Sex & Romance
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Climax and Anti-depressants

I'm dealing with divorce and I'm taking an anti-depressant.  I love sex and I haven't lost my sex drive AT ALL, but it's impossible for me to climax.  What can I do?  Anything? 

Re: Climax and Anti-depressants

  • Been there, done that.

    Talk to your Dr. and tell her/him that you can't climax. Don't worry about being embarrassed about talking about this, they've heard it all and if it's important to you, it's important to your well being.

    I'm going to go out on a limb and assume they have you on some kind of SSRI. They may adjust the dosage of whatever you are taking (probably down).

    I'm a guy, but when I was going through this I was on Lexapro 10mg 1x daily for anxiety. After taking this for a few weeks I suddenly realized I gradually lost interest in sex, until I just never even thought about it. Trying to have sex was more of a chore than anything. I could perform the act, but just never finish. It just didn't feel good.

    I spoke to my doctor and he said start cutting the dose in half. Reducing to 5mg helped. I was able to climax, but it took a lot of both physical and mental energy and it still didn't feel as good as it did when I wasn't on the medication. He also suggested supplementing with another med called busiprone, which supposedly helps with sexual issues when taking SSRIs among other things. However,  the thought of taking one MH medicine didn't really appeal to me, starting to mix them wasn't at all appealing so I never did try that.

    After about two months of this I said enough was enough and I weaned myself off of the SSRI. Fortunately, my anxiety didn't return for a good length of time and I haven't yet had to return to SSRI use. Even though it's been suggested a few times, I try and manage without it. As I explained to my doctor, I didn't really feel anxious or depressed while taking it, but I never really felt happy either. Emotions just kind of flatlined.

    Being sexual is one of the gretest things about being human. To deprive one's self of that can be worse than battling with the other issues that life may bring along.

    Good luck!

     

  • ~NB~~NB~ member
    5000 Comments Combo Breaker

    Sexual dysfunction is the #1 side effect of SSRIs. That's why I would never take them. 

    As the previous responder stated, a sex life is a lot to give up; and in some cases, the damage to sexual functioning and libido is permanent.

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