My Sex Drive Is Lost

I had ovarian cancer 21/2 yrs ago, I seem to be doing alright exept, i have no sex drive and i am quite embarassed to talk about it.Does any one with ovarian cancer have these symptoms? Are there medications or other therapys to help?

You definitely need to talk to your doctor about your loss of sex drive and he/she may refer you to a specialist. This could be due to surgery or hormonal changes, even stress. I recently heard an oncology nurse lecture on intimacy issues related to ovarian cancer (see Annual Conference of Ovarian Cancer National Alliance - www.ovariancancer.org) The nurse quickly dismissed all the taboos and addressed very frankly the different approaches she takes with her patients. First, find the source of the problem and then explore options. This is a very common problem with women who have sexual cancers because we end up with lots of surgery and scar tissue, plus some very intense medications. Please don't feel embarassed to talk about this. Trust me, the docs have heard it before. FYI, I was first diagnosed 19 yrs ago, have had 8 surgeries and several recurrences but my husband and I enjoy a sex life today that is fairly normal for our age. Check into it. You may be surprised that it is not gone, merely hiding. May need some coaxing after all that's gone on. But, medical professionals are familiar with this as it is very, very common. Annette

Hi,

YES....absolutely NO sex drive. My surgical scar dehissed so it is now about 1-2 inches wide and goes so low into the pubic area. Surgeon said "no sex for six months" I really couldn't care! Now I'm on Doxil and so there's no rubbing allowed. Plus, there is still cancer in the lower right abdomen where I have pain. We have kind of given up on the idea until the last Doxil treatment. Luckily my husband is very understanding!

Kathleen 51

My wife was taking doxil & she has ovarian cancer, which has gone to her liver. Doxil along with most of their other chemo treatments do not cure you from ovarian cancer,[they only effect the dividing cells, not the others] so you should look at other programs that do. Virotherapy targets only the cancer cells. The Mayo clinic has an engineered measles vaccine that is very effective, which is in a phase 1 clinical trial. Very few side effects. There is a waiting list, so be sure & sign up ahead, before things get worse. This is a very hard cancer to beat, so you need something like this. There is also clinical trials using Herceptin for ovarian cancer. It is an antibody that targets breast cancer & is FDA approved, but is in clinical trials for ovarian. They can run a blood test to see if it will match. Some ovarian is related to breast cancer. These are some of your best options.
Sincerely,
Benjamin {Former Medical Researcher]