Self-Care with a Chronic Illness: Sex

It's Arthritis Awareness Month! This month I am challenging you to take a little time each day and practice better self-care. Each day in May, I plan to share one simple way you can show yourself some love and appreciation.

Sex. To me, sex is like meditation. It is a little time out of my day that I can totally be in the moment. Sex and a chronic illness does take some planning and open discussion with your partner, but the benefits are huge. And just a reminder, an orgasm can be done alone.

On the podcast Sex and Orgasms for Women's Health, guest Dr. Brighten shared that orgasms actually improve autoimmune disease!!! Can you imagine your doctor prescribing an orgasm? Dr. Brighten does that for her patients! (My rheumatologist gets nervous by me just mentioning menopause and she's a woman.)

Brighten said, "Regular sexual activity improves mood, decreases stress, and makes you less reactive because it balances out all those hormones, including the stress hormones."

While this podcast is about orgasms and women's health in general, I really appreciated that she acknowledged that not every woman is comfortable with every position and finding the ones that work for your individual body actually make sex in general better for both you and your partner. We know our bodies best. Do what feels good for you and play around with some different positions that work with what is happening to your body right now. You deserve it.

*Do you need a safe place to talk and learn about sex with a chronic illness? Join the conversation over at ChronicSex.