anti-depressants and sex drive???
does anybody think that anti-depressants affect sex drive???
I have been taking celexa for awhile now and i have no urges to have sex..... I want to but its just not there. I am a student and a mom, very busy, and i took the medication for anxiety. But now im thinking that maybe i dont need it but im afraid to stop taking it.
Bubbles
I don't know about celexa but i take wellbutrin xl, and its helped my drive a lot. see what your doc says about maybe changing your med...
Miss Kitty
There's no libido with anti-depressants.
Yes anti-depressants do suppress your sex drive.
Simple solution, stop taking them and start walking in the wilderness, the smell of fresh air and a balmy warm day does wonders to how you feel.
Also good food is mandatory, try juicing fruit and eating lots of vege's.
It's all up to you and the decisions you make.
Logic works.
BB.
bubbles,Originally Posted by bubbles
A year ago I also started taking anti-depressants for anxiety . I was told not to stop cold turkey because it can increase your side effects.i was told to talk to my doctor and go off gradually. I would also like to say a walk in the woods isn't an instant cure for depression.( No offense) My mother has suffered from mental illness for years and when she isn't taking her medicine because she feels like she doesn't need to, she tries to run over my step father with her car. Granted this is an extreme but since you trusted your doctor to help you when you started the medication, trust them to help you with your decision to stop.
Depression medication is over prescribed. A moody fifteen year old girl walks into a doctors practice and says she's unhappy. She's then given anti depressants like it was nothing. Said girl goes and brags to her friends about how mature and deep she must be since she's on anti-depression meds (probably cuts herself a bit too for added effect, but that's a different conversation).
Someone should have just told her to have a nice chat with someone, do some exercise to get some endorphins running about, and to generally sort out their diet/talk through their problems.
But no, we live in the age of medication, and of side effects, and lazy doctors.
I believe that 80% of everyone on anti-depressants just need to grow up, stop being lame, and do something to ensure that they start enjoying their lives. If you want a chemical dependance, there are far better avenues to explore - more fun and more effective.
That's not to say that there aren't a small proportion of natural chemical imbalances.
In case you think I'm saying this because I've never had anything bad happen to me, that's entirely wrong.
They Are Necessary.....
Anti-Depressants are necessary for many people in life. I am not too sure of the younger generation but as you age very often you just can't handle all the stresses of family life. Raising a family is not all that it is written. Dealing with a spouse or partner who uses these drugs is a learning experience itself in life but one that people must understand is not a sickness but a necessity for them to operate on a day to day basis.
I know of this subject......I guess I know everything about this subject....All about the sexuality and the strains of living and loving but anyone who is going to try and go off of them go off of them the same way that you went on them only backwards. If you are on three pills go off to two pills and then to one but only one week at a time. Do not go cold turkey or try doing all at once. It could be a very bad experience. If you have any questions ask your Pharmacist. He is much more learned than your doctor. That is his business.
Some doctors are good and some do not look into your medical problems the way that they should. It took four tries to get me back together again about 18 years ago. That is when I started. Four different drugs and four different worlds. Each an experience in life and only now can I appreciate the value of the help I got. Mine were panic attacks. Wake up during the night and could not breathe or think I was having a heart attack. Anyone who is living with a spouse who is dependent of these drugs must have the patience to tolerate their recovery. I guess my strength is part of my recovery.....All this being my Mantra to help women wherever I can.....Oh, and I am down to just a fraction of what I used to take. I will never go any lower....I tried once and found just the slightest of heart twinges at night so I upped it back to 50MG....It is funny as I thought I wanted to be normal and not take anything but then found out that I am normal taking it....It is just a pill........But it is a pill that I need .....
If you lead a bit of a stressful life, how is turning to anti-depressants any different than turning to cannabis, or alocohol, or even heroine? You can easily excuse it by saying that life is stressful, and it helps you cope with it - however it's just distancing you from the real world. The little pill that makes everything ok. So you're fat and people bully you - instead of losing weight just start taking that magic pill. If you get dumped, there's that friendly little pill again.
