Posted by Racer on September 28, 2004, at 9:53:20
In reply to Well Great....Now I Can't Have Sex and Enjoy It, posted by AdaGrace on September 27, 2004, at 11:13:45
> Thanks to Lexapro and Ativan, I can no longer have an orgasm......isn't that special. Great way to try to rebuild closeness with my husband. Now, do I quit taking the meds and suffer more depression, or do I keep taking the meds and suffer more distance with him?????????
There are other options which can help. The Lexapro is probably the culprit for your anorgasmia. All the SSRIs are known for that particular side effect. (Be thankful, though, that you're taking it now, not when they started coming out. The first doctor to prescribe an SSRI for me -- Paxil -- told me, when I reported anorgasmia, that "sexual side effects only happened to men..." Um... Hello? The portion of the body affected is in the BRAIN, Buddy, not the penis...)There are a bunch of options, though, for overcoming this side effect. Let's see... Medication holidays, which is basically planning to have sex and stopping the medication for a few days in advance of that -- NOT recommended by me. Adding Wellbutrin to counteract the sexual side effects, which I've never tried.
And the one that has worked like a charm for me, and is what I'd recommend you try first: cyproheptidine, also known as Periactin. It basically blocks the effects of the Lexapro for a short time, thus resolving the anorgasmia -- and then wears off so the drug goes back to being its good old self again. Periactin is an old anti-histimine, and it does all those old AH things, like making you sleepy and making your mouth dry, but -- again -- it wears off. For me, it's like having my own version of Viagra. I take it before sex (about half an hour before), and then I can do whatever I had in mind to do, and then it puts me to sleep. By the time I wake up, it's worn off. Love the stuff. As an added bonus for me, my territorial tomcat (neutered, but hasn't really noticed) likes to re-establish his dominance in my life and my bed after my husband and I are intimate, and the Periactin helps with my cat allergy after a night with my nose in his fur.
Best luck.
poster:Racer
thread:395734
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/relate/20040917/msgs/396247.html