ForestBoy: PSSD from Sertraline

[ForestBoy]

I am 43 years.

 

I used Sertraline for 5 years.

Sertraline did a great job for me. From the very first day on, I felt really good 15 minutes after digesting it. It had an immediate and very strong effect on me. 

While using Sertraline, I had erectile disfunction, but Viagra helped very well. 

Also, it took hours until I could have an orgasm.

I also made drug-free weekends so that sex would work better (erection + faster orgasm).

 

Then I abruptly stopped taking Sertraline because I wanted a normal sex life again.

At first, it was great, all seemed normal again.

After 1 month of withdrawal, my sexual interest was completely gone. 

 

I then started taking Sertraline again because I thought that when I still used it, all was relatively fine.

Immediately, 15 minutes after digesting Sertraline, I felt that my sex drive was very strong again (like before).

Then I used it again the next day, and I could feel erectile dysfunction kicking in.

I started writing a PSSD diary because I was on some forums, and I wanted to write down all my efforts.

At first, I wanted to slowly tamper out.

This didn't work for me because the dosages were so hard to measure, and I was panicking, and I felt that the small dosages didn't have any effect on me. 

Also, I didn't want to use this poison anymore, and the sooner I would stop it, the earlier I would be healed from PSSD.

My last dosage is around 200 days now, and I have experienced various, changing effects.

For example, for the first period I experienced numbness, and when I was close to orgasm, everything "shut" down, and my penis got numb, and libido was suddenly gone.

Then the numbness got better, but other strange things happened.

I made an Excel sheet with 8 different symptoms.

I forced myself to masturbate each day, and for each day, I wrote down the symptoms that I experienced.

I could clearly see some changes over the months, and it helped me a lot to see that it wasn't "static".

 

Making a diary helped me a lot.

 

I still feel horrorful about this situation, but PSSD is just becoming popular, and even if it takes 5 more years until scientists discover the mechanisms behind PSSD, I am of good hope that then a cure can be found. In another forum, somebody wrote that he has hopes because PFS (Post Finasterid Syndrom) is similar, and there are many who suffer from it, so maybe we PSSD people will profit from it if a solution is found for them.

 

 

[Sunnyday]

Hi @ForestBoy and welcome,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. This issue seems very common from these drugs unfortunately and like many other symptoms it can be very disheartening. But it's good to hear you're able to stay optimistic. I think that's what gets us through these things. It can take a long time for the body to heal which is why patience is usually so valuable in this situation.

 

Do you take any other drugs or supplements right now? We don't really recommend much in this situation in regards to supplements apart from omega-3 and magnesium.

 

Omega-3

 

Magnesium

 

Also, please put your medication and tapering history in your signature -- that's the information you see at the bottom of someone's post. This will help people understand your situation no matter where you post on the site. See instructions in this topic:

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/18343-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/(Please note that, while your identity is protected by a screen name, your topic can be read by anyone who visits the site, including Google, and do not post sensitive identifying information.)

 

 

I never tried it myself and the body healed on its own eventually, but I have read that different kinds of physical therapy can sometimes be an option for this. Might be worth looking into if you haven't already.
Writing a diary is also a really good idea, especially for tracking any progress. And it sounds like you have seen some positive changes. Do you currently have any other symptoms apart from the PSSD?

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by manymoretodays
added signature request

[ForestBoy]

@Sunnyday Thank you for your message. You wrote that your body healed on its own. Did you suffer from PSSD? 

Currently I don't take anything. 

[ForestBoy]

There is a contact form at the end of the Google Health page:

https://health.google/

 

This is what I have sent them:

 

Dear Sir or Madame,

like many others, I suffer from PSSD (Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction) after quitting SSRI (Sertraline in my case).
Currently, the condition of SSRI is not understood, so there is no cure.

The condition is similar to "Post Finasterid Syndrome".

There number of unreported cases is huge because it's such a delicate topic.

May I ask you how we could get help from Google Health or DeepMind AI or bring our condition to attention to your scientic groups or get involved ourselves?

Thank you very much for a reply.

Kind regards,

 

[Sunnyday]

15 hours ago, ForestBoy said:

@Sunnyday Thank you for your message. You wrote that your body healed on its own. Did you suffer from PSSD? 

Currently I don't take anything. 

 

I suffered from sexual dysfunction mainly during my time on ssri's, during my taper and a short while when off them, around 4-5 years in total. Then later on in my withdrawal I developed PGAD instead that I sometimes found worse personally because of the physical pain and discomfort.  

