antideprssant question - SoberRecovery : Alcoholism Drug Addiction Help and Information

tkdan · 12-05-2005, 10:41 AM

Do all antidepressants cause sexual side effects? I was once on paxil and I felt great little things did not stress me out and life was much easier. But the side effects (sexual) were intolerable. I was changed to Effexor and the side effects were not as bad but did exsist to some degree. I'm currently not taking anything.

shutterbug · 12-05-2005, 08:07 PM

Not all of them cause sexual side-affects, but I'm not sure which since I'm single and therefore I'm glad not to have a libido right now

historyteach · 12-06-2005, 04:55 AM

Welbutrin is known not to have the sexual side effects that the SSRIs have. Although the regular 2X a day Welbutrin SR is fine, the 1X a day Welbutrin XL is advertised specifically as not having those effects. I found that by the time I was due to take the next day's pill, I had a headache. The XL has a cleaner molecule, my doc told me. I went back to the SR.
Please talk to your doctor about it.

Shalom!

tkdan · 12-06-2005, 07:54 AM

Thanks for the info.

Don W · 12-09-2005, 04:48 PM

Sorry, I missed this. Many do have sexual side affects but, the degree of which depends on the person's make up. I found out the hard way that we don't need to put up with it. I accepted it because it was helping other issues. What my doctor has done is change me from Paxil but, added a medication to offset the problem. Sort of like Viagra. I can't think of it now but, if you go to thread about difficult question to ask, I gave the names. My problem was being embarrassed to ask. I had some child sexual abuse issues that added to the problem. The key is talking to the doctor about it. My VA doctor kept asking me if there were sex problems. I kept telling him no. Once I talked to him and the problem was solved he questioned me. Mr. wallace, if this is uncommon why would I ask you every appointment if there was a problem? What is uncommon he said is all the Vererans that tell me that there isn't a problem. Anyway, what he did was give me a milder antidepressant along with an enhancer. Which believe it or not is also a anti depressant. This is how they found out about Viagra etc. Because the list of antidepressants grew and more people were put on them, the discovered that a new issue arose(no pun intended), OK yes it was. The bottom line is it worked. Just don't be like me and others and try to solve the problem with reverse self medication. That is removing yourself to solve the problem. Just be careful, one side affect is a prolonged you know what. If I have an extended, rise to the occasion that last for more than 4 hours, I'm to rush to an ER. Sorry but, I must add humor to this. What do I tell the intake nurse when asked my problem? Some of my wife's friends told her to call them instead of the Emergency Room. Ha! Ha! Sorry if I offended anyone but, this is a true side affect to be concerned with.

bella · 12-09-2005, 09:53 PM

YAY, i'm not the only one with this problem lol. just to let you know you are not alone. me and my hubby are having the same problem with zoloft. feel free to pm me if you want and definatley pm me if you find a solution.

tkdan · 12-12-2005, 02:34 PM

Don W
I think you misunderstood me I said sleep side effects (but thanks for sharing) HA HA. We are not on the same page though. Raising the flagpole was not the problem. When I was on paxil I could not get the result I was shooting for. No matter how long we did it for, it just would not happen (I know I know I've heard it before "your wife must have loved that"). The truth is she did not sure at first she liked it but even she had limits. It was very frustrating for me no matter how hard I tried it would not happen. My doctor switched me to effexor and the problem did not completely go away. On occaion it would come back again. I would say that on effexor I could complete the deal about 85 percent of the time. That still left me with a 15 percent fail rate which was unacceptable. I'm not on anything now and I'm firing on all cylinders. I do think I would at times do better in day to day life if I were on something to keep me from stressing over every little things that happen. When I was on antidepressants I was much calmer and relaxed but I think the side effects made me more depressed.

shutterbug · 12-12-2005, 03:06 PM

What were the sleep side effects you mentioned? I didn't catch that...all I caught were sexual side affects?

Tkdan...a lot of men have the exact same problems of not being able to finish when on meds.

Some suggest focusing on the in-between and not putting any pressure on yourself to finish...just enjoy the act. Stressing over the end result can cause it not to happen in itself.

Just look at it from a girls perspective....many of us have problems achieving climax and we still have sex don't we? yeppers. If we only cared about being able to finish then you guys wouldn't get it very often...haha.

