Mental Health anxiety meds that don't cause sexual dysfunction

[paranoid android]

Tried one when I was a teenager and it made me quite sleepy and out of it, maybe took too much. Definitely worth a try. I do have some benzos but just careful not to use them too much, they are perfect really but I want to keep my tolerance down and keep them for when I most need them.

I remember you PA from when I used to come on bluelight more often a few years ago. Hope you are well. I think I saw from searching for mirtazapine in the search engine that it seemed to agree with you. Was that on the 30mg dose?

Yeah Promethazine is pretty damn sedating even for me. When i was taking Histantil (the brand name for Promethazine here in Canada) for allergies and nausea/vomiting i certainly wouldn't drive on 50mg's of Promethazine that's for sure. However i found Hydroxyzine to be much less sedating then Promethazine or Diphenhydramine which is most likely because it has very little Anti-Cholinergic effects. It's probably the most used and effective Anti-Histamine for anxiety as it has effects other Anti-Histamines don't such as 5-HT2a receptor Antagonism. Other anti-histamines that don't act as Serotonin Antagonists don't work nearly as well as Hydroxyzine for anxiety so most likely this mechanism of action is responsible for it's Anti-Anxiety effects.

Oh you remember me? Now i feel special . I initially had good luck with Mirtazapine but that went very wrong to say the least. I don't know if it was because i was not on a mood stabilizer at the time and was just taking Risperidone to control my Mania which doesn't work great for me anyway or Mirtazapine just didn't agree with me but i almost ended up killing myself on it one morning. I had the noose up and all ready to hang myself but fortunately i came to my senses thank fuck.

Have you tried any Tricyclic Anti-Depressants such as Doxepin, Amitriptyline or Trimipramine? They do help some peoples anxiety and i have taken Amitriptyline and Trimipramine for Depression. Despite Amitriptyline basically being a SNRI with strong Anti-Cholinergic effects it caused absolutely no sexual dysfunction in me even at the max outpatient dose of 150mg's a day. Trimipramine also did not cause any sexual dysfunction and it may work better on anxiety because of the fact that it also has some Atypical Anti-psychotic effects. I would definitely say a TCA would be worth a shot if you haven't tried one already.

You also mentioned Quetiapine. I take this for Bipolar Disorder when the Lamictal doesn't control the mania granted at doses of 300-500mgs' which is alot more then you would use for anxiety or insomnia. For anxiety you wouldn't need anymore then 100mg's at which dose it does not act as a Anti-Psychotic at all really and is mostly a Anti-Histamine and a α1-adrenergic and α2-adrenergic receptor antagonist. Some people have luck with this in treating anxiety but i don't think it should be a 1st or even second line treatment due to it's potential side effects such as Type 2 Diabetes. I don't know if it helps my anxiety at all as the Clonazepam generally keeps that in check.

 

[almostoptimistic]

Sorry if I am repeating what has already been said. I think much of the problem with ssri's is that doctors have a target dose in mind and start all their patients at the same level and go up too quickly. People have bad side effects and conclude the drugs are awful. My motto is start low and go up slow. It makes it easier to wean off quickly if the drug does not work. Prozac is actually both activating and anxiety relieving for me, at 10 mg. You might want to try Buspar. It does not work for a lot of people, but for thosewho get lucky it is a miracle drug and has an extremely tame side effect profile so there's no harm in trying it.

 

[belfort]

low dose of mirtazapine will do that around the 15mg range 30mg and up shouldnt give you that feeling like night and day diff from personal exp

you can also try a beta blocker like propranolol IME not quite a benzo feel, but works good

beta blockers are very effective for physical symptoms of anxiety but they are known to lower sex drive and cause impotence..

ive tried many different anti anxiety medications and they ALL either make me completely numb down there or partialy numb but most have caused me to become almost asexual..i mean, i remember being on Paxil and its like i had no sex drive at all..months after getting off i still had problems..ill never touch another SSRI

phenibut is the only thing ive tried that lessens anxiety and boosts sex drive but its not sustainable..

lowered anxiety is great but when it also kills your ability to get aroused or even want to have sex, its counter productive..ive seen many guys finally lessen their anxiety to where they can talk to women but now they cant function down there so what is the use?

gabapentin caused terrible sexual dysfunction for me..

