Posted by Bekka H. on February 10, 2002, at 20:05:02
In reply to Re: Wellbutrin and SSRI sexual side effects, posted by ST on February 10, 2002, at 18:23:07
> Hi-
>
> A lot of people feel that adding Wellbutrin to an SSRI does the trick. Well, here's my experience:
>
> When I was just on Depakote and Wellbutrin, I was my normal highly sexual self. Big healthy appetite. Once I added Serzone it went out the window. Then I switched from Serzone to Celexa. Still out the window - maybe even LESS of a sex drive. Now I'm on Effexor XR and have been for about 7 weeks. The sex drive still has not improved...maybe it will. So for me, Wellbutrin with other SSRIs doesn't even make a difference. Wellbutrin alone is recommended if you want to retain sexuality. But The SSRIs are just too powerful of a damper on my sex life. Have you tried Wellbutrin while not taking SSRIs?
>
> Sarah
*************************************************Hello, Sarah. My experience is similar to yours. I had been on Wellbutrin for a long time. When Zoloft was added to it for the purpose of "augmenting the antidepressant effect" of Wellbutrin, I lost my sex drive completely and I also lost nearly all the other benefits that Wellbutrin had to offer (drive, motivation, focus, energy, etc). I stayed on the combination a while, trying all sorts of different proportions of Zoloft to Wellbutrin. No matter how low a dosage of Zoloft I took, and no matter how high I went on Wellbutrin (up to the maximum allowable amount, 450 mg for immediate release), the Zoloft apathy and sexual dysfunction overpowered -- and destroyed -- everything that was good about Wellbutrin.
Several years later, I was on Dexedrine. When Celexa was added, I ended up with the same exact problem. No matter how little Celexa I took or how much Dexedrine I took, the SSRI completely ruined what was good about Dexedrine. I believe the addition of the SSRI also hastened the tolerance that I developed to Dexedrine, because as soon as I started Celexa, I had to start increasing the Dexedrine dose. Prior to starting Celexa, I had been on only 15 mg of Dexedrine for months. Once I added the SSRI, all that was good about the stimulant disappeared.
If you read Josephn Glenmullen's Prozac Backlash, you will see that he cites several studies in which SSRIs were shown to lower dopamine levels by at least 50%. Perhaps that is part of the problem.
poster:Bekka H.
thread:93633
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020208/msgs/93655.html