My Diagnosis & Impact on My Sexual Health
Asking Your Physician or Specialist About Your Sexual Health
- Ask how your health condition, medications, or treatments might affect your sexual functioning.
- Inquire whether expected side effects or changes may be physical, psychological, or emotional.
- Know that this is not always a comfortable conversation for physicians – you may need to seek out specialized counselling and guidance.
- Ask about contraception options especially if you are at risk for side effects because of your condition or medications.
- Check if there are symptoms you should know or watch for because of your health condition.
- Ask about safe sex, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and ways to protect yourself.
- Ask about condition-specific websites, clinics, specialists or workshops that have sexual health information for your specific needs.
- Record what you learn in your personal Health Profile.
Managing Any Sexual Health Changes
- Acknowledge changes early instead of ignoring them or assuming they will go away.
- Talk with your physician or nurse practitioner about concerns such as low desire, pain, physical changes, or difficulty reaching having sex.
- Review your medications to see if side effects could be affecting sexual function.
- Manage chronic conditions carefully (such as diabetes, heart disease, hormonal changes, or depression) since they can impact sexual health.
- Address mental health factors like stress, anxiety, or body image concerns that may affect intimacy.
- Communicate honestly with your partner about changes, needs, and expectations.
- Explore solutions such as lubricants, pelvic floor therapy, hormone treatment, counseling, or other medical options when appropriate.
- Be patient with yourself as your body is adjusting to all the changes in your health.
- Seek specialized support (sexual health clinics, therapists, or specialists) as needed.
“Your experience with health changes and/or a newly diagnosed health condition is specific to you. How these changes in your life may impact your sexual health can vary as well. Medical research is increasingly focusing on how health conditions, medications, and treatments may impact sexual and reproductive functioning and health. Like with everything, it is important to ask questions from qualified professionals. It may also entail a referral to a sexual health counsellor or specialist. With qualified information you can then make your own informed decisions.”
Tip
Request a referral to a specialist for up-to-date information on how your health condition and treatments may impact your sexual health functioning.
Adult Toolbox
Using Your Phone
Notes app – record any symptoms that are new or worrying you, questions, and inquiries.
Calendar app – not timing of changes.
Contacts app – Sexual health clinics and services.
Sexual Health Screening & Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)
Learning About Health Screening Tests
Some health conditions, medications, treatments and even your family history can increase your risk for cancers and other conditions. This is why regular screening and self-checks matter.
- Know that self-checks and screening tests are important to do because they help you notice changes in your body early and get help before small problems become big ones.
- Regular check-ins with your body also help you learn what’s normal for you and when things change – like lumps, bumps, pain or discharge.
- Talk to your physicianor health care professionals about which annual screening tests are right for you based on your age, sex, gender identity, medications, treatments, and health history.
- Learn about annual screening tests such as mammogram, testicular, prostate, and cervical exams, how they are completed, by whom, and how often.
- Check out Healthlink BC for more information on screening tests.
- Use your health calendar to track the annual dates, times and any results.
Understanding Your Sexual Behaviors, Risks & STIs
- Know how often you should be tested for STIs based on your sexual activity, partners, and protection methods.
- Schedule testing after a new partner or if you’ve had unprotected sex.
- Talk openly with partners about STI status, testing history, and expectations before becoming sexually active.
- Know the symptoms of common STIs, but remember many infections have no symptoms.
- Follow through with full treatment if diagnosed, and avoid sexual activity until cleared by a health care professional.
- Inform recent partners if you test positive so they can be tested and treated.
- Stay up to date on recommended vaccines, such as HPV and hepatitis B.
- Keep track of any sexually-transmitted infections (STI) history in your personal Health Profile (include the name of the infection, symptoms, treatment, and when it started).
- Use your health calendaror phone app to record when you had tests, treatments, or checkups, and to set reminders for follow- ups and other recommended tests.
- Search for STI Screening and Testing – BC Centre for Disease control.
- Know that you can get Checked for an STI Online – run by the BC Centre for Disease Control.
“Screening self-exams and tests are an important part of your sexual health and overall well-being. Some health conditions, medications or treatments can put a person at greater risk of being diagnosed with a secondary health condition. Your physician or health care professionals may suggest you have specific regular screening tests. It is a good idea to put the reoccurring months/years on your health calendar and/or calendar app to get these tests or exams completed as recommended.”
Tip
Ask your physician or specialist if your health conditions, medications, or treatments put you at a greater risk of being diagnosed with a secondary health condition or cancer. If so, what screening tests are recommended?
Adult Toolbox
Using Your Phone
Calendar app for recording your screening dates and birth control updates.
