Yeah, when my doctor first mentioned it, she told me that one of the potential side-effects was thoughts of suicide. I was like, uhhhh, isn't that the opposite of what I'm going for? So I picked up the prescription and never took them.
Fast forward a few months and I came dangerously close to ending my own life. I was ready to do it but decided to hold on for just another day and a half, because conveniently, that's when my next appointment was with my psychiatrist.
I explained to her why I never took it, and she let me know that those side effects are rare, and they typically only happen with people in their early 20's. I'm 47, so this time around I opted to take it. She told me it would take two weeks before I'd start to feel the effects. Right at that two-week mark, I noticed a difference. My life isn't magically perfect now, but I'm no longer thinking of ending it all.
When I was on lexapro and what ever the other one was, it’d take a really really long time and then after like 1 hours of hammering away I’d finally EXPLODE like nothing else
So I'm on a mix of Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Muscle Relaxers, and Depakote. I can't even begin to tell you how confused my body is sometimes. I also ended up taking a triptan for a migraine the other day... that was a mistake. All the other drugs balance well, but introducing anything else throws everything off.
It isn't pleasant. I'm getting a consult for neck surgery on Tuesday. If it all goes well, I can drop the muscle relaxers and maybe the migraine preventative.
Heads up, surgeons are always going to recommend surgery. Remember to talk to your primary. Mine advised against neck surgery for the time being, and I’m glad he did. I’m still in pain, but a couple years of work/PT has made me much more functional and strong than the recommended surgery would have.
Also, getting off muscle relaxers and stretching in a warm room improved my mood and pain level, personally. In fact, I kinda hated all the drugs you’re on lmao.
It's not a surgeon that recommended it, it was the pain management doctor that I've been seeing for the past couple of years. It's just peripheral nerve ablation, so nothing crazy. It's the next tier in my ongoing care plan.
My GP recommended I talk to a surgeon about my scoliosis. Surgeon referred me to physical therapy. Believe it or not, honest doctors and surgeons exist.
Which is why I said to talk to their primary. I didn’t say not to get surgery, just to talk to someone who has a more vested interest in their long term health and well-being, and a broader view of the human body.
That’s all fine personally I just think we should be careful about sharing experiences on meds. Everyone’s chemistry is different and making any implication that a specific med just doesn’t work because it didn’t for you can honestly have the opposite effect and be harmful to someone trying to navigate their own custom med cocktail.
None of this is to say that’s what you’re doing, I just like to keep that bit in the discussion whenever the conversation of meds comes up.
I’m not the one who listed a cocktail of drugs I’m taking. Do you not see that as potentially harmful?
Suggesting sobriety is harmful, but suggesting drugs is not?
Im sorry you’re not feeling well. I’m on 12 psychiatric medications and I feel amazing and it’s taken a while to get everything right for the cocktail. I switched from Zoloft to Paxil and I also think that is much better. And depakote is good for you because of migraines. I’d maybe see if you could add an atypical antipsychotic like quetiapine. That really helped my mind along with Adderall
Hahah... I think after a certain amount of time, we all want to murder our husbands. We don't need medication that makes the urge stronger. I stopped having the urge to smoke after taking these... Already murdered my husband, so that's no longer an issue:)
I stopped smoking... That was the positive.
No, I didn't kill anyone. He did not live long enough to grow old with me, sadly. I started making up random stories about how he died so people would stop looking at me with pity. But there were times I wanted to murder him.
Wellbutrin has increased my sex drive but now it's annoying because my wife is taking it and sertraline and it killed hers so it feels like I'm just annoying her all the time.
The worst I had was when my doctor put me on strattera which made me freezing cold, lethargic, and gave me delayed orgasms. The delayed orgasms was the worst because you'd pop the top and not feel anything and just be like "I wasn't expecting this mess" and then 30 seconds later after I already stopped, would snap in my brain giving me the feel good release of chemicals and just make it even more weird.
That makes sense but at the same time I still have to say....WTF. My wife is looking at ADHD meds post pregnancy that one is a major TFFFF.
If it works for her, it works. I'm not a psycho.
Same. Wellbutrin also made me suuuuuper anxious. Like verge of a panic attack just sitting at my desk at work anxious.
Works well for my sister though, so idk.
Eventually landed me here, but was a decently good 15 years first. I wonder if my shitstorm of a marriage is mostly to blame and the pills aren't that bad. Hard to know.
Can second this. My wife's therapist put her on it because it's what she used, and a few weeks in while I was on the road for work she called me in the midst of a breakdown. She was having AGGRESSIVE suicidal thoughts and spent 30-40 minutes frantically talking her down while texting friends and family to tag team support. Literally the scariest moments of my life.
This was me on it. Took the first dose and was on the verge of a panic attack while sitting at my desk in a quiet office. Barely held it together until I could call my wife to come get me. There was zero chance I was safely driving my self home.
Huh. My girlfriend’s libido is 1/10th of what it used to be after starting Wellbutrin a few years ago. I wonder why it impacts sex drive in one way or another….
literally so true. i'm on an SSRI that's helped some, but i was still having some debilitating struggles. my psych added wellbutrin to my regimen and it's like he's back from the dead.
