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Five Tips for Sexual Intimacy during Pregnancy

Sexual intercourse during pregnancy is amazing that can only be enjoyed if both the partners talk and communicate openly and candidly with each other.

The hopeful mother goes through a lot of physical and hormonal changes in her body and her needs and the safety of her and the baby should be the main and the only priority; this means that her partner has to adjust and understand accordingly.

A lot of folks have doubts if it’s safe to have sex during pregnancy and I have written a post on this subject, which you can read here.

After you have gotten used to the new physical and psychological reality of your female partner, here are few tips on sexual intercourse during pregnancy:

1.         As mentioned above talking and accepting the physical and hormonal changes in the expectant mother goes a long way in eliminating frustrations for both partners, which is necessary if they are to enjoy sexual intimacy.

2.         Try avoiding sex in the first trimester if the pregnant woman suffers from fatigue, sickness or vomiting. The second trimester is the best time to have sex during pregnancy as the woman has more than likely overcome the trials and tribulations of the first trimester and will enjoy sex.

3.         Avoid rear entry intercourse and or vaginal sexual contact during pregnancy as it can cause venous air embolism which can be fatal for the woman if left untreated.

4.         Try different sexual positions to make sex as comfortable as possible for the pregnant woman. This is especially significant in the latter part of the pregnancy because the woman may feel physically cumbersome and uncomfortable during this time.

5.         Try other methods of intimacy beside sexual intercourse if the pregnant woman is placed on bed rest by her doctor or just does not feel up to the task. Hugging, kissing, giving light massages, caressing each other etc are good alternatives to sex, which also make both partners feel wanted and gets them closer not only physically but also emotionally.

Sexual intercourse during pregnancy is amazing to be enjoyed and not to be shied away from.  It needs understanding from both partners, especially the man. Do not indulge in it if your doctor has forbidden it for any type of medical reasons. In any case, if in doubt always consult your doctor for guidance.

5 Things That Can Make You Lose Your Sex Drive

Loss of libido or sex drive is extremely general in both men and women of all ages, from the young to the old. Disinterest in sex can cause a lot of strain in a relationship, not only in their bedroom but also in other aspects of their relationship. So it’s critical to be able to recognize what is causing this, and how to get it treated so that you can get your sex life back on track.

There can many causes for loss of libido; here are the 5 most common ones:

1. Medications: Some antidepressants and blood pressure medications can have the unwanted side effect of lowering your sex drive. If you have been prescribed any such medication, and have started to notice a drop in your sex drive, then I would suggest that you consult your doctor to find out if it’s possible to replace that particular medication with one which does not affect your sex drive.

2. Erectile Dysfunction: ED is a very common problem in men and a lot of times it’s just temporary, but worrying and stressing about it can lead you to experience lower sex drive, accentuating the problem. If you are suffering from erectile dysfunction or impotence, then it’s a good idea to consult with a qualified sexologist who can treat both the physical and psychological aspects of ED.

3. Depression: This is a tricky one because suffering from depression can cause a drop in your sex drive and this drop can further increase your depression. So it’s important that you treat this condition as soon as possible through therapy and counseling. If you are taking antidepressants then check for its potential side effects as mentioned in cause No.1.

4. Menopause: The hormonal changes that occur in a women’s body during menopause can lead to a loss of libido. Consult your doctor for treatments for this symptom, which is quite common during menopause.

5. Self Image: It is important to feel good about yourself because a negative self image will almost always cause you to have a lower sex drive. Low self esteem can be caused by many factors including obesity, peer pressure, financial difficulties etc. It is important to rectify these by keeping yourself physically fit and not worrying too much about what others think of you etc.

These are just 5 of many factors that can cause loss of sex drive, others factors include alcohol, stress, lack of sleep etc. What is important is for you to know that this is a very common occurrence and which can be rectified by discipline and professional help. So consult a doctor or a sexologist to get the intimacy in your relationship back to where it belongs.

Five Relationship Issues That Can Cause Depression

Depression is basically a disturbed state of mind that directly affects your thoughts, behavior and well being. It can be related to relationships problems that would include grief, guilt, restlessness, aloneness or isolation. When you suffer depressed, you tend to separate yourself from the world around and start thinking about the reason behind the turmoil in your relationship.

This continuous depression affects your ability to ponder and think, and hence you cannot perform properly and can’t take decisions wisely. As a outcome of this, you even fail to locate solutions to your relationship problems and you are more likely to say positive things, which you may not mean and these can escort to further aggravation.

Hence, it’s very important to know what’s going wrong in your relationship and why you are facing tough times with your partner. Some of the main reasons are listed below:

1. If your partner’s behavior towards you is not as preferred, you tend to think a lot and remain depressed. There are times when your partner behaves poorly with you, talks impolitely, and disrespects your approach and emotions and it gets tough to tolerate behavior.