Set Alarms or Reminders for appointments and screening dates.
Cloud-based access your Health Profile with sexual health updates.
Safe Relationships & Setting Boundaries
Understanding Your Feelings & Boundaries
- Try to be open with your partner in discussions about your health condition, needs, and personal boundaries to ensure mutual understanding and respect.
- Talk about how chronic pain, fatigue, or other symptoms may affect intimacy and be flexible in adjusting activities to match your energy levels.
- Speak up if your comfort with closeness or intimacy has changed because of your body or health. Surgeries, scars, weight changes, or medical devices can impact how you feel in your body and so it can change how you feel when you are vulnerable and intimate with someone.
- Seek counselling or support for yourself or with your partner for suggestions on how to cope with your physical changes and emotional needs.
- Advocate for your needs and rights within the relationship, ensuring your autonomy and safety in all aspects of intimacy.
- Keep track of how your condition may change over time and have regular check ins with your partner.
- Check on your choices for protection and contraception – if they have changes due to your health changes or treatments.
- Know that some medicines or treatments can change how your body responds to acts of intimacy. It is important to talk about it with your partner.
- Be open to talking to a therapist our councillor (on your own or with your partner). They can help guide you with suggestions on how to cope with your physical changes and emotional needs.
Making Consent a Priority
- Make consent a priority. Consent is everything in a relationship. Make sure its mutual, ongoing, and clear. And remember, you can pause or say “no” and withdraw your consent at any time.
- Know about the law and safety issues around sexting. There are risks with anything you send online or on your phone.
- Learn about sex and consent from the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada in Sex and U.
“Some days I just feel so vulnerable. Since my accident and all my health changes – I am just different. I know I look different and that might be part of it. I am working on being honest with myself so that I can be honest with my partner. I know if I can do that it will help me feel more safe and secure in our relationship. Some days the chronic pain and fatigue catches up on me – by the evening I am exhausted. Sometimes even too tired to talk. And especially too tired to be close or intimate with anyone. But communicating that in a gentle way has not been easy. I need to work on my communication for sure – to be able to express what I need, how I feel, and what I want.”
Tip
Make your personal safety a priority. Identify a trusted care partner you can call at any time for help or support.
Adult Toolbox
Using Your Phone
VictimLink BC: If you or someone you know are a victim of crime and need more information or support, call VictimLink BC at 1-800-563-0808 for toll-free, confidential, multilingual service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For more information, visit VictimLink BC.
My Reproductive Health & Genetic Counselling
Understanding Your Reproductive Health Options
- Ask your physician for a referral to a specialist for sexual and reproductive issues related to your health condition.
- Ask how your health conditions, medications, or treatments might affect your future fertility and pregnancy.
- Plan ahead and ask about the safety of your medications and treatments during pregnancy and what medication changes can be made before, during and after your pregnancy, if needed.
- Explore questions about ovulation, sperm production, egg implantation, and pregnancy.
- Explore fertility preservation options like egg freezing and sperm banking before starting treatment.
- Explore ways to deal with your grief and loss if you are unable to have children due to your health. Consider support groups, counselling and/or connecting with others who have experienced similar loss.
- Take notes on all your findings, update your health profile, and keep your research in your Mywell Health digital or print files.
Learning about Genetic Testing & Counselling
- Start by asking if your health condition or that of a family member is hereditary (meaning that it can be passed on).
- Talk to your physician, nurse practitioner, or specialist about whether genetic counselling and testing is right for you. Consider both your physical and mental health.
- Seek out genetic counselling before becoming pregnant. Learn about ‘carrier screening’ to see if you or your partner carries a gene mutation for recessive disorders.
- Learn what genetic counselling is and how it helps assess risk for inherited health conditions.
- Learn about the role of a genetic counsellor and how to connect with one from the Canadian Association of Genetic Counsellors.
- Ask for a referral to a public genetic clinic.
- Explore private genetic counselling options if you want faster access or do not have a referral.
- Prepare your personal and family health history before your appointment and record it in your Health Profile.
- Ask questions about genetic testing, including what tests are available, what they can and cannot tell you, and what are the costs.
- Learn how to understand test results and what they may mean for your health, future, and if you decide to have children.
“Living with health issues or a new diagnosis, like cancer – can bring to the forefront thinking about your future and reproductive issues. Medications and treatments like radiation or chemotherapy can cause infertility. Others can cause reproductive challenges, such as hormonal imbalances, risk to fetal development and/or sexual dysfunction. So, it is recommended that you plan ahead and talk about your wishes for family – before you start treatments – if possible.”
Tip
Request a referral to a specialist for up-to-date information on how your health condition may impact your reproductive choices.
