Phil Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Saw this on Beyond Meds today: http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/sexdevelopmentpsychopharm/ Having gone on meds at a young age myself I do agree with what it says. Although I wonder what that implies for when you come off drugs? Off Lexapro since 3rd November 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexjuice Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I'm so screwed sideways by my sexual dysfunction that I don't even want to read this. I started on Drugs as a teen and have had sexual problems ever since. I hope the conclusion is that... I'll be able to have sex again one day. "Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me. Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there Everybody's got to move somewhere Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow Things should start to get interesting right about now." - Zimmerman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupe Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I find this fascinating!!! Thanks for the post. I have noticed since my WD that I am having an ever increasing desire to no longer be alone. I have been so disinterested in having a significant other in my life for so long.... and now all of a sudden that has seemed so wrong for me and I can't understand why I have even thought that this is how I want to live! I hate being alone.... and I guess I have been drugged into thinking I did want to be alone. Now I don't even know how I would try to find or establish a relationship with someone! Prozac withdrawal about 6 years ago amitryptilene nortryptilene zoloft effexor celexa withdrawal about 4 years ago currently withdrawing form 13 years of Trazodone use for insomnia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Posted August 7, 2011 Author Share Posted August 7, 2011 I'm the same, Lupe. On Lexapro, I didnt care at all, I was happy to stay in the house all day long. You could always look into online dating and get to know someone that way? Alex - I think it's talking more about how "on meds" people lose interest in romantic feelings and so on, and general "connection" with others, and the implications of this on society. Off Lexapro since 3rd November 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lupe Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Thanks Phil I will do something about trying to meet someone special.... but not yet. Inside I still feel like such a mess and don't trust my instincts right now which gives me a lot of fear and anxiety. I thought that the discussion was also trying to draw a link to romantic love and sexual dysfunction and how when you disconnect one the other gets disconnected also. For me tho the importance was about being able to survive or live without each other on these medications..... and how we are heading toward a society of "autonomous households" where more and more of us are living alone...... believing we don't need each other. HOW HORRIBLE! Prozac withdrawal about 6 years ago amitryptilene nortryptilene zoloft effexor celexa withdrawal about 4 years ago currently withdrawing form 13 years of Trazodone use for insomnia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus Baxter Posted August 7, 2011 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted August 7, 2011 I have to chime in here. I am not a boy, but I have been on ADs for over twenty years and weaning off the last one for over four years (WD symptoms keep me from dropping at the moment). This sh*t effects women too... I was completely alone and on an SSRI/SNRI, benzo and beta blocker since I was in my 30s. First I dropped the benzo and beta blockers (to quickly but what the hey). When I tapered from 60 to 50mg of Cymbalta, I started having more energy and started going to a quilt guild, got involved in a small sewing group, made a few new friends(!). When I got under 45mg, I went to match.com...more out of curiosity at first. Suddenly at about 35mgs, romantic interest returned. At 30mg, anorgasmia ceased to be an issue (years of it). I have a libido again. Of course as a post-menopausal female, it has changed but it has returned. If somebody who has done what I did to my body with psych drugs can find a way back, you guys can too. Also, online dating was the way I met my beloved Neil. 1989 - 1992 Parnate* 1992-1998 Paxil - pooped out*, oxazapam, inderal 1998 - 2005 Celexa - pooped out* klonopin, oxazapam, inderal *don't remember doses 2005 -2007 Cymbalta 60 mg oxazapam, inderal, klonopin Started taper in 2007: CT klonopin, oxazapam, inderal (beta blocker) - 2007 Cymbalta 60mg to 30mg 2007 -2010 July 2010 - March 2018 on hiatus due to worsening w/d symptoms, which abated and finally disappeared. Then I stalled for about 5 years because I didn't want to deal with W/D. March 2018 - May 2018 switch from 30mg Cymbalta to 20mg Celexa 19 mg Celexa October 7, 2018 18 mg Celexa November 5, 2018 17 mg Celexa December 2, 2019 16 mg Celexa January 6, 2018 15 mg Celexa March 7, 2019 14 mg Celexa April 24, 2019 13 mg Celexa June 28, 2019 12.8 mg Celexa November 10, 2019 12.4 Celexa August 31, 2020 12.2 Celexa December 28, 2020 12 mg Celexa March 2021 11 mg Celexa February 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexjuice Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Baxter, Thank you for chiming in. That is just a terrific story. I really needed some positive, hopeful news this morning. It's so important to have people, in real space, for companionship, validation, support, love... Am happy for you Alex.i "Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me. Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there Everybody's got to move somewhere Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow Things should start to get interesting right about now." - Zimmerman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cinephile Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 The hubby's post about the sociological impact of this issue is truly great. He is so right about America having a blind spot to this increasing isolation due to psych meds: You used the phrase "undermine society" and I would make that even stronger and say destroy society. If epidemiological studies were done, I would expect there is a direct correlation between the number of people living alone and the number on antidepressants (and other psych meds). I suspect that America (perhaps more than other countries) has blinkers on when it comes to acknowledging mass isolation as a problem because so much value is attached to autonomy. It's as though if everyone is doing there own thing, then everyone is enjoying their freedom — except this is a freedom that atomizes society. Instead of their being one society, there is now a universe of societies-of-one, each separated by lifeless space. Been on SSRIs since 1998: 1998-2005: Paxil in varying doses 2005-present: Lexapro. 2006-early '08: Effexor AND Lexapro! Good thing I got off the Effexor rather quickly (within a year). **PSYCHIATRY: TAKE YOUR CHEMICAL IMBALANCE AND CHOKE ON IT! APA=FUBAR FDA=SNAFU NIMH=LMFAO Currently tapering Lexapro ~10% every month: STARTING: 15 mg 11/7/10: 13.5 mg 12/7/10: 12.2 mg 1/6/11: 10.9 mg 2/3/11: 9.8 mg 3/3/11: 8.8 mg 4/1/11: 7.8 mg 4/29/11: 7 mg 5/27/11: 6.4 mg 6/24/11: 5.7 mg 7/22/11: 5 mg 8/18/11: 4.5 mg 9/14/11: 4 mg 10/13/11: 3.6 mg 11/9/11: 3.2 mg 12/7/11: 2.6 mg 1/3/12: 2.1 mg 2/2/12: 1.8 mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus Baxter Posted August 8, 2011 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted August 8, 2011 Speaking of isolation and ADs, I remember having a conversation with another woman - we were in our late 40s (into the second decade of our psych drug usage). When talking about what the drugs did to us beyond "helping" with our anxiety and depression, my buddy said that she was happy with the disappearance of her libido. She claimed that it was easier to be alone that way. I can remember nodding in agreement. At that point, I was single, all my friends were married and had kids. It was easier to be numb and lethargic than to see my life passing without that connection that all my friends were at least making a try for in their marriages. Ah well. Don't know that this comment exactly moves this discussion forward, other than to say I bet my friend and I aren't the only folks on ADs who ever came up with that line of thought. 1989 - 1992 Parnate* 1992-1998 Paxil - pooped out*, oxazapam, inderal 1998 - 2005 Celexa - pooped out* klonopin, oxazapam, inderal *don't remember doses 2005 -2007 Cymbalta 60 mg oxazapam, inderal, klonopin Started taper in 2007: CT klonopin, oxazapam, inderal (beta blocker) - 2007 Cymbalta 60mg to 30mg 2007 -2010 July 2010 - March 2018 on hiatus due to worsening w/d symptoms, which abated and finally disappeared. Then I stalled for about 5 years because I didn't want to deal with W/D. March 2018 - May 2018 switch from 30mg Cymbalta to 20mg Celexa 19 mg Celexa October 7, 2018 18 mg Celexa November 5, 2018 17 mg Celexa December 2, 2019 16 mg Celexa January 6, 2018 15 mg Celexa March 7, 2019 14 mg Celexa April 24, 2019 13 mg Celexa June 28, 2019 12.8 mg Celexa November 10, 2019 12.4 Celexa August 31, 2020 12.2 Celexa December 28, 2020 12 mg Celexa March 2021 11 mg Celexa February 2023 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nella Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 I know that topic is older but I hope it's ok when I write here. I was 14 when I got my first SSRI and took it for 7 years. in this time, I never fall in love or had any sexual feeling. Its like I missed my puberty, when normal people discover their sexuality, nothing happened with me. I tried masturbation but it didn't work. I thought something was wrong with me, wondered if I was asexual and I got really depressed because I thought I will never be able to fall in love. My therapist thought I was uptight or the problems came from my childhood and tried to treat my sexual problems on this way. That never worked, made me hopeless and decreased my self-esteem because I made no progress. She never mentioned that the medication could be the problem. When I was 21, I dropped the SSRIs and a few weeks later, I fall in love and had a sex drive (even really high!!) first time in my life. I married the guy last year unfortunately I took again an AD half a year ago and am now suffering from PSSD, but I hope I will recover someday.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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