Sex and Diabetes

What kind of information are you looking for in a sex and diabetes course? What do you wish healthcare providers knew about sex and diabetes? What’s your lived experience?

A sex and diabetes course

We know that diabetes affects every aspect of your life, including your relationships and sexual health. But there’s very little education given to people with diabetes and their partners on how to navigate this impact. Many healthcare workers are also not equipped to discuss your problems and therefore avoid the topic altogether.

Dr Wilanie Muller, a general practitioner and member of the MySexualHealth team, is
passionate about diabetes and sexual health. MySexualHealth is a group of credible sexual health providers ranging from doctors to psychologists, intimacy coaches and physiotherapists all trained in sexual health.

Dr Muller is developing a course to help and would love input from people’s lived experiences.

Topics in the sex and diabetes course include:

• How sex affects your glucose levels
• What to do with your glucose levels before, during and after sex
• How to recognise sexual problems and help you navigate to a solution
• Communication with your partner about diabetes and its effects on your sex life

Your lived experience

“With your input, we can develop a course that will mend relationships, bring more pleasure and make the burden of chronic disease a little bit less! Your responses are anonymous and no personal details will be used during the process.”

Feel free to email muller@reveramed.co.za if you would like to give more detailed input or share a personal story.

What to read next?

Erectile dysfunction and diabetes: Did you know? Men who have diabetes are thought to develop erectile dysfunction between 10 and 15 years earlier than men who don’t have diabetes, whether or not they use insulin.

Less common side-effects of diabetes: Most of the side-effects relate to high blood sugar – thrush, fungal skin infections, impetigo-staph (bacterial), bladder infections, thirst and fatigue. All of these relate to high sugars in the blood and in the cells and organs.

What is TEEL? A simple way to manage your diabetes: The goal with TEEL is to lay a foundation so that we all speak the same language and make one small change, today, that will lead to a bigger change tomorrow if we do it again, and a bigger change the next day.