2. At times when you are feeling low, you want emotional and bodily support from your partner and if at that tip of time, they are not with you; there are odds that you feel dejected and disowned. In this case, your partner fails to appreciate and respect your needs and hence you get depressing thoughts.

3. Sexual dissatisfaction between partners is another key factor that can contribute to depression. When you are powerless to satisfy your partner sexually or you are not getting any kind of sexual satisfaction from them, this state forces you to go into a condition of depression and feel guilty within your heart. Try to recognize your sexual problems and get them treated by a qualified medical professional.

4. In a relationship, you often seek to spend quality time with your partner, but if they tend to disregard your attendance and appear reluctant to enjoy any romantic moments in your company, you think like being used and as a result take a lot of tension that leads to sadness.

5. In an attempt to enjoy a blissful relationship, you try by any and all means to remain your partner joyful. But there are times when the other partner simply pays no attention to your gestures and rather insults your special feelings towards them. In such a condition, you have no other selection but to feel bad and lonesome and become a victim of depression.

So as you can see the type of relationship that you have with your partner is crucial for your mental health. It is very vital to not keep your emotions and dissatisfaction about the way your partner treats you pent up inside of you. Communicate obviously with him/her and let them know how you feel. You can even try couple’s treatment to sort out the problems and if in spite of this things don’t work out, and then maybe it’s time for you to move on and save yourself unnecessary misery.

5 Reasons: Why Erectile Dysfunction is a Relationship Killer

Having inhibitions to talk about your sexual problems often act as slow poison that ruins a relation and regularly kills it. Most couples will experience a few type of difficulty in their sexual life related to sex position, premature ejaculation, unacceptable orgasm, erection dilemma, performance worry etc.

Of all the sexual problems, erectile dysfunction is the most general one that men come across. Not really a sickness, but medically talking, erectile dysfunction is a position where the male partner is unable to keep and maintain his erection for a desired period of time and loses it in between the act of intercourse, thus worsening to satisfy his partner.

Also, it’s noteworthy to mention that considering the fast changing social scenario, even the Indian rule has gone to an extent of setting out new standards for man-woman relations. Under this, the admirable Supreme Court of India March 21, 2006, ruled that a wife can suitably seek divorce on grounds of a husband’s sexual incapacity and his failure to consummate the marriage due to any such physical handicap.

Erectile dysfunction can be attributed to different reasons like diabetes, age factor, medical condition, side effects of illicit drugs, stress, performance anxiety, cardiac problems, psychological factors etc, but if couples don’t feel comfortable talking about it and finding a solution, it will only  harm  their relationship.

Though many men will try local medicines (read Viagra or their generic version) to enlarge their organ size and gain perfect erection but they would never bother to trace the symptoms behind their problem, which can be bodily and or psychological. Thus, erectile dysfunction tends to act as a deadly relationship wrecker, which not merely affects the male partner but also irks the female partner leaving her dissatisfied, unhappy and betrayed every time the couples indulge in an intimate session.

Here are 5 reasons why Erectile Dysfunction can come in way of your marital bliss. So make certain before it starts creeping in slowly in your love paradise and spoils the fun, you consult an expert who can advise you best possible solutions.

1. The fact that you fail to get a perfect erection for a fulfilling sex experience hurts your self-esteem and adversely affects your assurance level. This puts you in a mental-physical dilemma, which gets reflected in your routine events and the way you behave with your partner.

2. You also start sulking with a sense of embarrassment and humiliation, as you start to speculate about what your partner thinks of your sexual performance. This need of communication between you and your partner may divert your marriage towards the path of separation.

3. While performing in bed, the guilt of not satisfying your partner makes you feel imperfect and hence you cannot attach with her, neither sexually nor emotionally. The procedure of building a comfort region with your partner gets completely ruined as ED keeps you under fear all the time and holds you back from concentrating making love.

4. The recurring instances where you are unable to overcome this problem of ED can make you completely disinterested in perform of sex. Each time you attempt to perform an intercourse, you end up hallway in a conflict with your disturbed mental state and thus the entire fervor gets killed. And remember your partner will not like making love to a boring partner.

5. Accepting the fact that you suffer from a sexual difficulty makes you feel weak from inside, leaves you irritated and at times even becomes the reason behind your workplace anxieties. And that strain at workplace will have a direct impact on your relationship.

Having said it all, it’s for all men out there to realize that it’s the need of the hour for them to start taking these sexual problems seriously. In case you face any complexity in your sex life, do not vacillate in consulting a specialist to find out the best possible solution. After all, no one would want to let their marriage go for a toss over such issues.

