There’s only one way blood sugar levels can get out of control, and that’s due to bad management. Perhaps you’re unaware you have the condition? Issues in the bedroom may be the clue you need.
Persistently high blood sugar levels damage the nerves within the body, including those that supply your sexual organs.
Restricted blood flow to the nether regions can result in loss of sensation, attested the charity Diabetes UK.
This can lead to a lack of physical arousal – in men and women – that shows up in different ways.
For men, high blood sugar levels can result in erectile dysfunction – otherwise known as impotence.
This is when you physically can’t get an erection or, if you manage to stiffen up, it doesn’t last long.
The earliest warning sign is when you begin to lose the morning erection.
However, this difficulty can be masked with the use of pills, such as Viagra.
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Both genders can also be more susceptible to thrush, according to the diabetes charity, which is a fungal infection in your private parts.
This can occur when high sugar levels in the urine acts as the perfect hotspot for bacteria to grow.
In men, the tip of the penis and under the foreskin can become sore and itchy.
There may be white patches on the head of the penis, and it may be difficult to pull the foreskin back.
Symptoms of thrush, for women, include itchiness and pain around the entrance to the vagina.
It can also lead to pain during sex, stinging during urination, and discharge that may be white and thick, or thin and watery.
High blood sugar levels also make you more prone to urinary tract infections, for the same reason as above – lots of sugar coming out in your urine can lead to the perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
Why would there be so much sugar in urine? The answer is: your body is trying to remove excess sugar from your body.
But how does sugar even get into the body? Usually, the foods you eat are broken down into sugar.
This is then used up by the body’s cells as energy. However, in people with diabetes, this process is disturbed.
Instead of the sugar being used up by cells in the body, it keeps mounting up in the bloodstream.
The kidneys work really hard to remove toxins from the body, so it filters out excess sugar in your urine.
What to do?
Get your blood sugar under control with the help of your diabetes team, or take a simple blood test to test for the condition.