Your Sex Drive With Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

You're tired. You hurt all over. Exertion can wipe you out for days. When you have fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, is it any wonder your sex life isn't great?

On top of it being more difficult, we often find that, after illness strikes, we just don't have much sex drive. That can be hard on your self-esteem and your intimate relationships.

So where, exactly, does that sex drive go?

When we know so little about many aspects of our fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, it's startling to know that there's actually a fair amount of research on the libidos of women with these conditions. As you'd expect, multiple studies confirm that we have a lower sex drive than healthy people.

However, they don't always agree on why. One of the earlier studies on fibromyalgia and sexual function, published in 2006, suggested that it was more of a psychological problem than a physical one. Researchers based that on their finding that mental distress was a predictor of sexual dysfunction while pain was not. Some later research finds a role for distress and other mental/emotional factors as well but also found numerous physical reasons.

Other studies link sexual dysfunction in fibromyalgia to:

• Tenderness, judged by tender-point count
• Pain from sex
• Inadequate lubrication
• Being dissatisfied with the relationship
• Anxiety
• Poor sleep quality

Chronic fatigue syndrome studies tie sexual dysfunction to:

• Comorbid myofascial pain syndrome, or Sjogren's syndrome
• More cognitive and neurological symptoms
• More intense fatigue

Interestingly, one study compared women with chronic fatigue syndrome to other healthy women to see how fatigue impacted their perceptions of sex. They found that fatigue had a much greater negative impact on healthy women. The researchers speculated that the difference reflected an altered perception of fatigue in people who live with it all the time.

Many of us are on medications (such as antidepressants or anti-seizure drugs) that can lower sex drive.

All three of the FDA-approved drugs for fibromyalgia—Lyrica (pregabalin), Cymbalta (duloxetine), Savella (milnacipran)—can cause a loss of libido, although it's not a common side effect of them.

Other classes of drugs that can cause sexual dysfunction include:

• Opiates
• Muscle relaxants
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs)
• Tranquilizers
• Hormones
• Allergy drugs
• Blood pressure drugs
• Diuretics

Some medications may help you regain your desire for intimacy, especially if the problem is drug-induced, so talk to your doctor about it.

If you believe relationships problems, anxiety, or other mental/emotional issues are causing your problems, you may want to work with a therapist.

If major symptoms like pain and fatigue are to blame for your low libido, the best approach is to keep trying to find treatments that help.

Regardless, you don't have to give up your sex life.