 

The main reason I mentioned I'm healed is because I know how easy it is to lose hope in this situation, not just with PSSD but with many other severe symptoms during withdrawal syndrome. Time seems to be the biggest factor in healing as long as we don't do things that create setbacks, which is why the mental aspect is the most important thing to take care of, in my opinion. Our perspective plays a huge role in coping with situations like these, I think.

 

 

I think what you mention in your signature is a valid point and I will bring it up with the others.

Edited January 1, 2021 by Sunnyday

[manymoretodays]

Hi ForestBoy, and welcome aboard.

 

Looks like you got to the signature okay:

Sertraline 50 mg from 2014-2019 and had only erectile dysfunction.

Stopped Sertraline in Oct 2019. 1 month later, PSSD set in (loss of libido, erectile dysfunction)

Tried Sertraline again in January 2020, libido and erectile function came back.

Stopped Sertraline entirely again since May 2020.

Suffering from PSSD since then.

 

(Your forum has Profile, About Me and Signature). I filled Profile and About me with the info, hoping it would show up in the forum as requested by an admin, but still my Signature was empty. It took quite a while to figure out where to find it (Account -> Account Settings->Signature). 3 places to put personal info is too much I'd say, especially when you request it from people who might not feel perfectly strong and healthy with their condition).

 

And I'm wondering if you went to the signature link, which was posted above, and I'll post it again: 

This time, you only have to hit the arrow on the top right and you'll be there.  It's pretty self explanatory.

 

And then there is no need to put personal information, or symptoms in your signature.  You can go to AccountSettings/signature from that link <, or from the one that I quoted, and remove personal information and symptoms now.  Just press the SAVE button at the bottom when you are done.

 

And then signature instructions are linked to, as well, right here, uppermost most in the Introduction Forum:  https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/25-please-start-a-topic-about-yourself-in-this-forum/

 

 

It's a little ways down in the "Read this first" forum.  I'm not sure where you started, but I think I sent you the prompt to start an Introduction for yourself which then, links you up to Signature Instructions as well.

 

Your profile is entirely confidential.

 

And yes, it took me a number of days, or more before I could do a signature, on arrival here several years ago.

Anyway......welcome again.   And please do, go update/edit your signature and I do hope that helps you feel more comfortable here.

 

Best, L, P, H, and G,

mmt

 

 

 

 

[manymoretodays]

18 hours ago, ForestBoy said:

There is a contact form at the end of the Google Health page:

https://health.google/

 

This is what I have sent them:

 

Dear Sir or Madame,

like many others, I suffer from PSSD (Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction) after quitting SSRI (Sertraline in my case).
Currently, the condition of SSRI is not understood, so there is no cure.

The condition is similar to "Post Finasterid Syndrome".

There number of unreported cases is huge because it's such a delicate topic.

May I ask you how we could get help from Google Health or DeepMind AI or bring our condition to attention to your scientic groups or get involved ourselves?

Thank you very much for a reply.

Kind regards,

 

 

Bravo, ForestBoy, and I hope you get a response

Here's our topic too:  PSSD Post SSRI sexual dysfunction

[sjd11t]

ForestBoy

 

I am three weeks from my 42nd birthday and your story is just like mine. 

 

I last took Zoloft in Sept and I have nearly no libido and numbed genitals. I also feel numbed in other places. I have taken it on and off for years, but always seemed to be ok sexually after stopping until now. I have been extremely anxious that this is not going away, especially this past month.

 

I'd be interested to hear more about your daily progress and learn about what you are trying and perhaps finding some improvement with. 

 

Stay strong. I'm with you bro.

[ForestBoy]

I would say that my libido is 5% of what it used to be.

 

It's been a huge problem for me emotionally, too, because it almost turned me into a stalker:

 

Because of PSSD I had a huge problem getting over my last relationship.

Normally, a few months after a heart breaking romance ended, one starts to find other people attractive again. 

It helps to get over the past relationship.

 

However, because of PSSD, my libido was almost gone, and I didn't want to meet new partners.

That's why I totally adored my ex girlfriend and thought that she was the only one I could ever love.

 

I contacted her again, and we met and had sex, and she told me that she had sex with other people after our split-up, and she asked me why I wanted to meet her again. She told me that she thought I was either 1) ill with some serious disease or 2) that I had become a father or 3) that I actually miss her. The fact that I still adored her seemed really strange to her because I was always on the look-out for new romances. 

