melamarcia75
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Hy folks, I have a problem and despite being a MD I'm not able to solve it, so I'm trying to find some advice from somebody who has experienced a similar situation.
I was put on antidepressants (tried several SSRIs and 1 SNRI, venlafaxine) more than 10 years ago for major depressive disorder, and for several years I've suffered from severe sexual dysfunction (especially complete loss of sex drive and genital anesthesia), with paroxetine and venlafaxine being the worst drugs of all from that point of view.
However, in 2007, I augmentet the SSRI-therapy with bupropion: I was on 20mg of escitalopram a day and bupropion (300mg per day) fully restored my sex drive, while SSRI-induced delayed ejaculation persisted. It was a favourable situation, for I was always satisfied, even when I wasn't able to climax I never got frustrated but was just horny, and could go on for 2-3 hours without stopping.... usually, I suffer from premature ejaculation, so I was very very happy at the time.
At present, I have problems again: after having stopped bupropion for about 2 years, now I'm trying it again but it seems not to work any more for that purpose... Some time ago I was taken off all antidepressants because now I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder type 2 and put on Lithium and Lamotrigine, but in addition to this mood-stabilizers I decided to take an SSRI again to treat my premature ejaculation.
Unfortunately, my sex drive is almost zero and I'm not willing to give up the antidepressant 'cause I would not be able to accept premature ejaculation any longer.
In addition to tadalafil (Cialis), which improves erection but , as expected, not the I am trying some antidotes to counteract the SSRI-induced libido loss, but without luck: I am still taking the weak dopamine reuptake inhibitor Bupropion, and now I tried to add dopamine-agonists (didn't tolerate pramipexole, am trying cabergoline since 2 weeks [0,5mg E3D] but don't feel any sexual benefits, will continue taking it and increase the dose, and if it shouldn't work I still could try roipinirole )...... I even considered taking Sustanon 250 (testosterone) but as SSRIs don't interfere with the testosterone level I don't think my testosterone is too low (btw blood test didn't reveal any imbalance 2 or 3 months ago), and neither that my prolactine is too high (otherwise cabergoline should already have normalized it, and I haven't felt any difference).... however, I've found some literature where the possible use of testosterone in the treatment of antidepressant-related libido loss is discussed, a small study seems to indicate that testosterone has a therapeutic potential for that, even if the testosterone level is not altered at baseline.
Can somebody suggest me other antidotes (Buspirone is not available in Italy)? Has anybody succesfully treated his antidepressant-induced libido loss with testosterone?
For all testosterone users here: can you give me an advice based upon your experiencen in order to avoid errors beginners can make?
many greetz from Italy
Alessandro
I was put on antidepressants (tried several SSRIs and 1 SNRI, venlafaxine) more than 10 years ago for major depressive disorder, and for several years I've suffered from severe sexual dysfunction (especially complete loss of sex drive and genital anesthesia), with paroxetine and venlafaxine being the worst drugs of all from that point of view.
However, in 2007, I augmentet the SSRI-therapy with bupropion: I was on 20mg of escitalopram a day and bupropion (300mg per day) fully restored my sex drive, while SSRI-induced delayed ejaculation persisted. It was a favourable situation, for I was always satisfied, even when I wasn't able to climax I never got frustrated but was just horny, and could go on for 2-3 hours without stopping.... usually, I suffer from premature ejaculation, so I was very very happy at the time.
At present, I have problems again: after having stopped bupropion for about 2 years, now I'm trying it again but it seems not to work any more for that purpose... Some time ago I was taken off all antidepressants because now I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder type 2 and put on Lithium and Lamotrigine, but in addition to this mood-stabilizers I decided to take an SSRI again to treat my premature ejaculation.
Unfortunately, my sex drive is almost zero and I'm not willing to give up the antidepressant 'cause I would not be able to accept premature ejaculation any longer.
In addition to tadalafil (Cialis), which improves erection but , as expected, not the I am trying some antidotes to counteract the SSRI-induced libido loss, but without luck: I am still taking the weak dopamine reuptake inhibitor Bupropion, and now I tried to add dopamine-agonists (didn't tolerate pramipexole, am trying cabergoline since 2 weeks [0,5mg E3D] but don't feel any sexual benefits, will continue taking it and increase the dose, and if it shouldn't work I still could try roipinirole )...... I even considered taking Sustanon 250 (testosterone) but as SSRIs don't interfere with the testosterone level I don't think my testosterone is too low (btw blood test didn't reveal any imbalance 2 or 3 months ago), and neither that my prolactine is too high (otherwise cabergoline should already have normalized it, and I haven't felt any difference).... however, I've found some literature where the possible use of testosterone in the treatment of antidepressant-related libido loss is discussed, a small study seems to indicate that testosterone has a therapeutic potential for that, even if the testosterone level is not altered at baseline.
Can somebody suggest me other antidotes (Buspirone is not available in Italy)? Has anybody succesfully treated his antidepressant-induced libido loss with testosterone?
For all testosterone users here: can you give me an advice based upon your experiencen in order to avoid errors beginners can make?
many greetz from Italy
Alessandro
It has only been a short while but ... I am hopeful. A few small studies on Pregnenolone for the treatment of depression and even bipolar if I rememberer correctly. Of course you won't find the big pharmaceutical company studies because they can't patent or trademark this kind of treatment.