 

[belfort]

Benzos should not cause ED...they might reduce desire to pursue a woman in a social context though, my dad when I started taking Temazepam 30's because of that insomnia I had since as long as Ican remember, as a child who was just 5, I had that issue, he said that sleeping pills "reduce the 'want'" and I told him, that doesn't matter since I didn't have a girlfriend then.

benzos have a tiny effect on my erections but what they are notorious for is just making me apathetic towards sex..ive been on benzos and girls jumped on me yet i picked them up and sat them down as there was no interest at all..

yep, even dipenhydramine hurts or really dampens my sex drive/ability...

 

[paranoid android]

benzos have a tiny effect on my erections but what they are notorious for is just making me apathetic towards sex..ive been on benzos and girls jumped on me yet i picked them up and sat them down as there was no interest at all..

yep, even dipenhydramine hurts or really dampens my sex drive/ability...

Weird i never got that on any Benzo. If anything they raised my sex drive and also made it easier to talk to women because i didn't have godawful anxiety to deal with. It also made me much less self conscious about myself. My ex and i used to get wacked on Temazepam sometimes and have Mazzie sex as we called it :D . 300mg's of Temazepam was not a unusual dose for me to take. My memories of those sex sessions are rather hazy to say the least but even huge doses of Benzos don't seem to lower my sex drive at all.

 

[morphine-dreams]

I don't have anything to say other than if mirtazapine makes you feel that way, PLEASE don't persist with it. I did, and it was probably one of the worst decisions I've ever made. I have a slew of issues but was NEVER suicidal until I took mirtazapine, nor was I ever that unmotivated (and I have severe ADHD). I didn't actively try to commit suicide, but was so reckless and unconcerned with my life that I nearly died twice within 2 months of OD/drug combos. Another time I drank enough to probably kill someone without my tolerance (literally chugged large bottles of hard liquor like they were beer) and trust me, I wasn't trying to survive. Be careful with any AD that gives you suicidal thoughts, but your experience with mirtazapine struck a chord because it was so similar to mine and I so easily could've died. Being a drug addict and thus having a tolerance to just about everything actually saved me, ironically enough. It did work for my anxiety, maybe a little too much.

I take etizolam if I'm having a bad day with anxiety, but not daily. It doesn't cause any sexual dysfunction, rather the opposite, when used that way, but idk if it's a good idea to recommend a benzo for regular but not daily or otherwise very frequent use.

 

[paranoid android]

I don't have anything to say other than if mirtazapine makes you feel that way, PLEASE don't persist with it. I did, and it was probably one of the worst decisions I've ever made. I have a slew of issues but was NEVER suicidal until I took mirtazapine, nor was I ever that unmotivated (and I have severe ADHD). I didn't actively try to commit suicide, but was so reckless and unconcerned with my life that I nearly died twice within 2 months of OD/drug combos. Another time I drank enough to probably kill someone without my tolerance (literally chugged large bottles of hard liquor like they were beer) and trust me, I wasn't trying to survive. Be careful with any AD that gives you suicidal thoughts, but your experience with mirtazapine struck a chord because it was so similar to mine and I so easily could've died. Being a drug addict and thus having a tolerance to just about everything actually saved me, ironically enough. It did work for my anxiety, maybe a little too much.

I take etizolam if I'm having a bad day with anxiety, but not daily. It doesn't cause any sexual dysfunction, rather the opposite, when used that way, but idk if it's a good idea to recommend a benzo for regular but not daily or otherwise very frequent use.

