There are both physical and emotional reasons to try to find ways to enjoy sex, he points out. “If sexuality was an important part of life before your diagnosis, you should continue to find ways to enjoy sex,” says Mitchell Tepper, PhD, MPH, a nationally recognized expert on sex therapy for people with disabilities and their partners - and himself a person with incomplete quadriplegia.
With all this evidence of the dampening effects of AS on sexual function, is there any reason to hope that sexual expression and enjoyment can remain a part of your life? Rather Than Give Up, Look for New Possibilities Sexual function scores were significantly lower in the women who had high depression scores. Erectile dysfunction in this population was associated with anxiety, depression, having had AS for a longer time, older age, and a high level of functional limitations, as measured by the Bath AS Functional Index (BASFI).Ī study of sexual function in women with ankylosing spondylitis, published in the March 2016 issue of Archives of Rheumatology, found that sexual dysfunction was more common among women with AS than in the general population. Similarly, a study published in November 2015 in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases found that men with ankylosing spondylitis had a higher incidence of erectile dysfunction than men who didn’t have AS. The IIEF patient questionnaire asks about the quality and quantity of erections over the previous four weeks, as well as about sexual desire and enjoyment. Maybe your symptoms have made formerly enjoyable positions or activities awkward or uncomfortable, or perhaps you feel too tired to even want to have sex.Īlthough sexual dysfunction with AS isn't a foregone conclusion, a number of studies have shown a high incidence of sexual dysfunction among both men and women with ankylosing spondylitis.Ī meta-analysis published in February 2015 in the Journal of Rheumatology , for example, found that men with ankylosing spondylitis had lower scores on every aspect of sexual function included in the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). If you are living with ankylosing spondylitis, you may have found that the fatigue, pain, and stiffness associated with the condition are affecting your sex life.