Sex and chemotherapy for women

This page tells you about how chemotherapy can affect women's sexuality. There is information about

The effects of chemo on women's sex life
Contraception
Early menopause
Symptoms of early menopause
Relieving symptoms of early menopause

Some women lead normal sex lives during treatment. Others find that their sex lives change while they are having treatment, but go back to normal once their chemotherapy treatment has finished. Some women have an early menopause, which may affect sex life after treatment.

General side effects of chemotherapy include tiredness (fatigue) and feeling sick (nausea). These changes may make you feel less interested in sex for a while.

Always use reliable contraception during your treatment. It is not advisable to become pregnant, as the treatment drugs could harm the baby.

Using condoms protects your partner from the possible risk that chemicals from the chemotherapy drugs could be in your vaginal fluids. It has been suggested that chemotherapy can get into vaginal fluids, but as the doctors don’t know for sure, they advise using barrier contraception (condom) during a course of chemotherapy treatment and for a week or so afterwards.

Chemotherapy does not usually have a permanent effect on your sex life. But sometimes chemotherapy can cause an early menopause. Symptoms from your menopause may affect your sex life for a while.

This is a very brief summary of the possible effects of early menopause. Most women have some symptoms with the menopause. But the symptoms vary between women. You may have

Hot flushes
A dry vagina
Less interest in sex
Dry skin
Mood swings and feeling low
Loss of energy

There is more detailed information about early menopause and the symptoms it can cause in our section about hormone symptoms.

Often, after your chemotherapy has finished your doctor can prescribe hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to prevent the symptoms. The HRT doesn't prevent the menopause, but it can relieve symptoms. Depending on the type of cancer you have had, your specialist may advise you not to take HRT. But, many women are able to take HRT for up to 5 years.

If your vagina is dry and sex is uncomfortable, your doctor could prescribe a cream or ointment for you. Or you can use a lubricant to moisten your vagina. You can get these from your chemist without a prescription. There are a variety of lubricants available, so if you do not get on with one product, there are others you can try. Some products only need to be used use a few times a week instead of daily and are available from your chemist. Olive oil has been suggested as a useful lubricant, but it is thought that it may damage condom material. So it is important to take advice from your pharmacist or clinical nurse specialist. There is more information about hormone symptoms in the coping physically section.