Another problem for people who start out with hyperthyroidism is the delay in getting on thyroid hormone replacement after RAI. By the time I switched doctors, my weight had climbed to approximately 236 pounds. So, what does love have to do with it? Couples who make an effort to improve communication and therefore improve their relationship on a daily basis lay the foundation for strengthening the relationship and maintaining normal sexual function. Yes, flowers and clothes and perfume are great, but quality time is the key. The best part about these simple, little things one can do to improve the relationship is that they don't cost much money. These are steps in the right direction to strengthen a relationship, and will be considered romantic by many females.

Little everyday things perk up the relationship: those thoughtful things such as taking out the garbage or helping out around the house without being asked, spending less time on the sofa watching TV, and not dedicating every weekend to sports. As urologists, we can fix the hydraulics for the male to treat his erectile dysfunction; however, his overall sexual function totally depends upon the quality of his relationship with his partner. But were those teenage boys simply immature, or were they driven totally by their testosterone level? That survey obviously was done with a rather immature age group. One study of teenage boys showed that up to 70 percent thought it was okay to tell a girl that they loved her just so they could have sex with her. Certainly. Can you have sex without love? There is a lot of wisdom in those few words. Recently, a patient gave this expression an interesting twist with respect to healthy sexual functioning within a loving relationship: "When we're okay, I'm okay."

In the seventies, a best-selling book on relationships and self-esteem popularized the phrase, "I'm okay, you're okay." On the other hand, whenever there is a problem with the relationship, regardless of its cause or source, it invariably affects sexual function. When couples such as this come into our office with a sexual dysfunction problem for either the male or female, the solution to that problem is made much more easy by the fact that they have excellent support from their partner.