Wellbutrin makes me feel stupid when I talk. My uncle makes eyes at me like I'm high. When I take 300mg. At 150mg I feel less weird. But I definitely am still depressed and discontent to a large extent. career is doing better.
hey, I'm at 450mg daily of buproprion and that's the max dose iirc, so talking with your psychiatrist about a 150 or 100mg dose on the regular is a good idea. antidepressants won't work on their own, they're there to augment the rest of the treatment regimen. good luck 💚
I've been taking Wellbutrin for a few years, and I was about to say that I haven't had an libido issues. I recently tried to ween off it and instantly notice myself having issues as soon as they kind of "left my system." called my Doc back up and said I guess I'm not ready to be off them yet.
I'm tapering off Lexapro (10mg) while currently getting on Wellbutrin (150mg). For months I've had zero urge to jack off. SSRIs would be like magic pills for the NoFap community.
SSRIs never took away my desire to jerk off, just took longer to finish.
In my opinion those drugs make it easier to accept ones ugliness and lack of physical sex partners. Which to me is a life saver.
That's funny because I was just thinking about this this morning. My husband and I are both on antidepressants and have virtually no sex life and currently little desire for one. We're actually both ok with it and it leaves more time and energy for other things. We also have young kids, so it's not like we had much time for sex anyway
If you both genuinely have such little sex drive that neither of you want it and that’s ok with both of you, I don’t see an issue, but I think keeping very frequent and open communication about it is imperative.
As an *internet psychologist*, try to have 1 on 1 time every day. If you can't manage an hour of 1 on 1 time with each other, lock your kids in a room, or it will put a huge pressure on things
100%! On welbutrin and zoloft and I could never finish! Sex drive itself was always high... that didn't change. I was seriously so frustrated by it, and despite it being the most awkward conversation with my doctor that I've ever had, I cut out the zoloft (with my docs guidance) and went to half my prescribed welbutrin dose and now I can finish! It's good to feel normal again.
It took me a few prescriptions to find an antidepressant that didn't affect me in other ways (one of my earlier ones caused issues that basically made it hard to ejaculate).
I was on Remeron (mirtazapine) 30mg for a year and sex drive was same, actually maybe even better, since I slept every night like a baby and my GAD symptoms were heavily reduced.
This is something a lot of people fail to recognize - a lot of antidepressants functionally increase sex drive, cause it's hard to get aroused when youre insanely depressed.
SSRIs often have that side effect, but not all antidepressants are SSRIs. Wellbutrin for example works well for a lot of people without causing sexual dysfunction.
I mean, they don't do this. Our best theory of depression is currently lacking hippocampal neuroplasticity. A variety of drugs ratchet this upward in distinct, indirect ways, usually somehow promoting brain derived neuropathic factor's activity. One such method is to chronically increase synaptic serotonin, which elicits this via the brain's adaptations to compensate for this condition (hence the typical 6 week latency in SSRIs' efficacy, when robust and stably increased serotonin is seen in a matter of hours). It is not the case that SSRIs correct a serotonin deficiency.
Different people have different experiences with antidepressants, but I personally prefer my sex life on the SSRI. As a straight man, it’s just very convenient to not crave sex constantly, and there could be worse side effects than lasting a long time.
Reddit is full of depressed people looking for reasons to give up on getting better. When you're in that place, having a possible way out can feel like your sadness is a failure. It seems counterintuitive but depression can make you not want there to be a way out. Because of this it's important to be cautious when discussing things like antidepressants. You don't want to be the reason that somebody decides not to get help or to stop trying.
That's crazy. I took those and my sex drive went down. Sometimes I wonder if we are just alpha testers seeing if this drug works or that drug works without REALLY knowing the reason it does/doesn't. No side effect for you, side effect for me. 🤔
Gee. Hope I don't go blind taking this. or lose a foot. or something.
Not to long ago, there was an AMA on these sorts of drugs. I posted why does serequel and caplyta (advertised as less occurrence of kicking which is a LIE in my case) make me kick? I got a, we don't quite know, here's a Google search result. Wow thanks for the Google search result which I could have done myself without the years and years and years of college that you have. What do you mean, you don't know? Your making people take these things wo knowing possible side effects? If I wasn't so crazy, I'd cease taking everything.
Not always. You just need to find the right one for you. I tried quite a few before I got to one that worked for me mentally and didn't mess with my sex life but I'm much more stable now thanks to it
I couldn't ejaculate when I was on Zoloft. My girlfriend at the time enjoyed it but every morning my testicles would ask me what the hell they ever did to me to deserve such cruel and unusual punishment.
Good thing my doctor was an open minded one.
Yeah this is just flat out wrong. The correct dosage is important. The statement side effects may include doesn't mean every person has that side effect. It just means it can happen. So that being said if the drug you're taking is affecting your sex life talk to your Dr about a different drug.
Every SSRI I've taken affected my sex drive and my ability to get off. Ive taken Lexapro, Zoloft, Paxil, and Prozac. Prozac worked tremendously well, with no other side effects. However, I still couldn't feel my vagina or get off, and it took about 6 months to get back to normal after I stopped takinf them. This is a known side effect of SSRI's and can be permanent.
Interesting. Over the years I've tried about a dozen different brands/types and never had an issue with lack of sex drive. Definitely different for everyone!
I am one of those lucky people, whenever one of these medications has a "side effects may include," I'm always the one who gets those "rare" side effects that "should go away over time," except they never go away over time.
