Posted by Alan on April 27, 2002, at 23:03:16
In reply to Anyone NOT have sexual side effects with SSRIs?, posted by Joe_12 on April 26, 2002, at 12:52:21
> I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder a few months ago and was prescribed Effexor XR. While it did help with the anxiety, the side effects became just too much (insomnia, acne, muscle spasms, sexual problems). Some of them I could handle, but as a 20 year old male, the sexual disfunction was something I was not willing to deal with. It started as just delayed orgasm, but as time progressed it eventually became almost impossible to climax. There was also a lack of "fullness" in my erections making them more difficult to maintain.
>
> I'm now off the Effexor and starting on Zoloft. I guess I'm just looking to get some reassurance. It seems that almost everyone on these boards taking SSRIs is experiencing the sexual side effects. Has anyone not had these problems? Or if not, has anyone had success taking other meds to counteract the problems? If so to what extent were the sexual problems improved? Thanks in advance for any input.
__________________________________________________All of them had the same effect on me - even when augmenting with stimulants mentioned (and not mentioned) in this thread. Sexual Dysfunction has been VASTLY under reported by the drug companies - nowhere near the original prescribing information on the package inserts. Generally speaking, most that find the problem with one will find it to varying, unacceptable degrees with most. The amazing thing to me is the amount of rationalisation that goes on that it's acceptable to live with.
If you have an anxiety disorder like me, you need to look into a benzodiazapine like klonopin or ativan or xanax. That's what works for me and millions of others - in my case klonopin daily with ativan PRN.
If you get the "addictive" BS speech from your doc, show him this or get a new doc that knows the difference and isn't commercially driven by the AD market:
http://panicdisorder.about.com/library/weekly/aa031997.htm
Alan
poster:Alan
thread:104209
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020425/msgs/104337.html