Don't you think having a happy life is more important than a perfect sex life?

***indigo*** · 12-12-2005, 05:26 PM

Well on my last drugs effexor, lexomil and Noctran my libido dropped out of my life, to my great dismay! recently I have had a drugs change and after the initial wiped out effect I am starting to feel I've been missing a lot......watch this space!

Don W · 12-12-2005, 05:38 PM

Sorry, But, the first sentence reads, " Do all antiDepressants cause sexual side affects?"m Maybe I'm just confused and mis understood.

shutterbug · 12-12-2005, 07:15 PM

Indigo...nice to see you around these days....I've read old posts of yours but I don't think I've ever ran into you in an active thread. Nice to meet you!

tkdan · 12-13-2005, 08:46 AM

Don W
I meant that as a joke. Maybe not a very funny one though.

bikewench · 12-13-2005, 09:02 AM

Quote:

I would at times do better in day to day life if I were on something to keep me from stressing over every little things that happen.

How about just learning to not stress over every little thing that happens... ;o)

it's possible..

Don...
love your innuendo and humor...
and I laughted out loud when TK zinged ya back...lol

shutterbug · 12-13-2005, 03:30 PM

Sorry guys....my brain took a vacation....i didn't catch the jokes.
(dumb me) Sorry.

tkdan · 12-15-2005, 07:47 AM

Yesterday I started on Wellbutrin XL. I have not had the pleasure of giving it the road test or bed test or it could be a road test is my wife were game. As soon as the results come in I will let the interested individuals know. Help me obe wan wellbutrin you are my only hope.

meli2005 · 12-17-2005, 04:45 PM

I've heard Wellbutrin is a good one if you want to avoid sexual side effects. I tried Wellbutrin, it didn't do anything for me except hype me up. I did not like the feeling it gave me. Works well for some and poorly for others. YOu might try it. As for a lot of the others, I've had low sex drive on them, but I have never had a particularly high sex drive anyway. But would rather have a low sex drive over being depressed.

Drencrom · 12-18-2005, 06:50 AM

I'm taking Prozac, my sexual desires have increased. It takes a lot longer to get there

but my wife doesn't complain.

roadie58 · 12-18-2005, 06:22 PM

Thanks for starting this frank, open discussion about an effect of drugs that many of us take for depression and the results of getting clean from drugs and alcohol.

I started Wellbutrin SR just three days ago also. Contrary to my Dr's warning, I felt the effects of it from the very first pill, it was like WOW!

I'm hopelessly single, so the sexual side effects wer'ent such a big deal since I don't have a partner. But I was concerned about weight gain, so got put on this one.

Maybe this is weird thinking, but I'm almost thinking like shutterbug that if my sex drive was decreased, it wouldn't be a bad thing. It's just one more depressing thing about my life that I have no partner. In fact I actually joked about it with my doctor that it would be a relief if my drive decreased, but can understand that the effect or some anti D drugs on men might not be lack of drive or erection problems, but the inability to orgasm (can I say that here?)

But just for fun (because it's a habit that I don't feel guilty about) I did a 'test run' the other morning, and first time took longer than normal, I went back to sleep a while, then felt good upon waking, so had a second, then a third. More than I've done drunk or sober or clean for some time. It was like superman had returned. I don't understand it, but (joking aside) more research in this department is needed. I wonder if there are studies on the effects on men on various antiD meds.

A friend was on Effectsor and had orgasm trouble, but the Dr. decreased his dose and he was back to normal. I do agree with the writers who have said 'so what if it takes a while or if the big bang doesn't happen every time' I suppose it is making the male response similar to the female, and taking a little additional time should be a welcome change for most guys out there (if your partner isn't hurting, anyway).

By the way, I'm middle aged and overweight if that has any bearing on the results of this 'survey'

Michael

roadie58 · 12-19-2005, 01:06 AM

had a bit of sleep between 10 and 1, then my body's 'wakeup call' as I affectionately call it kicked in. Usually it was around 4 am that I'd 'need something', but tonight was very early, despite being exhausted from driving 10 hours in last two days. Anyway, skip details but lets say 3x between 1 and 3. My brain is just racing. Maybe my Wellbutrin dose is too strong as my thoughts just won't slow down. Especially the naughty ones...

