Post-SSRI-Sexual Dysfunction
Hello, I have been lurking these forums for quite a while now and have found them to be very helpful. I have some questions/concerns about some things and I figured this would be a good place to ask. It's all rather complicated so I apologize if this post gets long.
First off I'll say that prior to being put on an SSRI in my teens (I'm 25 now), my sex drive was completely normal; even though I did not engage in sexual activity at the time, I could get pretty aroused and feel a lot of pleasure over even fleeting sexual thoughts. But since going on an SSRI, and even after stopping these drugs for longer than 6 months, my sexuality has never been the same...it takes a lot more to even get aroused, and even when I do manage to have an orgasm I'd say it's only moderately pleasurable much of the time, more like just a release of tension. I did some research and found out there is a disorder called Post-SSRI-Sexual Dysfunction, which I believe I have...it's when the sexual side effects of the SSRIs don't end after stopping the medication and/or take a lot longer to end. I've been really worried ever since finding out about it, that I will never be sexually normal again. However, I did stop taking the Celexa about two weeks ago (so far so good), and have been making great strides in improving my diet and overall health, and have been trying to follow Zaneblue's diet..so I'm hoping that all this combined with being off the medication permanently will restore things to normal eventually. I want to ask my doctor about this to see if she can prescribe me something to help get it back to normal but I haven't had the guts to so far.
So I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has any experience with this and if you can offer me any suggestions...thanks for listening.