Caroline, how could something we only discovered a hundred years ago be necessary? Humans have been living without for millenia. Do we really need medication to dull our responses? Is Soma really a good plan (Brave new world reference)? Do you think the mothers in the 3rd world have a little pill to relieve them from the fact that their children have all died of aids? I'd say it's just for comfortable middle classes that dont want to have to deal with minor problems.
Btw, I would debate that a pharmacist knows more about it than a doctor, maybe in your particular case, but that's a dangerous generalisation.
But I wouldn't argue that you shouldn't go off cold turkey... As with most chemical reliances it needs to be eased out.
the anti-depressants that I am on, the doctor said it will decrease my sex drive
Just Part Of My Experience With Anti-Depressants
Everyone has their own reasons for using medication. I have a family history of high blood pressure. I have been on medication for this since my third child was born. Along the line I added a pill for high cholesterol and a pill to rid my body of the water. I also take a Baby Aspirin in the morning. I am sorry Anon but I cannot talk of Third World countries but only my own life. I don't think that being Upper Middle Class makes any difference on my taking medication for relieving stress. I take a small amount and I have a family history that dictates my needs medically. Before I took any drug I was evaluated. I am blessed with having insurance that allows me to go all over the world if I want to for an opinion. I am not HMO. I am careful on who I listen to but I am lucky to have this privilege and I know it. What I write I do not write lightly. I offer my own proof.
When the pain of life and children can get so bad that you wake up in the middle of the night in stress from things that have happened that it is just as easy to drift to the other side of sanity, you call for help. I lived there. I called for help.......End of this story.....
With the help of medication I got stronger. I needed it. I take one small pill now and I will not try and give it up. It is Zoloft. Sexual wise it is fantastic. I guess this is what the name of this thread is. I did notice a difference in my sexuality with the other pills but this little pill does not bother me in the least. We are hot...Not to brag...but if this pill helps me, so be it.....I have enough confidence in myself as a sexual woman to make a sexual man out of my husband.....Maybe enough confidence for two women....Now we will add the 3- 24 ounce bottles of Diet Pepsi I drink per day and let's face it, I am just plain high on life....Sometimes it is even 4 but I do not drink alcohol. With my medication I only have a bottle of Light Beer once in a while.
Could I get along without the pill, probably not. After three emergency trips to the hospital and one blue light, it scared the devil out of me. Panic is called panic. It affects your heart. With me it became reflux. Razing the bed head helped but who I am and what I am as a functioning woman is important. If the drug helps then go with it....
Anon 100 years ago is a long time. During those times women were pretty devoted to their husband's and kids did not kill their parents. Drugs were not around and water was not a shortage. The bomb was not here and people believed in God........And the list goes on....
To the above poster, a doctor will say that this can hurt your sex life but he is saying what he reads. This may have affected some people's sex life but it does not have to be yours. You have a mind and don't let it be influenced by a doctor. ...With as sexual as I am at this age, and what I have taken, this should be pretty much living proof of what I say.
Now about the Pharmacist and the doctor. In 1966 I weighed 193 pounds after my third baby. I visited an Ear, Nose and Throat doctor as our son had a problem. I asked him for help and he started me on some pills. Never saw my records but he was a neighbor...I lost 63 pounds in 3 months. Was stoned the whole time. Looked fantastic again at 130 pounds and men started looking and I got scared and ran and hid behind the weight. Lord saying this I realize I was scared of myself.....I was.....Too hot and too good looking do not go together....Maybe that is why I finally emerged in Orlando....Now I was safe with no worries....I always wonder about that. Either way the value of the pill....That was when they stopped them and I could not get them anymore. Doctors were giving them out right and left. Actually it was pretty bad.
