SSRI sexual dysfunction - advice

[T1gersxjaw]

hi everyone. I am a 17 year old male and am on a plethora of antidepressants.
My doctor wants to put me on another SSRI, this time lexapro (although I have tried paxil, prozac, and zoloft) and I am upset about it, because they have always caused me to experience sexual dysfunction (complete loss of libido).

As you can imagine, it puts me in a tough spot due to my age.
Its an embarrassing problem and not any easy one to discuss with my doctor, as I am afraid she will say that I shouldn't be sexually active at this age anyways.

Are there any ways you have come up with to regain some sexual drive, whilst on these meds?
I am still severely depressed, and want to get better, but I fear this will affect future intimate relationships with girls (as it very negatively effected my last relationship)

I need help here

 

[sogno]

How long have you been taking them?
Unfortunately SSRI decrease libido ( I experienced the same problem) and I don't know any solution other than exercise and taking vitamins. Also your libido should increase after you get used to the SSRI, you have to wait a few months.
I would also look for someone else as a doctor because saying you shouldn't be active sexually is absurd

 

[Rybee]

A doctor's job is to judge your health, not your morals.

I've been in the same situation, and I hated it. No libido/sex drive at all, couldn't ejaculate during sex etc... then when I came off of them I got major rebound premature ejaculation for ~6 months.

By the way, I changed from Effexor (Venlafaxine) to Valdoxan (Agomelatine). Agomelatine is a novel anti-depressant and causes no sexual side effects.

 

[Pilll_head]

I have been on SSRIs (cymbalta first now Pristiq) for many years and about a year ago my doctor added Mirtazipine (45 mg / day). I have found that my arousal level has increased since adding the mirtazipine, I might give this a try. Lower doses of mirtazipine (like 15-30 mg) can cause drowsiness but 45 mg is actually more stimulating because of its receptor pharmacology.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Fluoxetine (Prozac) ruined a long-term relationship with a girl that I really liked. I was too unaware to notice that I was never interested in sex, this in turn made her feel like she was unattractive and unwanted. We just couldn't get it worked out. For the first month that I was on the shit, I did not have sex one time. By myself or with anyone else haha.

The only thing that ended up working for me was getting off of the shit. Everything went back to normal after just a few weeks. If you really can't afford to sacrifice the positive effects of the SSRI's, than you might have to consider some ED medicine. It really can be that bad for some people, including me.

 

[Doldrugs]

I'm on lexapro and I don't have any sexual issues. The longer you're on it the more your body adjusts, in my experience. Depression caused me much worse sexual problems. Previous drugs I was on had worse side effects, though. Sometimes it takes a long time to find the right drug, unfortunately. You should be honest with your doctor and if she lectures you about it try to get a new doctor. A good doctor wouldn't.

You can also be honest with your partners but at 17 most people are pretty immature so there's no guarantee they'll be understanding. It's just kind of how it is. I had a very understanding girlfriend during all of the issues I had with medication and it was really helpful for me. But I'm like 12 years older than you. When I was 17 things would have been much different.

 

[Ethan8]

sorry stuck on lower case/ ive tried many antids back from the tca time and although drugs like prozac stopped me cuming i never lost sexual desire /libido.

you are very young so are you are the depression itself is not causing the libido loss.

from the age of of twenty six to thirty nine now i have used mirtazapine which cause no sexual probs in the vast majority of men.

relationships are tough going anyhow when you are young ,when you are young and depressed, as a guy it can be daunting, tell your doctor what you told us.

best wishes

sorry no caps lock