did anyone else's libido take a nosedive after surgery? I'm four weeks post-op now, and I could not care less about my sex life! (Much to my poor husband's chagrin! ) Will it come back? Is this even surgery-related, or am I more likely just hormonally out of whack? I've never had what you'd call a real active libido, but it's never been this bad. Urgh. Thoughts appreciated!

I haven't noticed this myself, Bunkie, and I was banded on the same date, by the way. But I would ask how you have been feeling in general. Do you have any pain or discomfort? Have you been able to eat enough? Are you sleeping well? Also, have you been feeling depressed at all? Any of these things can affect your sex drive. Also, all of us have periods of lower libido for undetermined reasons. I would suggest just taking the best care of yourself that you can and giving it some time. Good luck.

Nancy

I have a high libido but it dropped drastically after surgery and I still do not have a desire to make love to my husband (9 weeks post op). This next part is graphic and, Gentlemen, you may not care to read this, but I write it because I'm curious if any others experienced this. We had sex 5 weeks post op, I got a yeast infection. Waited 2 weeks, had sex, got another yeast infection. Anyone else experieincing yeast infections? Now I think the main reason I don't want to make love is because of these darned yeast infections.

Also another thing I didn't think would happen to me because, as you can tell, I'm not all that modest, but I have been soooo self conscious about my scars and didn't want my husband to see them. That may be another reason to look at, bunkie68.

I have faith that the drive will come back. My husband has been so patient. But as you begin to lose the pounds, you will feel sexier and your husband will notice which makes you feel good and then he get's lucky!

I read this thread earlier and had a thought, but had to leave before I could post. Now I come back to see Alicia's post, and have two thoughts. Here they are:

1. I don't know about libido specifically, but I've had lots of other hormonal effects. I asked my doctor if weight loss can result in hormonal disruptions, and she nodded her head vigorously. So it doesn't seem out of the question that a drop in libido could be one of them.

2. YES! I got my first yeast infection in YEARS last week a day or so after lovemaking; only the second session since banding. It's awful! I'm going to try making yogurt a regular part of my diet to see if that helps.

Poor yeast infection girls. They are the worst. I was just thinking- are you on any antibiotics after the surgery? They always send my body chemistry into a spin. I even got thrush -yeast infection of the mouth- once because I was on some serious antibiotics....YUCK. Now, if I'm perscribed antibiotics, I make the doctor give me a perscription for Diflucan at the same time. I don't mess around.

Megan

Alexandra makes an excellent point. Yugurt (with live cultures) is a MUST while taking antibiotics because it replaces the good bacteria destroyed by the medications. I've been very fortunate in that I never had a yeast infection - MAYBE due to the fact that I eat a lot of yogurt. The plain stuff doesn't taste half-bad when sprinkled with Splenda!

Antibiotics aren't the only culprit, unfortunately. I've known women who get them several times a year just because they're premenstrual. Anything that disrupts the normal balance of things can results in an overgrowth of yeast.

Too bad I don't love yogurt.

Speaking of low libido................I thought with losing some weight I would be thrilled to ...you know. LOL. I heard about this product on TV called Avlimil and I ordered some but I am afraid to take it cause of the surgery. I guess I will ask my PCP about it when I see her and let you guys know.

Megan... no I wasn't on antibiotics. Godo point on the yogurt. My doctor prescribed me a regimen for my second outbreak but I decided to wait and see if my period would cure it. So far so good. I might have "relations" later this week and see what happens.

Alexandra, it's the pits, isn't it!! Your statement about disrupting the hormones got me thinking. I hadn't had yeast infections for years until last year I started a new birth control, Yasmin. I am now getting a yeast infection once every 5 months. Then after surgerym, as mentioned above, I got 2 in two weeks. I am going to investigate this with my GP next time I see him.

Originally posted by Alexandra

Too bad I don't love yogurt.

You can buy acidophilous (the active ingredient in yogurt) in pill form in the vitamin section of any drug store. Take a few of those every day and you won't need the yogurt. It works for me!

Laughing girl, thanks a million! I'm going to try it. Are they big pills? That can be problematic for a bandster...

No, they aren't large. The ones I currently have are capsule-type pills, and I think I've had some that were tablets about the size of an aspirin. From what I've read, that shouldn't be a problem for you.

Fabulous, Laughing Girl, I will definitely check this out! (By the way--we're neighbors!)

Hey, you're right! Although, based on your pic, you look awfully young to have had WLS.

Funny! It's my baby picture that my dad took!

Update... I had relations a few days ago and so far so good. Still, I am going to stock up on the acidophilous pills (can't stand the taste of yogurt. :sick )

Wow, I forgot about my thread and look at the replies!

Nancy, in general I'm feeling fine physically. I'm exercising fairly often (although not as often as I'd like), and nothing hurts, nothing is bothering me bandwise. I eat plenty, and sleep as well as I can with a 14-month-old who's prone to wake up obscenely early and *stay* awake.

No, I think I've figured out what's bothering me, and it turns out it has nothing to do with the band. (Well, maybe a little, but not for the most part.) My husband knew he'd have to pull a lot more baby duty while I recovered from surgery, since our son weighs over 30 pounds and I wouldn't be able to lift anything over 20 pounds until my surgeon gave me the OK. The farther out from surgery I've gotten, the more he's whined about it. That just chaps me - he *knew* about this, he was *encouraging* me to have the surgery (no doubt because he was thrilled about the prospect of having a hottie for a wife ), and yet he gripes and complains and makes me feel bad that he's having to do so much. Without going into it here, I already feel like I'm the caretaker instead of the one who's taken care of, and him laying a guilt trip on me for something he knew he'd have to do, after a surgery he wanted me to have, is just a bit much. With all of that going on, I'm just flat out not interested in taking care of sex, too. Hard to be in the mood for a man when you feel more like his mother than his wife. Bleah. Again, I know - totally not surgery-related, and I apologize for that. But I sure did need to get it off my chest - thanks for reading, if you've made it this far.

Oh, and for what it's worth, I haven't had any problem with yeast infections post-surgery - never have, thank goodness.