And I'm still on my first week of only 1 pill a day in the morning. Yikes.....hope I can get to sleep now...

roadie58 · 12-19-2005, 05:36 AM

not to side track here, but I went back to bed and had horrible bizarre violent dreams until waking. Anybody have this?

historyteach · 12-19-2005, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Help me obe wan wellbutrin you are my only hope.

Now THAT'S funny!!!

Hope everything comes--er...works out ok...

Shalom!

roadie58 · 12-20-2005, 06:16 AM

No weird dreams last night, but had trouble getting to sleep. I think I might be steadying out on this Wellbutrin. The libido thing isn't as strong as last couple of days. I seem really sensitive to this med, don't know if I can do two a day or not.

roadie58 · 12-20-2005, 07:38 PM

anybody out there have anything to say on this topic?

12-05-2005, 10:41 AM	#1 (permalink)
tkdan Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: TX Posts: 506	antideprssant question Do all antidepressants cause sexual side effects? I was once on paxil and I felt great little things did not stress me out and life was much easier. But the side effects (sexual) were intolerable. I was changed to Effexor and the side effects were not as bad but did exsist to some degree. I'm currently not taking anything. __________________ Life is too short to be waisted! Life is best lived in the present moment! Sobriety Date: 11/16/08

12-05-2005, 08:07 PM	#2 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,957	Not all of them cause sexual side-affects, but I'm not sure which since I'm single and therefore I'm glad not to have a libido right now __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).

12-06-2005, 04:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
historyteach To Life! Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 8,882	Welbutrin is known not to have the sexual side effects that the SSRIs have. Although the regular 2X a day Welbutrin SR is fine, the 1X a day Welbutrin XL is advertised specifically as not having those effects. I found that by the time I was due to take the next day's pill, I had a headache. The XL has a cleaner molecule, my doc told me. I went back to the SR. Please talk to your doctor about it. Shalom! __________________ IMAGINE

12-06-2005, 07:54 AM	#4 (permalink)
tkdan Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: TX Posts: 506	Thanks for the info. __________________ Life is too short to be waisted! Life is best lived in the present moment! Sobriety Date: 11/16/08

12-09-2005, 04:48 PM	#5 (permalink)
Don W Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Charleston S.C. Posts: 1,462	Sorry, I missed this. Many do have sexual side affects but, the degree of which depends on the person's make up. I found out the hard way that we don't need to put up with it. I accepted it because it was helping other issues. What my doctor has done is change me from Paxil but, added a medication to offset the problem. Sort of like Viagra. I can't think of it now but, if you go to thread about difficult question to ask, I gave the names. My problem was being embarrassed to ask. I had some child sexual abuse issues that added to the problem. The key is talking to the doctor about it. My VA doctor kept asking me if there were sex problems. I kept telling him no. Once I talked to him and the problem was solved he questioned me. Mr. wallace, if this is uncommon why would I ask you every appointment if there was a problem? What is uncommon he said is all the Vererans that tell me that there isn't a problem. Anyway, what he did was give me a milder antidepressant along with an enhancer. Which believe it or not is also a anti depressant. This is how they found out about Viagra etc. Because the list of antidepressants grew and more people were put on them, the discovered that a new issue arose(no pun intended), OK yes it was. The bottom line is it worked. Just don't be like me and others and try to solve the problem with reverse self medication. That is removing yourself to solve the problem. Just be careful, one side affect is a prolonged you know what. If I have an extended, rise to the occasion that last for more than 4 hours, I'm to rush to an ER. Sorry but, I must add humor to this. What do I tell the intake nurse when asked my problem? Some of my wife's friends told her to call them instead of the Emergency Room. Ha! Ha! Sorry if I offended anyone but, this is a true side affect to be concerned with. __________________ Captain America - On the side of good

12-09-2005, 09:53 PM	#6 (permalink)
bella Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Hog Country Posts: 167	YAY, i'm not the only one with this problem lol. just to let you know you are not alone. me and my hubby are having the same problem with zoloft. feel free to pm me if you want and definatley pm me if you find a solution. __________________

