I have to wonder.... for females especially...

If you have PN or other autoimmune issues, how your libido is supposed to be?

I am 63, and before I went thru menopause I was pretty frisky and active. Once menopause hit, I sort of lost my former libido!
And you know, I feel pretty calm and clear headed for once in my adult life! How nice not to be driven by sexual thoughts and desires! I have energy for other things!

Who says we HAVE to do certain sexual things, and feel certain things as we age, or when we have a medical problem.

We spend at least 15 yrs with no sexual activity as children and who says we have to have certain levels after menopause or with illness?

I think this can be a very personal, and individual thing.

The drugs some PNers take are very sexually stultifying.

I will say when I was doing major arginine/citrulline supplements, my response was faster, and more youthful. But it did little for libido. Females need some testosterone for libido and this is blunted by pain management drugs and others, like SSRIs.

The problems people with chronic illness experience with sexual functioning are complex. But I think we should not fall prey to the magazines and media which suggest we should be doing something we no longer want to do or can do. It is a similar dilemma to the problems female teens face about body image and diet.

I may be radical, but I don't think we need to be doing at 50 or 60 what we did at 30. Only the books and media are telling us otherwise. I am more productive and settled now at my age than at any previous time in my life. This may be a rare thing to admit now in our modern sophisticated life, but I will suggest it just the same!