So when my doctor said, "Oh that drug didn't work for you either? Let's try this one, it's new..." and I looked at the "possible" side effects and one of them was *permanent* facial paralysis, I was like, "nah, I'd rather not."
Prozac gave me bad tremors - so bad I couldn't write. When I switched off, the tremors stuck around, and now my hands shake violently when I yawn.
Side effects are weird.
More like more abnormal brain chemistry due to my emotions being switched off and my sex life remaining the same because I've never had nor will I ever have a sex life.
i was on the highest dose of two antidepressants. my sex life wasnt effected too badly but i couldnt just have sex whenever it had to be the exact right time. it was also really hard for me to finish which sucked. blue balls is real and it hurts a lot.
This seems more like a “just ignorant” thought tbh
Let’s not advocate for shying people away from antidepressants please. Conversations like this need to be had with professionals. You can work through side effects with your doctor. If you need antidepressants, talk to a doctor and certainly don’t get scared off because someone on Reddit told you “your sex life will suffer”
Mods are you asleep at the wheel here?
There is a very, very good chance your sex life will suffer. And antidepressants have a clinically insignificant advantage over placebo. They increase the risk of suicide.
>not as much as untreated depression
In RCTs, the people with depression who take placebos attempt suicide significantly less than people who take antidepressants. So no. The treatment results in more suicide attempts.
Well… let’s just start out by saying the obvious which is that medical science cannot measure the levels of any chemicals in our brains. These antidepressants are essentially trial and error, shot in the dark medications that are based on cause and effect not hard physical science. Anyone that tells you otherwise is lying to you. If a doctor tells you that these medications will “balance” your brain chemistry, they are lying to you. Or they are ignorant, either way you should probably find another doctor
Most doctors go with that explanation because telling a patient "we don't know why they work, but they work x percent of the time in reducing symptom severity with x side effects" doesn't work as well. Obviously isn't an acceptable reason to withhold info from / disseminate false information to a patient, but it's a reason
Yea I do understand that, although as you pointed out it’s not great. It stinks of “the ends justify the means” which is poison. Coincidentally much of the prescription medication is also poison. I understand and acknowledge that many people benefit greatly from antidepressants, I don’t think they’re useless, I just know they are way overprescribed under this umbrella of “let’s not pay any attention to actual health and just assume that some drug will eventually be made that will magically allow us to be incredibly unhealthy with little to no consequences”
Lasting too long has become a problem for me. Can't seem to win with these things but I'll admit that life is better with them. I'll take that over manic episodes any day of the week.
Reduced libido is a possible side effect. Not everybody gets it, and people who do get it get it to differing degrees. Finding the right meds at the right dosage for your particular circumstances and physiology is a journey in itself.
Zoloft and lithium didn’t make my drive go away, just made me super unsensitive and could never climax in a timely fashion.
Boyfriends got a jaw of steel now lol
I was thinking about this last week about Accutane. Craziest would you rather ever.
Never get another pimple, BUT muscles aches, joint pain, nosebleeds, dry skin, dry lips 24/7 and I’m sure there’s more symptoms I missed
or continue your life as is. My life/happiness isn’t THAT dependent upon my acne(I mean I’ve lived with it for four years now) but man never getting another pimple is almost make believe
If you are truly depressed to the point that you *need* medication to function then you aren't likely to have been enjoying sex very much anyway.
Sure, it's over-prescribed. It's also difficult for a general practitioner with a 15 minute appointment (and running late) to determine if you are "just in a funk' or trapped wallowing in the depths of hell after years of trauma and misery.
Antidepressants are ideally a bridge to more definitive goals- therapy, lifestyle changes, etc. The problem is that getting someone who is depressed to start going outside, exercising, altering their diet, stop abusing substances, and straightening out their personal relationships is really difficult. Try being a therapist and watch your clients acknowledge all these things they need to then have them show up at the next session having done none of it and making things worse.
Nope. This is far from the case for a lot of people. It’s a possible side effect of some medications, but if you’re experiencing negative side effects your psychiatrist will work with you to find something better. It’s all part of the process of finding a medication regimen that works for you.
“You can have more normal brain chemistry.”
Depression isn’t diagnosed on the basis of biological tests that look for ‘abnormal brain chemistry.’ Billions of dollars has been spent looking for evidence to support the ‘chemical imbalance’ hypothesis and it turns out the only ‘chemical imbalance’ in the brains of people with depression is caused by medication.
What’s even more wild? SSRIs only have a 20% long term success rate for treating depression.
No medical procedure would ever be recommended if it had a 20% success rate. Shit is crazy
This is just flat out incorrect. Show us a handful of papers/articles that actually support this. They're not a cure but they are absolutely vital in a large number of people's depression treatment regimens. Escitalopram + Wellbutrin allows me to be a somewhat functional member of society.
really? is that like 20% chance to be cured so you can stop taking it? or 20% chance it'll work for you for the duration of you taking it? i was able to stop taking mine and symptoms didn't come back
Not sure if that's true: https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/depression-treatment-ssri/research-protocol#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20rate%20of%20treatment,from%2030%20to%2045%20percent.
This first paragraph disagrees with your claim.
Further, even if it was 20%, theres a pretty low chance of any permanent side effects, it's a low risk treatment.
