one of the cheapest IVF treatment centres in India noted that patients who have queries related to what they can do to improve their sex life are very negligible. Most are very reluctant to discuss the topic while the doctors are too focused on achieving a pregnancy than discuss sexual dysfunction if not pressed.

Factors at Play

Since this topic is not openly discussed (by both patients and doctors), patients are ill informed about the reasons for its occurrence. There are a range of factors at play here:

• Often the infertile women suffer from certain helplessness, depression and low self esteem. Most of these feelings come from a kind of inferiority complex about their bodies which can result in a significant negative impact on their sexuality.

• The medications uses for infertility treatment can also affect libido. Drugs like Lupton switches off estrogen production. This makes the vagina very dry which makes sexual intercourse painful. The good news is that as the estrogen levels rise during super ovulation, many women find their libido improves dramatically; and lots of women will report spontaneous orgasms during their sleep after the embryo transfer, because of increased pelvic blood flow ( as a result of the high levels of estrogen and progesterone).

• The procedures themselves act as a dampener on sexual interest. For instance, it’s natural that intercourse may not be much fun when you have just had a trans-vaginal ultrasound done that day.

• There is a lack of spontaneity as IVF treatment is extremely protocol-driven. Some patients even complain that they feel like a part of a scientific experiment which kills their sexual urges and desires.

Counseling

Most couples going through IVF report that it impacts their sex life. Some even complain that sexual stresses result in straining their relation with their partners.

The good news is that these problems can be fixed. It’s very important to discuss the issues openly, and you need to seek expert guidance. Many patients have been urged to consider counseling, which most

of them agree only grudgingly. Once released the problem, not shy away from openly discussing your difficulties with your doctor and your partner which can go a long way to address issue together.

Since the most important source of libido is the brain, there are lots of tricks you can employ to re-ignite your sexual desire!

http://indiraivf.com