12-12-2005, 02:34 PM	#7 (permalink)
tkdan Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: TX Posts: 506	Don W I think you misunderstood me I said sleep side effects (but thanks for sharing) HA HA. We are not on the same page though. Raising the flagpole was not the problem. When I was on paxil I could not get the result I was shooting for. No matter how long we did it for, it just would not happen (I know I know I've heard it before "your wife must have loved that"). The truth is she did not sure at first she liked it but even she had limits. It was very frustrating for me no matter how hard I tried it would not happen. My doctor switched me to effexor and the problem did not completely go away. On occaion it would come back again. I would say that on effexor I could complete the deal about 85 percent of the time. That still left me with a 15 percent fail rate which was unacceptable. I'm not on anything now and I'm firing on all cylinders. I do think I would at times do better in day to day life if I were on something to keep me from stressing over every little things that happen. When I was on antidepressants I was much calmer and relaxed but I think the side effects made me more depressed. __________________ Life is too short to be waisted! Life is best lived in the present moment! Sobriety Date: 11/16/08

12-12-2005, 03:06 PM	#8 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,957	What were the sleep side effects you mentioned? I didn't catch that...all I caught were sexual side affects? Tkdan...a lot of men have the exact same problems of not being able to finish when on meds. Some suggest focusing on the in-between and not putting any pressure on yourself to finish...just enjoy the act. Stressing over the end result can cause it not to happen in itself. Just look at it from a girls perspective....many of us have problems achieving climax and we still have sex don't we? yeppers. If we only cared about being able to finish then you guys wouldn't get it very often...haha. Don't you think having a happy life is more important than a perfect sex life? __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).

12-12-2005, 05:26 PM	#9 (permalink)
*indigo* Community Greeter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Mid-Life Express Posts: 9,919	Well on my last drugs effexor, lexomil and Noctran my libido dropped out of my life, to my great dismay! recently I have had a drugs change and after the initial wiped out effect I am starting to feel I've been missing a lot......watch this space! __________________ When you judge others, you do not define them, you define yourself." Namasté

12-12-2005, 05:38 PM	#10 (permalink)
Don W Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Charleston S.C. Posts: 1,462	Sorry, But, the first sentence reads, " Do all antiDepressants cause sexual side affects?"m Maybe I'm just confused and mis understood. __________________ Captain America - On the side of good

12-12-2005, 07:15 PM	#11 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,957	Indigo...nice to see you around these days....I've read old posts of yours but I don't think I've ever ran into you in an active thread. Nice to meet you! __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).

12-13-2005, 08:46 AM	#12 (permalink)
tkdan Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: TX Posts: 506	Don W I meant that as a joke. Maybe not a very funny one though. __________________ Life is too short to be waisted! Life is best lived in the present moment! Sobriety Date: 11/16/08

12-13-2005, 03:30 PM	#14 (permalink)
shutterbug A picture's worth a 1000 words Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: With any luck, I'm lost in a view finder Posts: 2,957	Sorry guys....my brain took a vacation....i didn't catch the jokes. (dumb me) Sorry. __________________ I'M FINE!! Fanatically Insecure Neuratic & Emotional Bipolar/Depression support: 1-800-950-NAMI(6264).

12-15-2005, 07:47 AM	#15 (permalink)
tkdan Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: TX Posts: 506	Yesterday I started on Wellbutrin XL. I have not had the pleasure of giving it the road test or bed test or it could be a road test is my wife were game. As soon as the results come in I will let the interested individuals know. Help me obe wan wellbutrin you are my only hope. __________________ Life is too short to be waisted! Life is best lived in the present moment! Sobriety Date: 11/16/08

12-17-2005, 04:45 PM	#16 (permalink)
meli2005 Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Parker, CO Posts: 502	I've heard Wellbutrin is a good one if you want to avoid sexual side effects. I tried Wellbutrin, it didn't do anything for me except hype me up. I did not like the feeling it gave me. Works well for some and poorly for others. YOu might try it. As for a lot of the others, I've had low sex drive on them, but I have never had a particularly high sex drive anyway. But would rather have a low sex drive over being depressed.

12-18-2005, 06:50 AM	#17 (permalink)
Drencrom Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Kansas City, Missouri. Posts: 13	I'm taking Prozac, my sexual desires have increased. It takes a lot longer to get there but my wife doesn't complain.