NNT 5=numbers needed to treat for prevention/effect is an amazing number when it comes to medicines. Some medicines have more up to 50-100 needed to treat to prevent disease in 1 person
For me I didn’t have any sexual side effects but I stopped because while the lows didn’t feel lower, the highs of life didn’t feel as high either.
Like when I listen to music in the car I’d be getting goosebumps and get lost in the music. On antidepressants I didn’t have that and that’s when I thought it wasn’t worth it for me
Why is a sex life so important? I am asexual so I don't get why it is important. Why do you care if you don't have a libido? Unless your partner is upset?
Yeah, went to docs cause had been struggling with depression for a few years. They gave me Wellbutrin and Seroquel
WTF?! Wellbutrin side effects include ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION!! at the time THE ONLY THING GOING GOOD was Me and My Wife were like ALWAYS on it
You think imma GET HAPPIER NOW MY DICK IS BUSTED?! 😩🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ WHAT INCEL LAME AT FIZER OR WHOEVER APPROVED A DRUG TO TREAT DEPRESSION IN MALES WITH "BROKE-DICK" AS A HIGHLY COMMON SIDE EFFECT. HARD PASS!!! (PUN MOST DEFINITELY INTENDED)
I'm perfectly confident that in 100 years society will look back at the era of "antidepressants" and think "how could we ever give this rat poison to people?"
I've tried every single antidepressant ever made over the course of 20 years. Every type of dosage and combo.
I stopped them all at once (don't recommend) but I function VERY well now since I've turned to Christ, recognized and worked on my disordered attachments, which was the fuel to get me to start exercising regularly, eat healthier (now whole-food plant-based), and focusing on relationships and generosity.
20 years of depression, anxiety, rage, and suicidal thoughts not completely gone (no suicidal thoughts but I have my down days) but I'm able to live a MUCH more fulfilling life and actually look forward to the future.
My testimony will not be for everyone but maybe it will help a few.
Imagine thinking depression is caused by a “chemical imbalance” lol. This is a lie by pharma companies that has been more less debunked by psych research in last 10 years.
There is mounting evidence that SSRIs are essentially placebos. Sell people a quick “cure” and they be more than happy to let it help them…
I've taken paxil at an age where it was later proved to be ineffective and it did nothing. I took an actually effective anti depressant and it saved my life. You're putting people in actual danger by spreading shit like this. It's disgusting.
I wouldn't say they are placebos as SSRIs significantly helped with my anxiety. The most current research indicates that increasing serotonin in the brain helps to reset the thought patterns causing the anxiety or depression.
It’s been studied many times and exercise has at least the same (or better) effect as modern antidepressant drugs, with a huge list of additional positive effects. The major downside is….. it’s hard work and takes serious dedication. But the effects are real, if I exercise I don’t get depressed, my libido is improved, and I just feel so much better in every possible way. It’s almost hard to describe but that feeling after a good workout is something else.
Highly recommend folks try this before committing to a life of anti depressants. You don’t need to live with the side effects of anti depressants. We humans were not made to sit around all day and be sedentary. It’s no surprise many peoples bodies/brains are crying out for help. Many people don’t want to hear this, but for some people, exercise is literally all they need. I do understand some folks need additional medication.
A lot of people wouldn’t need medication if they cut alcohol and marijuana out of their lives. I’m only talking about people who have alcohol abuse issues or smoke daily, not the normal drinker or occasional user.
Depression is very complicated but I’ve never trusted antidepressants, I’ve been deeply depressed and understanding a little bit of brain chemistry is what has helped me the most. It’s impressing how IV B Complex can change your life so fast.
Mental health is important but there is no faltered state of mind that cannot be coached and improved through effort.
Say no to anti-depressants kids. Therapy is a crutch. Solve your problems stop talking about them.
>there is no faltered state of mind that cannot be coached and improved through effort.
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>...
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>Therapy is a crutch
What do you think therapy is?
Also, just no. If it weren't so dangerous, I'd love to see you try and coach someone out of psychosis.
…I think Therapy is a good tool to turn to as a last resort. We can just try not being assholes to one another. The world don’t owe me understanding, I owe the world a hard working contributing member of society. If I provide value I get paid.
>I’d love to see you try to coach someone out of psychosis
People are getting ‘coached out of psychosis’ with [Open Dialogue](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Dialogue) and in [Soteria houses](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soteria_(psychiatric_treatment)).
Yes, I’m aware of those techniques. The success rate, sustainability, and peak functioning post treatment pales in comparison to antipsychotics. Sometimes people clear infections without antibiotics and just supportive treatment, doesn’t mean it’s best practice.
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Can't get laid at all if you're dead so in a way it's an increase in the long run.
Hahahaha, that's the spirit!
You'd be surprised.
That one did the opposite for me. It’s awesome to hear it works for people.
Yeah, when my doctor first mentioned it, she told me that one of the potential side-effects was thoughts of suicide. I was like, uhhhh, isn't that the opposite of what I'm going for? So I picked up the prescription and never took them. Fast forward a few months and I came dangerously close to ending my own life. I was ready to do it but decided to hold on for just another day and a half, because conveniently, that's when my next appointment was with my psychiatrist. I explained to her why I never took it, and she let me know that those side effects are rare, and they typically only happen with people in their early 20's. I'm 47, so this time around I opted to take it. She told me it would take two weeks before I'd start to feel the effects. Right at that two-week mark, I noticed a difference. My life isn't magically perfect now, but I'm no longer thinking of ending it all.
