The Complete Herbal Guide: A Natural Approach to Healing the Body - Heal Your Body Naturally and Maintain Optimal Health Using Alternative Medicine, Herbals, Vitamins, Fruits and Vegetables (39 page)

If your doctor suspects hives, he or she may ask for blood tests to check for levels and function of specific blood proteins. If your doctor suspects allergy to food, latex, animal dander, pollen or medication, he or she may recommend allergy skin or blood tests.

Treatment

If your symptoms are mild, you may not need treatment. The standard treatment for hives is antihistamines, which block the symptom-producing release of histamine.
These include nonprescription medications, such as:

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Diphenhydramine (Benadryl, others)

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Chlorpheniramine (Chlor-Trimeton, others)

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Clemastine (Tavist, others)

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Loratadine (Alavert, Claritin)

Antihistamines such as diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine and clemastine may cause drowsiness. Loratadine usually does not cause drowsiness.

Prescription medications

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Desloratadine (Clarinex)

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Fexofenadine (Allegra)

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Cetirizine (Zyrtec)

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Hydroxyzine (Atarax, Vistaril)

Occasionally for severe hives, doctors may prescribe an oral corticosteroid drug such as prednisone, which can help lessen swelling, redness and itching.

Emergency situations

For a severe attack of hives, you may need an emergency injection of adrenaline (epinephrine) and a trip to the emergency room. If you have repeated attacks, despite treatment, your doctor may prescribe and teach you how to use adrenaline to carry with you for use in emergency situations.

Prevention

To lower your likelihood of experiencing hives take the following safety measures:

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Avoid situations you know will cause hives:
These may include certain foods or medications, or situations, such as temperature extremes, that have triggered past allergic attacks.

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Keep a journal:
If you suspect foods of causing the problem, keep a food journal. Be aware that some foods may contain ingredients that are listed by less common names on the label.

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Many women experience libido problems.  They have enjoyed a healthy, satisfying sex life and then suddenly, intimate moments with your partner are not as satisfying as they once were. You might feel as though your sexual desire has decreased. Or you may be realizing that things that once brought you pleasure now seem painful.

You are not alone. Many women experience sexual difficulties at some point in their lives. By some estimates, as many as four in 10 women experience at least one sexual worry. This is called female sexual dysfunction.

Female sexual dysfunction is when persistent or reoccurring problems come up in one or more of the stages of sexual response. What you are experiencing is not considered female sexual dysfunction unless you are distressed about it or it depressingly affects your relationship with your partner.

Although sexual problems associated with female sexual dysfunction are multifaceted, they are treatable. Communicating your concerns and understanding your anatomy and your body's normal physiological response to sexual intimacy are important steps toward recapturing your sexual pleasure.

Symptoms

Sexual concerns occur in women of all ages but may become more prevalent during hormonally vulnerable times, such as postpartum or with the menopausal transition. Sexual concerns may also occur with major illness, such as cancer.

Your problems might be classified as female sexual dysfunction if you experience one or more of the following
and
you experience personal distress because of it:

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Your desire to have sex is low

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Your desire to have sex is absent

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You can't maintain arousal during sexual activity

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You do not become aroused even though you have a desire to have sex

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You do not experience an orgasm

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You have pain during sexual contact

Causes

Several reasons may be part of the cause to sexual dissatisfaction or dysfunction you are experiencing. These factors tend to be interrelated. Women with sexual concerns gain help from a combined treatment approach that addresses medical as well as emotional issues.

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Physical:
Arthritis, urinary or bowel difficulties, pelvic surgery, fatigue, headaches, other pain problems and neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis can cause sexual dysfunction. Certain medications, including some antidepressants, blood pressure medications, antihistamines and chemotherapy drugs, can decrease sex drive and your ability to achieve orgasm.

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Hormonal:
Lower estrogen levels during the menopausal transition may lead to changes in your genital tissues and your sexual responsiveness. The folds of skin that cover your genital region (labia) shrink and become thinner, exposing more of the clitoris. This increased exposure sometimes reduces the sensitivity of the clitoris, or may cause an unpleasant tingling or prickling sensation.

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Thinning and decreased elasticity of its lining:
The vagina becomes narrower, particularly if you are not sexually active. The natural swelling and lubrication of the vagina occur more slowly during arousal. These factors can lead to uncomfortable or painful intercourse (dyspareunia), and achieving orgasm may take longer. Changes associated with the declining estrogen levels of menopause may affect sexual function. However, most women continue to have satisfying sexual intimacy during and after the menopausal transition.

