*Warning* - mild language and same-sex stuff to follow (I'd like to think that everyone on here is OK with gay folks, but I know that CML can strike anyone and I'd like to be as unoffensive as possible... so consider yourself warned)

Along those lines, I've been a bit too embarrassed to mention this to anyone, but has anyone else noticed a difference in libido due to either CML or Gleevec?

Before my diagnosis my libido was at an all-time low... It got to the point that I think my boyfriend was concerned that I no longer found him attractive or that I was being unfaithful.  It's not that I couldn't get it up, but I would never take any initiative and it would always take a few minutes to get going.  And once I was in the mood, it still seemed a little bit soft.

Then I was diagnosed and put on Gleevec.  After my numbers got back down to a normal range, the difference was night and day... I felt like a teenager again! Except that's not entirely a good thing, since it would happen at the drop of a hat in uncomfortable situations.

And now...  Well, my numbers have been fluctuating.  I've been alternating between anemic and healthy as the docs try to get me figured out. Oddly enough, I've started using my libido as a surprisingly reliable predictor of my red blood cell count.

I just thought I'd share in case anyone else has experienced the same stuff and is embarrassed to talk about it like I've been.

I wondered if I was the only one that got "excited" with every gentle breeze that blew by after I started taking Gleevec.  Not that I had a problem before, but good lord, it was like I was 16 again.  Great topic though, just glad I am not the only one.  But also glad that I am not like that poor Moroccan man in the story posted by Trey.  Talk about make working uncomfortable.  Yikes!  Berk

Since were on the subject, About three months before i was DX i actually went to my doctor with concerns about a dull ache in my nutts that would not go away...his reaction was that at my age maybe it was time for a prostate exam...got that done...he said all is well...i went home..end of subject but the ache remained long into DX...i also had painfull erections but it was more in my lower abdomen then in my penis. I was not the best of lovers in those days, but i was also single, and when i did have a partner they were very understanding..i often wondered if CML was causing this or, god forbid, another illness to deal with!!  i will conclude for what its worth, My wife has made comments about how much firmer and long lived my erections are now that im on sprycel. Trying to be polite here cuz you know some of our lady friends are wathcing this thread too..  LOL

I agree; I think I mentioned before that I'm able to burn 70% more calories in the same amount of time at the gym now than I was able to just before diagnosis.  Well, I've improved that figure to 100% more, now.   I think it's a combination of several things, but mostly I'd say it was due to my spleen shrinking.  Not only do my legs feel better from not carrying around the extra weight, but I can also breathe better because my spleen is no longer pushing on my lungs.

Speaking of my lungs, I had a cough that started on Thanksgiving of 2007 and persisted up until my diagnosis in September. It's frustrating, looking back on it, because I went to various doctors three or four times for it, including a specialist who charged me $800, just to have them tell me that it was either allergies or asthma every time (even though it clearly wasn't either of those).  Oh well, at least I'm better now. 

Congrats to those men who are having a better time with their plumbing post-treatment, and my condolences to those who are having trouble!

Trey,

As always you are right on target...