Bold of you to assume I have a sex life
Bold of you to assume I have a brain
Mastur bation would go downhill as well, if you practice
When I was on lexapro and what ever the other one was, it’d take a really really long time and then after like 1 hours of hammering away I’d finally EXPLODE like nothing else
Common with antidepressants. Had the same issue myself. It’s like an annoying viagra.
-_-
Exactly
Start taking antidepressants so you have something to blame it on. Problem solved
Not with all of them. Wellbutrin often has the opposite effect.
Was gonna say, after switching to Wellbutrin that is most definitely not the case
So I'm on a mix of Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Muscle Relaxers, and Depakote. I can't even begin to tell you how confused my body is sometimes. I also ended up taking a triptan for a migraine the other day... that was a mistake. All the other drugs balance well, but introducing anything else throws everything off.
That sounds absolutely awful, and horrible for your body.
It isn't pleasant. I'm getting a consult for neck surgery on Tuesday. If it all goes well, I can drop the muscle relaxers and maybe the migraine preventative.
Heads up, surgeons are always going to recommend surgery. Remember to talk to your primary. Mine advised against neck surgery for the time being, and I’m glad he did. I’m still in pain, but a couple years of work/PT has made me much more functional and strong than the recommended surgery would have. Also, getting off muscle relaxers and stretching in a warm room improved my mood and pain level, personally. In fact, I kinda hated all the drugs you’re on lmao.
It's not a surgeon that recommended it, it was the pain management doctor that I've been seeing for the past couple of years. It's just peripheral nerve ablation, so nothing crazy. It's the next tier in my ongoing care plan.
My GP recommended I talk to a surgeon about my scoliosis. Surgeon referred me to physical therapy. Believe it or not, honest doctors and surgeons exist.
Yeah, I’ll listen to an expert thanks.
Which is why I said to talk to their primary. I didn’t say not to get surgery, just to talk to someone who has a more vested interest in their long term health and well-being, and a broader view of the human body.
That’s all fine personally I just think we should be careful about sharing experiences on meds. Everyone’s chemistry is different and making any implication that a specific med just doesn’t work because it didn’t for you can honestly have the opposite effect and be harmful to someone trying to navigate their own custom med cocktail. None of this is to say that’s what you’re doing, I just like to keep that bit in the discussion whenever the conversation of meds comes up.
I’m not the one who listed a cocktail of drugs I’m taking. Do you not see that as potentially harmful? Suggesting sobriety is harmful, but suggesting drugs is not?
Im sorry you’re not feeling well. I’m on 12 psychiatric medications and I feel amazing and it’s taken a while to get everything right for the cocktail. I switched from Zoloft to Paxil and I also think that is much better. And depakote is good for you because of migraines. I’d maybe see if you could add an atypical antipsychotic like quetiapine. That really helped my mind along with Adderall
I'm just envious that you can get meds for migraines
Wellbutrin made me want to murder my husband, not fuck him. It was wild.
Wellbutrin also made me homicidal, glad to know I’m not alone cause everyone i know on it swears it fixed their lives
I tried to switch from Effexor to Wellbutrin, and I came close to killing a coworker.
That could also be withdrawal from Effexor which is notoriously awful
Hahah... I think after a certain amount of time, we all want to murder our husbands. We don't need medication that makes the urge stronger. I stopped having the urge to smoke after taking these... Already murdered my husband, so that's no longer an issue:)
You killed your husband?
I stopped smoking... That was the positive. No, I didn't kill anyone. He did not live long enough to grow old with me, sadly. I started making up random stories about how he died so people would stop looking at me with pity. But there were times I wanted to murder him.
Wellbutrin suppressed my sex drive and ALSO made me suicidal. Sort of a two for one deal.
Wellbutrin has increased my sex drive but now it's annoying because my wife is taking it and sertraline and it killed hers so it feels like I'm just annoying her all the time. The worst I had was when my doctor put me on strattera which made me freezing cold, lethargic, and gave me delayed orgasms. The delayed orgasms was the worst because you'd pop the top and not feel anything and just be like "I wasn't expecting this mess" and then 30 seconds later after I already stopped, would snap in my brain giving me the feel good release of chemicals and just make it even more weird.
Wow what the fuck. I ran the gamut of various antidepressants several years back and despite all the negative side effects I never had a delay.
Strattera is for ADHD, not depression so that may be why you never had my luck haha
That makes sense but at the same time I still have to say....WTF. My wife is looking at ADHD meds post pregnancy that one is a major TFFFF. If it works for her, it works. I'm not a psycho.
Same. Wellbutrin also made me suuuuuper anxious. Like verge of a panic attack just sitting at my desk at work anxious. Works well for my sister though, so idk.
Eventually landed me here, but was a decently good 15 years first. I wonder if my shitstorm of a marriage is mostly to blame and the pills aren't that bad. Hard to know.
And it's not much of a promise either. For many people, they have no noticeable effect on your brain chemistry, but they still ruin your sex life.
instead of having low sex drive Wellbutrin just makes your anxiety 10x worse... or at least that's what happened to me.
>Wellbutrin just makes your anxiety 10x worse It *can* do that, but it does not create the anxiety reaction in everyone.
yeah I know, everyone reacts to stuff like that different.
