Posted by Chairman_MAO on January 30, 2004, at 13:36:30
In reply to Effexor - URGENT - Help, posted by Simon John Wilson on January 30, 2004, at 12:58:15
Sexual dysfunction happens to some extent in about 70% of people who take Effexor. If your doctor is not familiar with some ways to treat this, you should find another doctor. It would probably be prudent to wait another three weeks to see if it gets better or worse. In my opinion, the optimal solution for SSRI-induced sexual dysfunction is a little bit of extra dopamine.
Show this study to your doctor (although there's a good possibility he/she could be of more help than I am, I'd hope):
Ropinirole for antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction
by
Worthington JJ, Simon NM, Korbly NB,
Perlis RH, Pollack MH;
For the Anxiety Disorders Research Program.
Int Clin Psychopharmacol 2002 Nov;17(6):307-10ABSTRACT
Sexual dysfunction is a relatively common side-effect of antidepressants, occurring in approximately one-half of patients, and is associated with significant distress and treatment non-compliance. Dopaminergic agents have been reported to be helpful for the treatment of antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction and, in this report, we examined the efficacy of the dopamine agonist ropinirole for this indication. Thirteen patients (three women, 10 men), aged 42.6 +/- 7.7 years, who reported sexual dysfunction on a stable dose of antidepressant, were treated openly with ropinirole initiated at 0.25 mg/day and titrated up to 2-4 mg/day over 4 weeks, as tolerated. Ten of the 13 took ropinirole for at least 4 weeks, one discontinued due to an adverse event and two because of lack of response. Sexual dysfunction, as assessed by the Arizona Sexual Experience Scale scores, was reduced from 18.8 +/- 3.6 to 13.8 +/- 4.3 after 4 weeks on ropinirole at a mean dose of 2.1 mg/day. Overall, seven of 13 patients (54%) were rated as responders on the Clinical Global Impression of Improvement Scale. The addition of ropinirole may represent a potentially useful treatment strategy for antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction.
poster:Chairman_MAO
thread:307317
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040127/msgs/307332.html