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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Low sex drive after getting off antidepressant
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
Low sex drive after getting off antidepressant
by computersarefun, Dec 25, 2003 12:00AM
Hi! I am a 24 year-old male. I was taking 150 mg of Effexor XR daily for about two years for depression/social anxiety. While I was on the medication, my sex drive was normal but I noticed that my erections were difficult to maintain and about half the normal strength. I have been completely off the medication for over a year. Every since I stopped taking it, I noticed that my sex drive has been severely reduced. Seeing attractive women produces hardly any physical response. I also still suffer from the same erectile difficulties described above. I am wondering if getting off the medication somehow permanently affected my sex drive. I am generally happy now without any symptoms of depression. Is this a common situation and is there anything I can do to restore my sex drive and performance? Could getting off the medicine have left me in some kind of hormonal imbalance? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Dec 26, 2003 12:00AM
, Dec 26, 2003 12:00AM
There are many variations of this, and sometimes, there is a loss of sex drive after antidepressants, but it usually only lasts several months. I would look into other causes ...perhaps you are ready for a love relationship that is serious and just visual imagery of an attractive woman is not enough real stimulation...perhaps the women you have been with recently are not yet the love of your life.
