Ladies, How's Your Sex Life?

An assumption of my new web show, cbsdoc.com, is that people are aching for mature discussions about health. This week I went to Central Park in New York City to talk to passersby about their sexuality, hoping to strike the right tone. I brought along two female gynecologists -- Dr. Lori Warren and Dr. Rebecca Booth -- experts who flew all the way from Louisville, Kentucky to help me out. Dr. Booth has written a book called The Venus Week: Discover the Powerful Secret of Your Cycle At Any Age that explains how hormones affect women from adolescence to menopause. Each has an active clinical practice and extensive experience talking to their patients about everything from memory loss following pregnancy ("my memory went out with the placenta") to plummeting libido. And as luck would have it, total strangers we met at Columbus Circle talked to us quite openly about those very problems, eager to hear some practical advice. I hope we accomplished our goal of talking about a sensitive subject in a grown-up manner.

Comments

[pinkgoldfish]

What a great segment...­let me also add a big hooray for this very necessary conversation! As a menopausal woman, I am so grateful for information like this. I have read Dr. Booth's book and found it to be incredibly helpful. It's like a chat with your brainiest and best girlfriend - important information delivered in an understandable way. Please keep the conversation going!

[Halsey]

I'd like to know how women (and men) who've undergone chemo (really aggressive toxic kind)..get back not only their short-term memories (I "used" to be pretty smart...bu­t now..have a very hard time with memory)...­ANd...sex?­...no interest whatsoever­...none, zero, zip....not even my trusty battery operated boyfriend.­....I'm 54...so, assuming (hopefully­)..cancern does not come back..have a lot of years in which to either enjoy sex again (or at least be interested­)....or...­should I just become a nun...sinc­e abstinence­...very easy for me right now..

[DrRebeccaBooth]

Very powerful chemo will sometimes wipe out the sex hormone potential of the ovaries (or the testicles for men). This can affect verbal memory as estrogen plummets when the ovaries are retired as estrogen facilitates verbal memory. There may also be a direct effect on the brain from the chemo. Certainly ovarian decline and chemo is a double whammy for your libido. You may need to speak to your doctor about hormone replacement, but in the meantime Omega 3 fatty acids (fish or flax seed oils) are excellent for brain and hormone health. Over the counter DHEA, 25mg daily, may also help (an adrenal supplement), but you MUST first clear this with your physician. Don't give up...many strategies take time and patience, but they're out there!

Rebecca Booth, MD
www.venusweek.com

[drbuehler]

Hooray for taking sex to the street (in a healthy way). Just recently spoke on women's sexuality while in NYC. Besides topical estrogen, women can also use olive or vitamin E oil. Also, women who have difficulty with orgasm really need to see a sex therapist. A gynecologist can tell you what's going on between your legs, but a sex therapist can tell you what's going on between your ears! When Dr. Lori said, "There's another gland," I thought she was going to say "organ," which is the brain, that really has an affect on your drive. Drive is biological, desire, psychological. Once you are past menopause, it's your brain that has the biggest effect on your desire.

Dr. Stephanie Buehler
http://www.theblogerotic
http://www.thebuehlerinstitute.com

[futuregirl]

I agree - hooray that this is being discussed - right out in the open - literally. Not every woman who has trouble reaching orgasm (and apparently this is quite common) will be willing to see a sex therapist, but most women do go to their gynecologist. Starting there makes sense and if there is not a physical issue - they know who to refer you to. I have a female gynecologist and she knows my sexual history and fears/issues/joys better than even my husband. I wouldn't hesitate to talk to her about issues with sex. These two doctors seem to really focus on not just "between the legs" but the whole woman - cheers to them. Also - I read Dr. Booth's book and it is fantastic - The Venus Week - is a gift to women.

[ndem]

In France, after you give birth, social security PAYS for the mother to go and be "massaged" by an electric probe which helps build up the muscles inside the vagina. I love this country!

[luziannagirl]

Great--hope the frank conversation gets down to the real nitty gritty about sex!

No, not porn---but that sex is only part of a continuum including pregnancy, childbearing, child-rearing, and quality of life issues for families. Today's headline news and photo-op illustrate it nicely--- Male Republicans hold up the presidential appointment of female Democrat Sebelius because of her campaign support by a doctor performing abortions.

So, men who by nature cannot ever get pregnant, bear a child, or anything close to it, belonging to a gender which in our society ROUTINELY walks away from all forms of vital support for the pregnancies, babies, and children they helped create via sexual pleasure (or violence), dare to hold up the nomination of a woman because she was supported by a doctor who dared to help a tiny handful of women who because of sex with men, were in desperate straits the nature of which they, as men, cannot BEGIN to imagine. Hmm.. What's wrong with that picture, I wonder?

So, if this program helps us begin to view sex as one component of a larger continuum, and to stop those who callously use it as a political hot potato, then it will have done great good.

[Khirad]

I feel a little uneasy, like I've just been eavesdropping to things not meant for me. But that is fascinating about the memory loss; and as to the anti-depression medication (and the malady it treats), I can attest it's affected me, a young man, much the same as described - sexually apathetic - asexual.

Hopefully I can store this information away and it will help me understand and respond to the needs of a partner one day. On some of that stuff I would've just had no idea. Public service achieved, I'd say. Kudos.

[DrLaPook]

Thanks so much for the comment. I asked Dr. Lori Warren (one of the two gynecologists in the segment) about kegels and elasticity and here is her answer:

"Basically, the kegel exercises help with muscle tone and support of the vagina, but do not help with elasticity­."

[valkyrie607]

Yay! Great project! Thanks for talking about this, in public, in such a respectful way. As a young woman, it's interesting to realize how little these issues are talked about in the public arena. You've done us all a world of good.

One question, regarding elasticity: can kegels help? Just curious. I'm a big fan of kegels.