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Psychological and social:
Psychological factors such as untreated anxiety, depression or stress, and a history of sexual abuse can cause this condition. During pregnancy, after childbirth or while breast-feeding, you may experience a decrease in sexual desire. You may find it difficult to fill multiple needs and roles, such as job demands, homemaking, being a mother and sometimes caring for aging parents. Your partner's age and health, your feelings toward your partner, and your view of your own body or that of your partner are additional factors that may combine to cause sexual problems. Cultural and religious issues also may be contributing factors.  Psychological factors may contribute to or result from sexual dysfunction. Regardless of the cause of sexual dysfunction, you usually need to address emotional and relationship issues for treatment to be effective.

Diagnosis

1. Your doctor may engage a discussion about your sexual concerns during the course of a routine medical visit, or you can initiate the discussion if you have concerns that you would like to address with your doctor. You and your doctor will talk about your sexual history, whether you are currently sexually active and what your sexual concerns are.
   

1. Your doctor will likely review medications you are taking along with your medical history and perform a complete physical exam. During the pelvic exam, your doctor may check for signs of physical changes contributing to sexual concerns, such as thinning of your genital tissues, decreased skin elasticity, scarring, pain or pelvic organ prolapsed.
   

Your doctor may refer you to a specialized counselor or sex therapist to evaluate emotional and relationship factors as well as review your sexual identity, beliefs and attitudes.

Female sexual dysfunction is generally divided into four categories:

1. Low sexual desire:
   You have poor libido, or lack of sex drive. This is the most common type of sexual disorder among women.
   

1. Sexual arousal disorder:
   Your desire for sex might be intact, but you are unable to become aroused or maintain arousal during sexual activity.
   

1. Orgasmic disorder:
   You have persistent or recurrent difficulty in achieving orgasm after sufficient sexual arousal and ongoing stimulation.
   

1. Sexual pain disorder:
   You have pain associated with sexual stimulation or vaginal contact.
   

Treatment

Treatment may involve treating the underlying medical or hormonal condition contributing to sexual dysfunction, as well as addressing emotional and relationship issues that result or contribute to the dysfunction. In some cases, female sexual dysfunction can be treated by taking specially prescribed medications. Usually, successful treatment requires no medications.

Other Treatments

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Communicate with your partner:
Open and honest communication with your partner can enhance your emotional and sexual intimacy. Some couples never talk about sex, while others are less inhibited. Even if you're not used to communicating about your likes and dislikes, learning to do so and providing feedback in an unthreatened manner can set the stage for greater sexual intimacy. There are good books to help you with this. Ask your doctor for recommendations. It can be difficult to resolve differences in sexual desire with your partner over a lifetime. Communicating your feelings can help.

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Make healthy lifestyle changes:
Avoid drinking excessive amounts of alcohol stop smoking, exercise regularly and make time for leisure and relaxation. All are as important for your sexual health as for your overall health.

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Strengthen pelvic muscles:
Pelvic floor exercises can help with some arousal and orgasm problems. Doing Kegel exercises strengthens the muscles involved in pleasurable sexual sensations. To perform these exercises, tighten your pelvic muscles as if you are stopping your stream of urine. Hold for a count of five, relax and repeat. Do these exercises several times a day.

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Exercising with vaginal weights:
By using a series of five weights, each increasingly heavier, that you hold in place in your vagina, you can strengthen pelvic floor muscles. You gradually work up to heavier weights as your muscle tone improves.

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Counseling:
Talking with a sex therapist or counselor skilled in addressing sexual concerns can benefit you whether your condition is due to emotional factors or not, since even sexual problems that are hormonal in origin can affect your emotional health and intimacy with your partner. Evaluation with a sex therapist typically includes a review of your sexual identity, beliefs and attitudes; relationship factors including intimacy and attachment; communication and coping styles; and your overall emotional health. Therapy often includes education about sexual response and techniques, ways to enhance intimacy with your partner, and recommendations for reading materials or couples exercises.

Medical treatment

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Adjusting or changing medications that have sexual side effects

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Treating thyroid problems or other hormonal conditions

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Treatment for depression or anxiety

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Strengthening pelvic floor muscles

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Trying strategies recommended by your doctor to help with pelvic pain or other pain problems

Hormonal treatment

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Estrogen therapy:
Estrogens are important in maintaining the health of vaginal and external genital tissues. Replacing estrogen can improve sexual function in a number of ways, including increasing the tone and elasticity of vaginal tissues, increasing vaginal blood flow, enhancing lubrication, and having a positive effect on brain function and mood factors that affect sexual response. Localized estrogen therapy in the form of a vaginal cream, gel or tablet can help with sexual changes due to menopause.