I damn near did commit suicide on Mirtazapine. I don't think i have felt that way before or sense and it's a hard feeling to describe. It was sort of like i was in a mixed state or Psychotic Depression but at the same time i felt emotionally dead pretty much. I just felt totally numb and figured why not kill myself? It was only right before i put my head in the Noose that i realized that i would be hurting alot of people that love me and worst of all dying for nothing. Needless to say i stopped taking the Mirtazapine right there and then and never took it again. I am not sure if only being on Risperidone to control my mood swings as opposed to a mood stabilizer or a Anti-Psychotic that works better for me such as Olanzapine or Quetiapine contributed to it or not but id never risk taking it again anyway. These days if i need a Anti-Depressant that is sedating i take Trimipramine usually or Amitriptyline both of which are TCA's and i get along fine with them.

 

[Spurs_1882]

Thank you for all responses
You've given me a lot of ideas and options.
I've had success with lowering my pregabalin quite a bit and taking the beta blocker, and continuing to work on my anxiety in therapy. Sex life has improved from this; I just avoid taking the beta blocker in the few hours before having sex.

 

[THE_REAL_OBLIVION]

I damn near did commit suicide on Mirtazapine. I don't think i have felt that way before or sense and it's a hard feeling to describe. It was sort of like i was in a mixed state or Psychotic Depression but at the same time i felt emotionally dead pretty much. I just felt totally numb and figured why not kill myself? It was only right before i put my head in the Noose that i realized that i would be hurting alot of people that love me and worst of all dying for nothing. Needless to say i stopped taking the Mirtazapine right there and then and never took it again. I am not sure if only being on Risperidone to control my mood swings as opposed to a mood stabilizer or a Anti-Psychotic that works better for me such as Olanzapine or Quetiapine contributed to it or not but id never risk taking it again anyway. These days if i need a Anti-Depressant that is sedating i take Trimipramine usually or Amitriptyline both of which are TCA's and i get along fine with them.

My step-dad who was looking for a GP, I told him my GP would take an extra from my family. He still went with the doctor my mom has. She prescribed him trazodone 50mg up to 3 a night plus 7.5mg remeron and then I guess the 15 if the 7.5 was tolerated, they move it up like that right. He does sleep better now, but I warned him about Remeron and definitely told him to not fill a trazodone script if it was he'd be script, I told him to ask for something mild, like Dalmane 15mg, since he has no benzo tolerance and that's the weakest pill I bet would work on him. The doc told him, that's stuff is addictive and proceeded to prescribe Trazodone up to 150mg a night. I find it hard to believe. When I had my first script as an adult walking in to see my GP when I was 19 or so, I talked about my sleep and concentration problem and how I had ADHD as a kid, sports (hockey in winter, baseball in the summer) killed the H but I still was moving around in my chair and shit. So he scripted me Ritalin 10mg twice a day and Trazodone. It made me a total shaky mess, ritalin itself or those together (I could very well have it still in my body when my second dose was at 4 pm (for homework). He seems to tolerate it well which is good. But god, I'd never even want a second 25mg trazodone pill, the thing gave me night sweats and extremely vivid nightmares that made no sense (my dreams when I remember them make absolutely no sense). I was afraid for him getting that trazodone. He already had a GP, but a very difficult to see one, who almost only did home medicine and when he did office time, well it was in his own house, but he took the long long list of shoulder treatments the guy had and scripted him 2mg dilaudid and Celebrex. Then he had no issue sleeping. When he started having those, I gave him some of those 25mg seroquels that are for sleep. I can't stand that shit, but it does work when having literally no sleep in 3 days.

Still, I find that giving 2 antidepressants at once just for sleep is playing more with fire than a 15mg flurazepam script.

 

[strity1994]

The most effective meds for anxiety also decreased my libido... Actually killed it. Unfortunately there are no perfect med for anxiety, u just have to choose one that u can live with and tolerate the best bc they all come with side effects...