Shannen Doherty Shares How Cancer Is Affecting Her Sex Life

Shannen Doherty is ready to talk about the birds and the bees.

The Charmed alum—who filed for divorce from photographer Kurt Iswarienko in April 2023—was honest about how her cancer diagnosis and treatment have affected her sex life, even sharing the unique remedy her doctor suggested to help her.

"When you're feeling not great about yourself, that's going to kill your libido," Shannen told friend and model Anne Marie Kortright on the Feb. 24 episode of her podcast Let's Be Clear. "But then when it actually impacts your libido, when meds take your libido away, or it makes things not as pleasant, sex doesn't feel as good."

And for Shannen, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2015, it was something she wanted to fix in her marriage. "This isn't the life that I want to live. I also don't want my husband to live like this," she shared. "So I need to, you know, figure this out."

Anne Marie recommended Shannen see Dr. Sherry Ross, a gynecologist and pioneer in alternative ways to help women deal with changes in their bodies. But Dr. Ross' methods were a tad unorthodox for the Beverly Hills, 90210 actress. The doctor's recommendation? Sex toys.

"She's got all these little displays of toys," explained Anne Marie, who joined Shannen at the doctor's appointment. "Then she goes, 'Here's Shannen take this,' and Shannen like shoves it in her bag."

But Shannen confessed on the podcast that the sex toys stayed tucked away for a while, adding, "It stayed in my bag for a really long time."

However, the 52-year-old—who revealed in November that she's open to dating again—noted it's not just the cancer that has affected her overall perception of herself.

"Getting older, all of it impacts not just, your exterior," she said. "But it's also impacting the whole way that your body is reacting and responding. And then you add to that cancer meds, you add to that chemo or and it just zaps you of everything and it takes your confidence. It takes away your identity."

The actress, who was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in 2019 after a period of remission, shared last year that the disease had spread to her brains and bones. But fortunately, she and her doctor recently explained they were seeing tremendous results from her latest round of treatment. 

"After the sixth, seventh treatment we really saw it breaking down the blood brain barrier," she shared on the Jan. 28 episode of her podcast. "For me, that happens to be a miracle right now."

Keep reading for a closer look at Shannen's life in the spotlight: