Sexuality also may change with a breast cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery. Some women report little or no change in the meaning and acting out of sex or intimacy. This may be true for women with either active or inactive sexual lives. Some women talk about a deepening of intimacy born of the crisis of illness. Many women share experiences of decreased libido (sex drive), a sense of vulnerability in one’s body and a feeling of needing to heal from the trauma of diagnosis, procedures, and treatment.
There are specific symptoms that women may experience associated with treatments that have direct impact on sexual thoughts and behavior. Surgery can be associated with pain, a decrease in mobility and a change in how one’s body looks and feels to oneself or a partner.
Radiation therapy can be associated with breast discomfort and fatigue. Chemotherapy can result in nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and symptoms associated with menopause, such as vaginal dryness, hot flashes and sleep disturbance. Some authors have suggested that a change in sex drive may be related to a decrease in testosterone levels as well as to decreasing levels of estrogen.
Changes in self and body image may be linked to hair loss, weight gain and loss of or change in the breasts. Our thoughts and feeling have enormous impact on our sexual selves. Anxiety, fear, depression, worrying and many other feelings may decrease or interrupt sexual expression. It is, most of all, just “human” that our most intimate feelings may undergo big changes sparked by the diagnosis of breast cancer. Not all of these changes are bad and hard. The growth and insight that can emerge from exploring sensuality and sexuality may be stunning. Women have told stories of enriched relationships, deepened meaning to touch, a more powerful, alive and even joyous sense of one’s own body.
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