Posted by HIBA on December 17, 2002, at 1:53:57
In reply to Re: On lexapro and no errection for a month, posted by ItsHowdyDudyTime on December 15, 2002, at 10:39:03
It is unfortunate, you are blocked because of an offence. Anyway, I hope you may read this thread.
I am not against SSRIs or any other antidepressants. But what I wrote is the fact I gained from my own experience. SSRIs cause significant impairment of sexual function and even after discontinuance, an instant return to pre-ssri level is very unlikely. I have seen patients who could never retrieve their normal sexual desire even months after quitting prozac and similar ssris. True, there could be many exceptions. Some people become hypersexual on SSRIs. But exceptions are only exceptions and should not be generalized. What we hear more is about SSRI sexual dysfunction and many websites are there primarily created to seek the possibilities of how to overcome it. Periactin, amantadine, buspar, wellbutrin.... the list antidotes are fairly long. For me it is just like adding insult to injury. After trying all these antidotes, I myself surrendered to the awesome powers of SSRI to create a deep, very deep impact on my sexuality. I am definitely not alone. There are many and the number is still increasing. So once an SSRI has this adverse sexual effect, it doesn't go away with time or with antidotes. (I don't forget the exceptions). The more you use them harder it will be to retrieve the normalcy of your sexuality.
SSRIs gained awesome reputation among physicians and patients at the initial stages of marketing to the extent that physicians began to prescribe them for even mild anxiety disorders like situational anxiety. Fortunately, the scenario is slowly changing and more physicians are becoming aware of the possible hazards of antidepressant therapy. Antidepressants are not innocuous substances to try in simple psychiatric conditions like anxiety and stress. But major depression is a life threatening condition and if those SSRIs are only the way out they should be tried arbitrarily to save a life. There is no doubt at all. Sexual problems, we can deal later. The first priority should be to save a life. But after the stabilization, if the patient is experiencing a severe loss of libido and erection, chances are there for non-compliance. So it becomes equally important to deal with.
HIBA
poster:HIBA
thread:131641
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021210/msgs/132107.html