Posted by King Vultan on July 1, 2004, at 9:54:34
In reply to sex and antidepressants « tampagirl70, posted by Dr. Bob on June 30, 2004, at 21:57:12
> Posted by tampagirl70 on June 30, 2004, at 14:51:50
>
> > ever since i started taking ad's 6 years ago, my sex drive has decreased. what can i take or do to increase it/make it better? i'm taking celexa and wellbutrin, 2 of the meds with supposedly the least amount of sexual side effects.
>I agree with Bill that the Celexa is likely the problem. Wellbutrin may be counteracting the effects somewhat, but SSRIs are very sexually unfriendly. One thing you might want to consider is the use of a dopamine agonist such as bromocriptine or Mirapex, as these drugs do appear to be effective in some instances for treating hypoactive sexual desire. However, they can have significant side effects, particularly somnolence and nausea, and there is much less evidence of their effectiveness for this application than say, taking an antidepressant for depression.
A more drastic step would be to replace the Celexa and Wellbutrin combination with the MAOI Parnate, which has a very minimal degree of sexual dysfunction, similar to taking Wellbutrin by itself. It and Wellbutrin are likely the only two drugs from the antidepressant class that might actually be considered pro-sexual. I believe the Parnate would likely be a more effective AD than your current combo also, but it is clearly far more problematic than the relatively innocuous combo of Celexa + Wellbutrin.
You may also wish to also explore some of the alternative OTC and herbal remedies available. I tend to look askance at packages of stuff being sold in convenience stores, perhaps with condoms nearby, but maybe there is a small chance that this type of thing might prove at least marginally effective in some cases. I have also seen products like this for sale in nutritional stores such as GNC. However, I think I would seek out anecdotes of personal experience with some of these products first, plus research the ingredients as best I could for safety and effectiveness.
Todd
poster:King Vultan
thread:362153
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040627/msgs/362263.html