Even your family members would want to see you living a happy and a contented married life. So make sure that you do every possible thing to avoid any chances of these sexual issues coming in way of your relationship. It’s rightly said that a ‘stitch in time saves nine’, thus I suggest that prior to this small sexual matter takes the form of a huge problem and creeps in your sexual paradise, it’s better to argue it with your doctor and look for their help. Don’t forget the key to a happy married life is to have a contented and pleasing relationship with your wife – both emotionally and sexually.

5 Personal Hygiene Tips For Healthier Sexlife

Your body stench can act as a natural aphrodisiac that can entice your partner for instant sex. But if that pleasing stench gets changed into bad body odor, your sex life or rather that of your partner could become a little unpleasant to utter the least. Taking care of your individual hygiene is one of the most necessary parts to ensure a healthy and happy sex life. Especially if your partner is particular about individual cleanliness, you must take care that you don’t spoil with the hygiene issues. Here are some basics things that you need to be careful about and create a greater comfort zone for your partner during intimacy.

1. TAKE A BATH: Of course, no one would feel like getting intimate if you smell bad or you are completely wet with your sweat. So it’s suggested that you take a shower and feel fresh before you get going for a sexual quickie. With this feeling of freshness, you would feel more aroused and can perform the sexual act with better energy.

2. CLEAN UP: Couples always want to enjoy oral sex as a foreplay act or during the sexual stint but if you have not washed your sexual organs properly, your partner could get put off and reluctant to give you the oral pleasure. Also, you must wash off your sexual organs properly before and after having sex for your own personal health.

3. GET RID OF BRITTLE HAIR: While enjoying sexual acts, one tends to touch their partner all over their body and if they are too hairy on certain parts, it may put your partner off. So make sure you have shaved off brittle hair or at least trim them neatly, so that your mate can enjoy to the fullest and give you maximum pleasure. Also, these body hair can make you look unkempt and can even come in way of your sexual pleasure and make it uneasy for you and your partner to enjoy.

4. KEEP YOUR HANDS CLEAN: You would often feel tempted to love your partner anywhere and at any point of time. But you must ensure that your hands and especially your nails are not dirty, as it may irritate your partner. The dirt tends to carry various germs, dust etc, which your partner would not appreciate when you touch them. So it’s not a great thing to start foreplay right after eating something or when you have come from outside. Always wash your hands, so that your partner feels nice when you softly touch them on cheeks, lips and other parts of the body.

5. BREATH OF FRESH AIR: If your mouth is stinking due to something that you ate before having sex, it can create a state of discomfort for the other partner while kissing. So always brush your teeth after a meal and before you get into the bed. You can also get rid of this smell either by chewing a mint gum or by taking some mouth freshener that makes you breath fresh and pleasant.

So next time when you seek some romantic moments with your partner, make sure you have gone through all of these hygiene tips, thus leaving no chance to irk your partner in the bed. Moreover, it’s always good fun to love someone who is clean and careful about their own hygiene. So enjoy sex sans any discomfort

Five Myths about Depression That You want To Know About

Depression is something that affects a lot of people. It can guide to multiple problems in life, the person suffers in all aspects of his or her life; from the professional front to personal front and can aggravate medical conditions including erectile dysfunction among others. Some people think that they can beat depression on their own and do things out of ignorance which can worsen their condition instead of improving it. Here are a few myths about depression that you need to be aware about.

1. Immersing yourself in your work will help beat depression: This may work for awhile in cases of very soft depression, but overworking can be a signal of clinical depression. So the next time you are sentiment that losing yourself in work will assist you get over your blues, think again.

2. Depression is not an ailment: Unfortunately an extensively held belief is that being miserable is the same thing as being sad. It has been scientifically confirmed that chemical imbalances in the brain can cause depression.

3. Depression is the similar as self pity: We live in a macho society, where anyone suffering from despair is a lot of times looked upon as a grumbler and a weak person, which is distant from the truth. As mentioned above despair is a medical condition and should be dealt with appropriate medication.

4. Depression causes people to cry: Everyone who suffers from despair will not cry. People show depression in different ways, some get sensitively drained, some lose their self worth. The tip is that it is not right to typecast depressed person as someone who is always crying.

5. Anti-Depressant remedies’ are a lifelong necessity: Contrary to what a lot of people believe, medication for hostility depression needs not be a lifelong dependency. In-fact mainly people who get treated for this situation don’t need long term medication. Modern therapy has come a long way to help reduce the dependency on drugs to treat depression.

So the next time you show signs of depression, be more open about compliant and treating this medical state and get help by an experienced medical professional. Do what it takes to treat it as soon as possible so that you or your appreciated one can be on their way to leading a lot happier life and avoid all the unnecessary sadness and anguish; Remember never self medicate and all the time consult your doctor before starting any medication.