 

Even though we had sex, it felt much different than before PSSD. It felt emotionally and physically numb.

That was 7 months ago.

 

Now I have met somebody new, she was really interested in me and showed it, and we had sex.

When we started, I told her that I need to tell her something. I told her that after stopping an antidepressant, I suffer from erectile dysfunction.

I had taken a pill of viagra because I knew what was coming, and it helped a bit.

Because she didn't know me and how I would have been normally, she told me that she didn't really notice any of that.

I told her that normally, I would have been different.

 

I remember that once I had taken some sertraline again, my libido and erection was back to normal.

However, I didn't try if it would stay this way if I kept taking Sertraline again.

I stopped it because I wanted to finally get off of it.

 

Because I want to be "normal" with this girl, I am tempted to try Sertaline again because it once helped me.

However, I have already endured almost a year without Sertraline now, and I don't want to ruin the healing process.

 

But it's tempting to try anything to get relatively normal again quickly. 

 

[ForestBoy]

I have managed not to take Sertraline again. I want it to wear off.

[sjd11t]

I've had a similar relationship with Sertraline. There were times it seemed to improve my libido and everything else.

 

Sometimes I think about trying again but the risk of doing further damage is too much. 

 

Do you have numbness? That really messes with me.

[Boris]

It would appear I did have some form of mild PSSD then after reading your initial post. I had all the usual stuff while on Paxil/Seroxat but after tapering and coming off I would get the bit where I was close to orgasm it would suddenly shut off my libido in a split second and I was done. This was especially strong on a morning, I felt like I was going nuts trying to explain it before hand to people.

 

It has gone now and my sexual function also improved.

[ForestBoy]

For the last months, I didn't have a morning erection.

Out of 5 days, I had 3 morning erections this week.

Felt great.

I didn't expect that at all.

[arbor]

You're definitely healing, @ForestBoy!!  I can't believe how much fortitude and patience recovery requires.  I know your symptoms will continue to improve--

Thank you for posting, Arbor

[ForestBoy]

For the last 2 weeks it was TOTALLY different again:

My morning erections were gone, I had tingles on all of my limbs (I experienced that at the very start of PSSD, but then it went away) again, and my orgasms were really boring.

So something is changing again.

I don't judge it. 

I just notice that there are definitively some changes going on, and I hope that in the end, it will all be back to normal.

[DaBro]

I think nerve tingling is from nerve repair in the brain and a good sign. I had mild pssd (not as severe as you) and everything is now normal. I wish the same for you. 

 

Dr David Healy and his website Rxisk may be useful resources for you. 

[ForestBoy]

Can you tell me about the symptoms of your PSSD and how long it lasted?

[ForestBoy]

A few days ago I underwent liposuction.

A huge hematoma went into my pelvic area and into my penis. 

This is a common side effect of liposuction.

The next day I noticed VERY strong libido, extremely much sperm and very "far" ejaculation.

I didn't experience this since the beginning of PSSD.

 

I was provided a benzodiazepine pill before the surgery, and I couldn't stop thinking that this might have triggered this.

Of course I can not simply try again if the benzodiazepine was what brought this change as benzodiazepine is illegal.

And having a dependency is the least thing that I need!

 

Perhaps it was something else in the anesthesia that triggered it?

In the letter that I had to sign before the anesthesia, it was noted that general anesthesia can result in diminished libido for some time in extreme cases.

What I experienced was the opposite of course, so I have no idea what actually caused this.

 

But the experience was crazy. 

I thought that something in my brain was "broken", but it was suddenly back to normal.

 

So I will just keep waiting.

 

[ForestBoy]

I have asked for a list of medications that I have received.

I will report it back to https://rxisk.org/

 

The effects are totally gone now. My libido is currently at like 0% again. 

It was really amazing to experience it again though.

[ForestBoy]

On 1/6/2021 at 10:15 AM, sjd11t said:

I also feel numbed in other places.

 

Can you please tell me in which areas you feel numb, too?

[ForestBoy]

I have given the list of medications (which I have received shortly before the surgery and after) to the rxisk.com website, and Prof. Haley replied that it's interesting.

They also replied which of the medications MIGHT have played a role and which most probally won't have played a role in the temporary success.

 

I think I will now try the invididual medications that I was given and see if I can reproduce my sucesss.

[ForestBoy]

Ok... experiment has started.

