His and Her Health

Hi, Here I am again! I had a "light bulb" moment the other night and wanted to share it and ask the question which came up as a result of it.I am about to begin a relationship with a much younger man, He is 25, I am 55; we are both very excited about theprospect of sex!. He claims to be not very experienced, we will see!In the meantime; in an efort to check in on my previous problems with penetration and orgasm; I was masturbating the other night with a vibrator inserted inmy vagina; sadly, there was still no arousal, though penetration was no problem. On a whim I tried doing Kegels; and was pleasantly surprised to have the vibrator move, !So thouse muscles still work! I wasn't at all sure since I'd been diagnosed with a "neurogenic bladder"; and was told that the bladder muscle does not contract when the blader is full; and often have bouts of being unable to empty a full bladder.It ocurred to me that posibly I should be doing a reverse kegel? , one which causes the bladder muscle to contract and the bladder to empty? Is there such an exercise?and how does that relate to orgasm?Any direction is appreciated<P>------------------<BR><p>[This message has been edited by pegasusnova (edited 17 July 2002).]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by pegasusnova:<BR><B>Hi, Here I am again! I had a "light bulb" moment the other night and wanted to share it and ask the question which came up as a result of it.I am about to begin a relationship with a much younger man, He is 25, I am 55; we are both very excited about the prospect of sex!. He claims to be not very experienced, we will see!In the meantime; in an effort to check in on my previous problems with penetration and orgasm; I was masturbating the other night with a vibrator inserted inmy vagina; sadly, there was still no arousal, though penetration was no problem!. On a whim I tried doing Kegels; and was pleasantly surprised to have the vibrator move, !So thouse muscles still work! I wasn't at all sure since I'd been diagnosed with a "neurogenic bladder"; and was told that the bladder muscle does not contract when the bladder is full; and often have bouts of being unable to empty a full bladder.It ocurred to me that posibly I should be doing a reverse kegel? , one which causes the bladder muscle to contract and the bladder to empty? Is there such an exercise?and how does that relate to orgasm?Any direction is appreciated<BR></B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>

Wish I could help with your more important issues, but could you explain to me that you mean by "no arousal, but penetration was not a problem?" That seems to contradict itself for me. By arousal, do you mean sensation? Do you mean like desire, emotional arousal? Or do you mean physical responses such as lubrication, dialation, expanding of the vagina? Because there are things you can do about these issues, so I'd like to help, but can't since I can't exactly tell what you're saying.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by anon:<BR><B>Wish I could help with your more important issues, but could you explain to me that you mean by "no arousal, but penetration was not a problem?" That seems to contradict itself for me. By arousal, do you mean sensation? Do you mean like desire, emotional arousal? Or do you mean physical responses such as lubrication, dialation, expanding of the vagina? Because there are things you can do about these issues, so I'd like to help, but can't since I can't exactly tell what you're saying.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>

Anon: Sorry I wasn't more clear, I'm still not used to posting on this bb. Penetration had at one time been a problem, due to yeast infection and spasticity inmy "stroke leg" which closed the opening to the vagina; thankfully, those no longer seem to be problems; and I do nowlubricate quite well!There seems to be still no "involvement sense of stimulation in either the clitoris or vagina. My gp had proscribed use of a vaginal estrogen cream and a progesterone cream to be applied to my wrists, but, last night, in desperation I applied it to my clitoris!I had hoped that a vibrator would increase cklitoral response by it self, but I used a very nice one when with a male partner and had no response to it.I do have some feeling when my partner licks my clitoris or vaginal opening.Any thoughts suggestions would be most appreciated! My doctor, an internist puts it off to being post menopausal; we will recheck my thyroid; I wonder, however, if this lack of sensation, anorgasmia might be related to my neurogenic bladder. signals are sent to the muscle, but it does not respond?Is there not someone doing research or clinical trials on neurologic disorders as they relate to FSD?

OK, so your body is working but you don't feel it. How is your desire, and how are your fantasies? Are they all working properly? Because this might be a case of low testosterone. That can cause diminished sensation. Low testosterone is common in post-menopausal women, because the ovaries, along with the adrenal glands, produce it. When the ovaries shut down, sometimes they stop making enough testosterone. And, in response to this, the adrenals kind of say, "What, you don't make that anymore? OK, we'd better stop, since you stopped!" It doesn't happen to all women, but with many, this is a real issue. You may want to read the book The Hormone of Desire, written by Susan Rako. She was the one who discovered that use of testosterone in menopausal patients would help with these things.<P>Of course, if you already have adequate desire and fantasies, this obviously isn't the case. <P>I, too, have poor sensation. The vibrator makes me go numb, with almost no pleasurable sensation. I can get physically aroused with oral sex, but I do not enjoy it. I can have mild pleasant sensation in my clitoris, but mostly just discomfort is all it can feel, and my inner labia just feel "icky" when they are licked. Just generally poor sensation down there. I am young (not quite 23) and so they can't blame this on menopause with me! Diminished sensation can be caused by compromised blood flow (thus Viagra or the Eros-CDT may help) or nerve damage (in which case the above could still help). <P>I'm sure there is SOMEONE out there looking at this sort of thing. Maybe Alexander knows. He tends to know who's who in the field of FSD research.

Research: look into work by Marcia Sipski and Mitchell Tepper.