Three examples for you on this:
1......I used to have to use Testosterone 1% Petroleum. This I had to use every time we had sex because of the soreness deep inside the vaginal canal. We have a lot of sex and over the years the price was paid with a thinning of the membranes. This helped build them back up. This was a special preparation that had to be made up by the Pharmacist which took all night to stand. All of the sudden the preparation was not working. I was constantly sore like before. No relief when I put it on. Instead a burning. I called the GYN I went to and told him. He ordered a test and found that my Testosterone level was fine and to continue doing what I was doing. He told me it was me. So back to what I was doing and the soreness increased. I called my GYN and my Pharmacist to see what was happening. I was frustrated and hurt. But I continued having sex with my husband either way. It was pretty bad. My doctor was so irritated that I kept calling him that I found a bill on our statement of $165.00. This was probably a pain in the a*s bill because I was in pain and he was sure he was right. In utter frustration I went to my Pharmacist. I told him of this and he said he would delve into this. Three days later he called me. He had found my problem. He said that the drug companies had to change the formula of Testosterone to a crystal instead of the liquid that they were using. That is how they used to prepare it. He said that this crystal was not dissolving the way that it should and this was causing the burning feeling that I felt and it would never be the same...REASON: The young people were stealing the liquid and shooting it up to build muscles...
2. In the course of my drug treatment in stopping the panic attacks I was introduced to the drug Nortriptaline, Now that is a strong ball buster...Just about did me in. I doctored only with the specialists in the field and have never gone to a GP in my life...The Internal Medicine doctor prescribed this for me. I knew him and watched him take out the large book and read how much I should have. I believe his actions follow many in the medical field. Too busy, not enough knowledge and just plain out of their field. I was told to start at one pill and each week increase it by one to the maximum of four. So I did. The Pharmacist told me this stuff was pretty potent to be sure and eat with it which I did. By the fourth week the panic during the night was controlled but the pills were rough on me. I came out of a Mall one day and started to pass out. I got to my car and called the doctor. He was gone for the day so I called the Pharmacist. She went onto the computer to check what other medications I was taking. She said to get off of this immediately and get back to the doctor and tell him. When I was able to leave I drove home. The next day I went to 3 pills and then down the ladder. Back to the doctor and again the book and he said yes, I guess this was too strong for you. Bingo again....Now these are big doctor's...
3. Three years ago I started on Estring. This is a vaginal disc that is inserted high in my vagina. It gives out estrogen to me and makes this kid rock and roll. I never get sore. I change it every three months. Cost about $150 each but I would pay $500 for the pleasure that it brings me. Makes me juicy all the time and does not bother either penetration or when he eats me out. This was my life saver after the Testosterone bit...Now I will add that I started taking Premarin back when I was 48 after I had my hysterectomy. Have taken it all these years for the estrogen that I was missing from my complete hysterectomy. It has been the only life saver I have had sexually but I have done just fine. So my GYN prescribed the Estring and told me to continue the Premarin. I said OK. Three months later I picked up my new prescription for the disc. At the time I was picking up all my refills and she asked me why I was using the Premarin. I told her the doctor said I needed it and she said I do not. This should have been stopped as it is not helping me at all. The Estring is my life line and not to get this again.....I stopped. When I went back to my GYN in a month as I wanted to ask him something about inserting the little disc, I told him what she said. He said, I did not know that. But I will remember it.....
I know a lot about anti-depressants....They can work with your sex life or they can hinder it...It has a lot to do with your mind set. My mind set was that I was going to stay a very hot and sexual wife to my husband...Oh, I am sure many times over the past years that I have faked it but I also have found myself again....It is all part of the woman that I am now and truly Anon I could not ask for more out of life then I have......
My doctor put me on Cymbalta™ for its combination of depression and neuropathy fighting chemicals (I was just a moody SOB before and the saphenous neuropathy is from a motorcycle accident).
The first 2 weeks I really didn't care at all for sex, and was considering getting off the medication all together. But during the third week it suddenly started working almost at once. Now I'm constantly obsessing over sex.
The downside is that its causing some unevenness with performance. It seems every two minutes of penetration are followed by three minutes of masturbation trying to get my erection back to a useful state.
Man, if only I had a cuckold fetish I'd be in heaven.....
Posting Permissions
Connect with Facebook
LinkBack URL
About LinkBacks
Bookmarks