7+ years on SSRIs, need some support and maybe advice on where to go from here

July 12, 2012

Hi everyone,

I'm a 21-year old male who's been on SSRIs for over 7 years now, am dealing with

major sexual side effects, and am thinking about quitting but not sure if I am

already suffering from PSSD. Here is some detailed background.

At age 14, I was diagnosed with a pretty bad case of OCD, one that got so bad I

was hardly able to function in daily life without engaging in the OCD rituals

and unable to cope with the obsessive thoughts. At this point I couldn't deal

any longer, so I saw a psychiatrist. He prescribed me Zoloft, which almost by

magic decreased my OCD symptoms dramatically. But, as I grew older, I realized I

was experiencing sexual side effects that were becoming more of a problem

especially as I got through college. Specifically, while I had a more or less

healthy libido (or maybe just shy of normal), I had substantial desensitization

of my penis and I wouldn't be able to feel much down there. Ejaculation did not

often correlate with orgasm and when it did it wasn't that good of an orgasm.

Also, I had some extent of erectile dysfunction where my erections wouldn't be

as firm all the time, and sometimes they would go down and I wouldn't be able to

perform very well.

Anyway, fast forward to last month, after suffering the loss of an emotional

relationship (partly impacted by my sexual dysfunction) when I graduated from

college and decided I wanted to finally do something about the impairment to my

memory I felt I was expereincing on Zoloft as well as, of course, the

disappointing sexual side effects. Plus I was still experiencing some

depression-like symptoms, and I wanted a change.

I saw my doctor (a GP this time, because I really didn't like that psychiatrist

from back in the day), and he prescribed me Luvox. My doc claimed that Luvox is

known for having fewer or less severe sexual side effects than does Zoloft. Now,

I've gone from the lowest prescribed dose of Zoloft (50 mg) to HALF of the

lowest prescribed dose of Luvox (25 mg). To my surprise I noticed that the

cognitive impairment symptoms went away, but then in their place came some

moderate heart palpitations. These went away after a couple of weeks. But what

has now settled in is what appears to be an even worse sexual dysfunction than

on the Zoloft, even though I am at half the lowest prescribable dose of Luvox.

Here is the specific situation now: in addition to the symptoms I had before, I

am having way fewer erections caused by visual stimulation or simply out of

nowhere; my actual libido is significantly decreased (I don't really feel urges

to masturbate even though I've gone without for nearly two weeks now, and I'm

not really " turned on " very much by women I consciously know are extremely hot);

and when I do get erections, they aren't very firm at all.

Now, what is troubling me (and which is stressing me out and thus causing me to

feel depressed) is that I'm not sure if the Luvox itself is causing this, or if

it is somehow associated with the lack of serotonin caused by me taking such a

low dose of SSRI in general. I wish I could just get off of the SSRIs

altogether, but my doc thinks it'd a bad idea given my tendency to get into

modes of feeling down without any real reason. Plus, my OCD symptoms have

returned ever so slightly; nothing too debilitating though, but I don't know how

I will react (if at all) if I end up without medication.

In the longer term, I want to seek a therapist to help me with my OCD and

depression symptoms. But right now I want to know what is causing my sexual side

effects; do I actually have PSSD right now, or is the extremely low dose of

Luvox enough to trigger sexual side effects? Maybe I need to wait longer on this

current dose before jumping to conclusions?

Oh, and to make matters more complicated: I was informed by my doctor after some

recent blood work that my testosterone levels are substantially below normal for

a male at my age (21). They are at around 400, where I was told it is normal for

men at my age to be at their peak, around 1000 (800-1200). Of course, since

the sexual dysfunction has gotten worse for me, I imagine that has more to do

with these SSRIs than the testosterone levels, but I don't know how major of a

role the testo plays either. I don't imagine SSRIs can somehow reduce hormone

levels directly, can they?

I feel really alone about all this and I feel deprived of the intense emotional

and physical experiences of romance because of these side effects. Many of you

must feel the same and I empathize. I just would like some support and maybe

advice on what I should do from here, given that I am not entirely sure what is

causing my situation, and that uncertainty is just making me feel more bummed

about it. I'm just 21 and I feel old.

Thank you so much for reading my post.

July 13, 2012

hi,

lowered testosterone levels are very common in PSSD suffferers/ SSRI side effect

sufferers. SSRI are also known to mess with androgenes. So I think you can be

really sure (given that you are 21 years old) that the SSRI's have caused this

drop in testosterone levels.

In terms of PSSD nobody can say if you'll be affected. But it seems that most

SSRI-Users get their sexual functioning back when they quit.

>

> Hi everyone,

>

> I'm a 21-year old male who's been on SSRIs for over 7 years now, am dealing

with major sexual side effects, and am thinking about quitting but not sure if I

am already suffering from PSSD. Here is some detailed background.

>

> At age 14, I was diagnosed with a pretty bad case of OCD, one that got so bad

I was hardly able to function in daily life without engaging in the OCD rituals