12-18-2005, 06:22 PM	#18 (permalink)
roadie58 "The BAND" workshop ROCKS! Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Posts: 1,504	Thanks for starting this frank, open discussion about an effect of drugs that many of us take for depression and the results of getting clean from drugs and alcohol. I started Wellbutrin SR just three days ago also. Contrary to my Dr's warning, I felt the effects of it from the very first pill, it was like WOW! I'm hopelessly single, so the sexual side effects wer'ent such a big deal since I don't have a partner. But I was concerned about weight gain, so got put on this one. Maybe this is weird thinking, but I'm almost thinking like shutterbug that if my sex drive was decreased, it wouldn't be a bad thing. It's just one more depressing thing about my life that I have no partner. In fact I actually joked about it with my doctor that it would be a relief if my drive decreased, but can understand that the effect or some anti D drugs on men might not be lack of drive or erection problems, but the inability to orgasm (can I say that here?) But just for fun (because it's a habit that I don't feel guilty about) I did a 'test run' the other morning, and first time took longer than normal, I went back to sleep a while, then felt good upon waking, so had a second, then a third. More than I've done drunk or sober or clean for some time. It was like superman had returned. I don't understand it, but (joking aside) more research in this department is needed. I wonder if there are studies on the effects on men on various antiD meds. A friend was on Effectsor and had orgasm trouble, but the Dr. decreased his dose and he was back to normal. I do agree with the writers who have said 'so what if it takes a while or if the big bang doesn't happen every time' I suppose it is making the male response similar to the female, and taking a little additional time should be a welcome change for most guys out there (if your partner isn't hurting, anyway). By the way, I'm middle aged and overweight if that has any bearing on the results of this 'survey' Michael __________________ Roadie - frigging TWO YEARS clean and sober, if I can do it, you can do it! read about my adventures staying clean in sober in 'I'm ALIVE V2' in the Substance Abuse Forum..

12-19-2005, 01:06 AM	#19 (permalink)
roadie58 "The BAND" workshop ROCKS! Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Posts: 1,504	had a bit of sleep between 10 and 1, then my body's 'wakeup call' as I affectionately call it kicked in. Usually it was around 4 am that I'd 'need something', but tonight was very early, despite being exhausted from driving 10 hours in last two days. Anyway, skip details but lets say 3x between 1 and 3. My brain is just racing. Maybe my Wellbutrin dose is too strong as my thoughts just won't slow down. Especially the naughty ones... And I'm still on my first week of only 1 pill a day in the morning. Yikes.....hope I can get to sleep now... __________________ Roadie - frigging TWO YEARS clean and sober, if I can do it, you can do it! read about my adventures staying clean in sober in 'I'm ALIVE V2' in the Substance Abuse Forum..

12-19-2005, 05:36 AM	#20 (permalink)
roadie58 "The BAND" workshop ROCKS! Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Posts: 1,504	not to side track here, but I went back to bed and had horrible bizarre violent dreams until waking. Anybody have this? __________________ Roadie - frigging TWO YEARS clean and sober, if I can do it, you can do it! read about my adventures staying clean in sober in 'I'm ALIVE V2' in the Substance Abuse Forum..

12-20-2005, 06:16 AM	#22 (permalink)
roadie58 "The BAND" workshop ROCKS! Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Posts: 1,504	No weird dreams last night, but had trouble getting to sleep. I think I might be steadying out on this Wellbutrin. The libido thing isn't as strong as last couple of days. I seem really sensitive to this med, don't know if I can do two a day or not. __________________ Roadie - frigging TWO YEARS clean and sober, if I can do it, you can do it! read about my adventures staying clean in sober in 'I'm ALIVE V2' in the Substance Abuse Forum..

12-20-2005, 07:38 PM	#23 (permalink)
roadie58 "The BAND" workshop ROCKS! Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Indianapolis, Indiana Posts: 1,504	anybody out there have anything to say on this topic? __________________ Roadie - frigging TWO YEARS clean and sober, if I can do it, you can do it! read about my adventures staying clean in sober in 'I'm ALIVE V2' in the Substance Abuse Forum..

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