I'm just trying out Dexamethasone 8 mg 3 times per day.

It can NOT be used long-term, it has horrorful side terms.

I only want to try it for 4 days to see if I can reproduce the results.

[ForestBoy]

On day 2, I experienced an clear effect on libido and ejaculation, but on day 3 and 4, the effects were gone, and only nervosity persisted. 

I have stopped Dexamethosone now.

[ForestBoy]

It was a horror experience. I would not use Dexamethasone again, I didn't feel like myself anymore.

It was different than the first time I took it after the surgery.

[Parisien]

Hello @ForêtGarçon news?  How's your sexuality?

[ForestBoy]

I am currently trying Sertraline reinstatement ("full dose", not "low dose").

I will try it for 1 month. I will post a thread after I have 1 month experience with this. I am currently at day #2. I am writing a diary.

I will post the results.

I am cross-posting this at pssdforum.org as well.

 

[ChessieCat]

3 hours ago, ForestBoy said:

I will post a thread

 

SA works differently to many other forums.  Each member has only 1 Introduction topic which is the best place to ask questions specific to your own situation and also journal your progress.  A member's Introduction topic is also a case study which medical professionals can make use of.

 

On 5/15/2011 at 5:22 AM, Altostrata said:

With our documentation of antidepressant withdrawal syndrome, we hope to educate the medical establishment about this problem. Case studies are essential; they are evidence understood by doctors, the psychiatric industry, and government regulatory agencies. The have already informed numerous articles in major publications and scientific papers.

 

Please do NOT create a new thread / topic.  Please post your update here in your Introduction.  That way your history will be in one place.

[Altostrata]

Hello, @ForestBoy There are forums specifically for PSSD, such as pssdforum.org, where you might find people to discuss experimental treatments.

 

We don't discuss them there very much because most of the people here do not suffer from PSSD and we don't know how to support people who are trying experimental treatments, we don't know anything about them.

[ForestBoy]

Here is my report:

 

I have tried Sertralin reinstament, but I cancelled it after 4 day:

 

Here is the full story:

 

A few months ago, I noticed that I sleep around 13 hours a day, feel anxious and that I feel depressed again.

I also wanted to find out what would happen if I used Sertraline again.
So I started Sertraline again.

However, it drove me totally crazy, I was really stressed, just too nervous, "over the top", aggressive, etc.
Also, I didn't feel any improvement on libido or ejaculation volume.

Even when I used only 15 mg of Sertraline, it drove me nuts.

I really wanted to try it for 1 month, but it just turns me mad, I could not do it.

So after 4 days, I stopped.

[ChessieCat]

For the information of other members:

 

This the reason that SA recommends starting with a low dose reinstatement and to gradually increase by small amounts, keeping in mind that it generally takes about 4 days for a dose to get to full strength in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  It is also important to keep daily notes for noting symptoms that improve and what worsens.  Doing this allows you to be more objective about your symptoms; you might find it helpful to rate your symptoms.

 

Please note that the idea of reinstating is not to get rid of withdrawal symptoms completely but to bring them to a bearable level.  Once they are at a tolerable level, then I suggest that you hold at that dose for 3 months and reassess after that time.  When you do start to taper again, I suggest starting with a small reduction, 1%-2.5%, to test to see how you respond.

 

See Post #1 of this topic:

 

about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms

 

 

Edited October 9, 2021 by ChessieCat

[ForestBoy]

Today, I didn't take anything, and I think I felt a change in my libido.

Tomorrow I will use a minimal amount.

 

Yes, you're right: One should start low.

I thought I already did, but it was still way too much. 

[ForestBoy]

ChessieCat or AltoStrato:

 

Can you please tell me what you think about the "Food For Thought article"?

Prof. Healy recently asked the author again, and he replied that he is still fine.

Do you cover possible mechanisms / theories of such cases on your website somewhere? If yes, could you point me to it?

I am asking because my initial idea was to try the same:

Reinstate and then suddenly stop after 1 month.

 

 

[Altostrata]

We have seen people recover from PSSD. Each case is individual. This person was very lucky.

[ForestBoy]

I mean the mechanism of reinstating and then abrupting stopping... is that something that you discussed somewhere already?

[ChessieCat]

Have you read all of Post #1 of the reinstatement topic?

[ForestBoy]

I thought I did. However, I did not find any explanation about the case that I mentioned of that one person who stopped abruptly after reinstatement and then got healed from PSSD.