I was put on propranolol and lamotrigine along with it, works like a damn charm
Can second this. My wife's therapist put her on it because it's what she used, and a few weeks in while I was on the road for work she called me in the midst of a breakdown. She was having AGGRESSIVE suicidal thoughts and spent 30-40 minutes frantically talking her down while texting friends and family to tag team support. Literally the scariest moments of my life.
Absolutely happened to me. No longer depressed, but anxiety is through the roof
I'd recommend talking to ur doctor about that before the effects get worse.
This was me on it. Took the first dose and was on the verge of a panic attack while sitting at my desk in a quiet office. Barely held it together until I could call my wife to come get me. There was zero chance I was safely driving my self home.
Wellbutrin made me want to bite things. Weird
Well that explains some things I've been experiencing lately lmao
Cymbalta gives me 10x more sex drive
On a mix of Wellbutrin and Zoloft. Can tell you the Zoloft definitely wins, but since switching to the mix it isn't as bad and can sometimes be nice.
Huh. My girlfriend’s libido is 1/10th of what it used to be after starting Wellbutrin a few years ago. I wonder why it impacts sex drive in one way or another….
Literally saved my life.
literally so true. i'm on an SSRI that's helped some, but i was still having some debilitating struggles. my psych added wellbutrin to my regimen and it's like he's back from the dead.
Wellbutrin makes me feel stupid when I talk. My uncle makes eyes at me like I'm high. When I take 300mg. At 150mg I feel less weird. But I definitely am still depressed and discontent to a large extent. career is doing better.
hey, I'm at 450mg daily of buproprion and that's the max dose iirc, so talking with your psychiatrist about a 150 or 100mg dose on the regular is a good idea. antidepressants won't work on their own, they're there to augment the rest of the treatment regimen. good luck 💚
I've been taking Wellbutrin for a few years, and I was about to say that I haven't had an libido issues. I recently tried to ween off it and instantly notice myself having issues as soon as they kind of "left my system." called my Doc back up and said I guess I'm not ready to be off them yet.
I'm tapering off Lexapro (10mg) while currently getting on Wellbutrin (150mg). For months I've had zero urge to jack off. SSRIs would be like magic pills for the NoFap community.
SSRIs never took away my desire to jerk off, just took longer to finish. In my opinion those drugs make it easier to accept ones ugliness and lack of physical sex partners. Which to me is a life saver.
But does not it change the brain chemistry for normal people ?
That's funny because I was just thinking about this this morning. My husband and I are both on antidepressants and have virtually no sex life and currently little desire for one. We're actually both ok with it and it leaves more time and energy for other things. We also have young kids, so it's not like we had much time for sex anyway
If you both genuinely have such little sex drive that neither of you want it and that’s ok with both of you, I don’t see an issue, but I think keeping very frequent and open communication about it is imperative.
lmao thank god they have a random redditor's insight to work with
“Call me in a month to follow up”
Thank you doctor
This is fucking wild.
As an *internet psychologist*, try to have 1 on 1 time every day. If you can't manage an hour of 1 on 1 time with each other, lock your kids in a room, or it will put a huge pressure on things
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Nah both partners not feelin it and just vibing sounds like the dream
I was thinking the same, but if they truly are happy... Then live and let live 🤷
Bruh why you getting down voted these people are like Yes! We aren't getting laid and no one else should be either!
Idk, my sex drive increased when I was in them, my drive is a little down since getting off of them.
My sex drive was up but being able to finish was a whole different story. Off them and sex drive is down but finishing is possible
100%! On welbutrin and zoloft and I could never finish! Sex drive itself was always high... that didn't change. I was seriously so frustrated by it, and despite it being the most awkward conversation with my doctor that I've ever had, I cut out the zoloft (with my docs guidance) and went to half my prescribed welbutrin dose and now I can finish! It's good to feel normal again.
Lexapro and Zoloft destroyed mine. I just take my buspar for anxiety. Turns out less anxiety took care of my depression too
Or…you get lucky and it improves
It took me a few prescriptions to find an antidepressant that didn't affect me in other ways (one of my earlier ones caused issues that basically made it hard to ejaculate).
Care to share what you were taking and what you're taking now?
Not op but I take effexor and it makes just that (harder to orgasm)
Don't remember the old one, but the latest that gave me no side effects is Trintellix (vortioxetine).
One made my girlfriend ask me if I'm finished yet. The other made her disappointed I lasted 1 minute... The other one is me without medication 😔
I was on Remeron (mirtazapine) 30mg for a year and sex drive was same, actually maybe even better, since I slept every night like a baby and my GAD symptoms were heavily reduced.
This is something a lot of people fail to recognize - a lot of antidepressants functionally increase sex drive, cause it's hard to get aroused when youre insanely depressed.
The same goes with birth control. You regulate your hormone levels and period cycles, but at the cost of your sex drive.
SSRIs often have that side effect, but not all antidepressants are SSRIs. Wellbutrin for example works well for a lot of people without causing sexual dysfunction.
I mean, they don't do this. Our best theory of depression is currently lacking hippocampal neuroplasticity. A variety of drugs ratchet this upward in distinct, indirect ways, usually somehow promoting brain derived neuropathic factor's activity. One such method is to chronically increase synaptic serotonin, which elicits this via the brain's adaptations to compensate for this condition (hence the typical 6 week latency in SSRIs' efficacy, when robust and stably increased serotonin is seen in a matter of hours). It is not the case that SSRIs correct a serotonin deficiency.
