Posted by RobertDavid on May 13, 2006, at 12:19:13
In reply to Re: EMSAM sexual side-effects » RobertDavid, posted by crabwalk on May 13, 2006, at 11:41:02
> Robert,
>
> Can you tell me what kind of sexual side effects you had on ssris? Was it just no sex drive or did you have genital anesthesia, ED, emotional flatness, etc.? Also did the effects persist for any period of time after quitting ssris? I'm wondering because I'm still hoping that emsam will help reverse the sexual side effects of ssris that never went away for me. So far not very much success at 3 weeks though. Thanks.I gave up on my last SSRI trial a few years ago. I tried Zoloft, Prozac, Luvox, Paxil, Celexa, Luvox and Lexapro. Basically all of them.
Some were worse sexual side effect offenders than others. For me, Paxil was the worst. Not only did I lose most interest in having sex, I could not get a full errection under any circumstances (let alone get off the couch). I was useless. With Zoloft I just didn't have my normal sex drive and when I did, performance wasn't as good, never felt like I was getting a typical full errection, but not as bad as Paxil. Luvox probably had the lease sexual side effect for me, but all of them just took some of the fun/joy/burning desire for sex away. I think I'd describe my experince with most of the SSRI's as " feminizing".
After I got off all the SSRI's within weeks sexually I was back to normal. EMSAM hasn't had any negative sexual side effects so far. If anything I'm more "mentally" interested in it. Physically everything is working the way it's supposed to. I suspect that just by feeling more energy, feeling less depressed I'm just back to a normal "craving" for sex.
I'd think once your get improvement for the anxiety/depression you're dealing with (I'm not sure which is more of an issue for you) you'll get your sex drive back. Hopefully EMSAM will be the ticket for you.
Though I've had a quick response to it, I think you really need to give EMSAM 6 to 8 weeks before you can come to conclusions unless for some reason side effects became so bad that you just can't continue. If it turns out to work, lift you mood, help with anxiety I'd suspect your other issues will get resolved.
I'm not completly positive, but I don't think SSRI's would cause permanent damage to your sex life, at least I haven't hear of that before. I think when your feeling better everything will get better. Lastly, the one thing that always helps with my sex drive is when I get regular cardio exercise.
Just my take. Hope that's some help. Rob
poster:RobertDavid
thread:642942
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060510/msgs/643486.html