Intimate activities with UC

Hi ! I know this can be a sensitive topic, but I think an important one as well. I will endeavor to answer this question generally but helpfully. I do feel that when I am flaring badly it is hard to do any intimate activities--honestly, sometimes I just don't feel like it. Even when I'm not flaring, I do experience the type of fatigue that you are talking about. What I will say is that communication has been most important for me. Actually talking about my needs and my partner's needs are vital in making sure we are on the same page. And sometimes I can say things like, "I'm not sure I want to do this right now, but maybe we can just do XYZ" and see where things go.

I know a lot of people with IBD struggle to talk about it with their partners and sometimes partners are not understanding, which is never fun. If it's getting to that point, I do also recommend talking about it with a neutral third party, like a therapist. I know that can seem scary, but it's mostly to help both people communicate like I was saying above!


Hope this helps some. -Eshani (IBD Team Member)

Thank you so much! It helps just knowing I'm not the only one. Sometimes it seems like the world is like, "everyone enjoys it" and "if you don't like it, there is something wrong with you," while I'm over here almost dreading it. We do communicate pretty good about it, he is incredibly sweet and always asks me if I'm up to it first, but the pressure to enjoy it when I barely have the physical energy to even do it gets to be much. Thank you for replying so sensitively and openly! I really appreciate it!

I actually wrote a post about it last year: https://inflammatoryboweldisease.net/living/ibd-sex


I hope this helps. You're definitely not alone


~ Sahara (team member)