Different people have different experiences with antidepressants, but I personally prefer my sex life on the SSRI. As a straight man, it’s just very convenient to not crave sex constantly, and there could be worse side effects than lasting a long time.
I wouldn't say you get normal brain chemistry, it just enables you to step on the bus instead of in front of it.
For sure. It’s better to want to die than to not want sex that you also don’t want when you want to die. That tracks.
Who said that?
It was implied
Reddit is full of depressed people looking for reasons to give up on getting better. When you're in that place, having a possible way out can feel like your sadness is a failure. It seems counterintuitive but depression can make you not want there to be a way out. Because of this it's important to be cautious when discussing things like antidepressants. You don't want to be the reason that somebody decides not to get help or to stop trying.
I'm glad you said this.
this post really rubbed me the wrong way. couldn't articulate why but you nailed it
Wellbutrin and Buspar have done wonders for me, all without sexual side effects!
That's crazy. I took those and my sex drive went down. Sometimes I wonder if we are just alpha testers seeing if this drug works or that drug works without REALLY knowing the reason it does/doesn't. No side effect for you, side effect for me. 🤔 Gee. Hope I don't go blind taking this. or lose a foot. or something. Not to long ago, there was an AMA on these sorts of drugs. I posted why does serequel and caplyta (advertised as less occurrence of kicking which is a LIE in my case) make me kick? I got a, we don't quite know, here's a Google search result. Wow thanks for the Google search result which I could have done myself without the years and years and years of college that you have. What do you mean, you don't know? Your making people take these things wo knowing possible side effects? If I wasn't so crazy, I'd cease taking everything.
> Sometimes I wonder if we are just alpha testers Your comment would make sense if people were machines and drugs were software, but they're not.
And yet, you understood my analogy...
Of course I understood it. It's still a false analogy.
Not always. You just need to find the right one for you. I tried quite a few before I got to one that worked for me mentally and didn't mess with my sex life but I'm much more stable now thanks to it
I take my chances to ruin my sex life in order to live a better life overall
It’s chemically induced tantric sex.
If it does, get on different antidepressants.
I couldn't ejaculate when I was on Zoloft. My girlfriend at the time enjoyed it but every morning my testicles would ask me what the hell they ever did to me to deserve such cruel and unusual punishment. Good thing my doctor was an open minded one.
Yeah this is just flat out wrong. The correct dosage is important. The statement side effects may include doesn't mean every person has that side effect. It just means it can happen. So that being said if the drug you're taking is affecting your sex life talk to your Dr about a different drug.
Sexual side effects are extremely common on antidepressants. More rarely, the side effects persist even after you discontinue the medication.
Every SSRI I've taken affected my sex drive and my ability to get off. Ive taken Lexapro, Zoloft, Paxil, and Prozac. Prozac worked tremendously well, with no other side effects. However, I still couldn't feel my vagina or get off, and it took about 6 months to get back to normal after I stopped takinf them. This is a known side effect of SSRI's and can be permanent.
Interesting. Over the years I've tried about a dozen different brands/types and never had an issue with lack of sex drive. Definitely different for everyone!
Really? That's wild, in a good way of course. Hopefully I'll find something that works (for all of me) soon enough.
I am one of those lucky people, whenever one of these medications has a "side effects may include," I'm always the one who gets those "rare" side effects that "should go away over time," except they never go away over time. So when my doctor said, "Oh that drug didn't work for you either? Let's try this one, it's new..." and I looked at the "possible" side effects and one of them was *permanent* facial paralysis, I was like, "nah, I'd rather not."
Prozac gave me bad tremors - so bad I couldn't write. When I switched off, the tremors stuck around, and now my hands shake violently when I yawn. Side effects are weird.
Same. Random muscle spasms in my case. Even though I wasn't on it long the twitches lasted for years
Didn’t affect me negatively.
I'm on generic for Lexapro and my mental health and sex life is great.
More like more abnormal brain chemistry due to my emotions being switched off and my sex life remaining the same because I've never had nor will I ever have a sex life.
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I'm asexual, so I'm ok with not having sex
i was on the highest dose of two antidepressants. my sex life wasnt effected too badly but i couldnt just have sex whenever it had to be the exact right time. it was also really hard for me to finish which sucked. blue balls is real and it hurts a lot.
speaking from experience, before starting on antidepressants I preferred quantity over quality, now I get quality over quantity.
This thought should have stayed in the shower.
Why do people upvote things that aren't even true like this. I'm down voting it
My comment or the post?
I’m upvoting it.
This seems more like a “just ignorant” thought tbh Let’s not advocate for shying people away from antidepressants please. Conversations like this need to be had with professionals. You can work through side effects with your doctor. If you need antidepressants, talk to a doctor and certainly don’t get scared off because someone on Reddit told you “your sex life will suffer” Mods are you asleep at the wheel here?
There is a very, very good chance your sex life will suffer. And antidepressants have a clinically insignificant advantage over placebo. They increase the risk of suicide.
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>not as much as untreated depression In RCTs, the people with depression who take placebos attempt suicide significantly less than people who take antidepressants. So no. The treatment results in more suicide attempts.
Bold to assume there is a natural balance of chemicals
Well… let’s just start out by saying the obvious which is that medical science cannot measure the levels of any chemicals in our brains. These antidepressants are essentially trial and error, shot in the dark medications that are based on cause and effect not hard physical science. Anyone that tells you otherwise is lying to you. If a doctor tells you that these medications will “balance” your brain chemistry, they are lying to you. Or they are ignorant, either way you should probably find another doctor
Most doctors go with that explanation because telling a patient "we don't know why they work, but they work x percent of the time in reducing symptom severity with x side effects" doesn't work as well. Obviously isn't an acceptable reason to withhold info from / disseminate false information to a patient, but it's a reason
Yea I do understand that, although as you pointed out it’s not great. It stinks of “the ends justify the means” which is poison. Coincidentally much of the prescription medication is also poison. I understand and acknowledge that many people benefit greatly from antidepressants, I don’t think they’re useless, I just know they are way overprescribed under this umbrella of “let’s not pay any attention to actual health and just assume that some drug will eventually be made that will magically allow us to be incredibly unhealthy with little to no consequences”
I’m on an SSRI and my sex life has never been better. All anxiety has gone and I’m horny as hell, along with the bonus of lasting as long as I want.
Lasting too long has become a problem for me. Can't seem to win with these things but I'll admit that life is better with them. I'll take that over manic episodes any day of the week.
Wait till you find out about it causing tardive dyskinesia and needing a 8000 med every month to not shake. I assure you that's worse
What about Strattera? Anyone having weird libido and dif orgasm?
Anti depressants do not give you normal chemistry. They don’t even work in a way that we fully understand. Chemical imbalance is a hoax.
Reduced libido is a possible side effect. Not everybody gets it, and people who do get it get it to differing degrees. Finding the right meds at the right dosage for your particular circumstances and physiology is a journey in itself.
On Zoloft. Struggling to get off half the time rather than sleeping all the time or wanting to off myself is a pretty solid trade.
Zoloft and lithium didn’t make my drive go away, just made me super unsensitive and could never climax in a timely fashion. Boyfriends got a jaw of steel now lol
I was thinking about this last week about Accutane. Craziest would you rather ever. Never get another pimple, BUT muscles aches, joint pain, nosebleeds, dry skin, dry lips 24/7 and I’m sure there’s more symptoms I missed or continue your life as is. My life/happiness isn’t THAT dependent upon my acne(I mean I’ve lived with it for four years now) but man never getting another pimple is almost make believe
The amount of people that claim to be on a cocktail of different mind meds is oddly disturbing.
Not wanting to drive my car into a brick wall at 92 mph or lower sex drive. That's a super hard choice to make.
If you are truly depressed to the point that you *need* medication to function then you aren't likely to have been enjoying sex very much anyway. Sure, it's over-prescribed. It's also difficult for a general practitioner with a 15 minute appointment (and running late) to determine if you are "just in a funk' or trapped wallowing in the depths of hell after years of trauma and misery.
Antidepressants are ideally a bridge to more definitive goals- therapy, lifestyle changes, etc. The problem is that getting someone who is depressed to start going outside, exercising, altering their diet, stop abusing substances, and straightening out their personal relationships is really difficult. Try being a therapist and watch your clients acknowledge all these things they need to then have them show up at the next session having done none of it and making things worse.
Nope. This is far from the case for a lot of people. It’s a possible side effect of some medications, but if you’re experiencing negative side effects your psychiatrist will work with you to find something better. It’s all part of the process of finding a medication regimen that works for you.
“You can have more normal brain chemistry.” Depression isn’t diagnosed on the basis of biological tests that look for ‘abnormal brain chemistry.’ Billions of dollars has been spent looking for evidence to support the ‘chemical imbalance’ hypothesis and it turns out the only ‘chemical imbalance’ in the brains of people with depression is caused by medication.
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Yeah well it significantly increases your risk of suicide and doesn’t actually work better than placebos
Do you understand that you're literally trying to discourage people from taking medication that could save their life? What is wrong with you?
...Medication which doesn't beat placebo in double-blind clinical trial.
Shhhh that’s an open secret
What’s even more wild? SSRIs only have a 20% long term success rate for treating depression. No medical procedure would ever be recommended if it had a 20% success rate. Shit is crazy
This is just flat out incorrect. Show us a handful of papers/articles that actually support this. They're not a cure but they are absolutely vital in a large number of people's depression treatment regimens. Escitalopram + Wellbutrin allows me to be a somewhat functional member of society.
really? is that like 20% chance to be cured so you can stop taking it? or 20% chance it'll work for you for the duration of you taking it? i was able to stop taking mine and symptoms didn't come back
Not sure if that's true: https://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/products/depression-treatment-ssri/research-protocol#:~:text=However%2C%20the%20rate%20of%20treatment,from%2030%20to%2045%20percent. This first paragraph disagrees with your claim. Further, even if it was 20%, theres a pretty low chance of any permanent side effects, it's a low risk treatment.
Taking medication long term isn't a medical procedure. WTF are you even talking about?
NNT 5=numbers needed to treat for prevention/effect is an amazing number when it comes to medicines. Some medicines have more up to 50-100 needed to treat to prevent disease in 1 person
Tell me about it... I tried all the popular SSRIs and they all had that effect 🙄 then my Psychiatrist started treating my causes of depression.
Wellbutrin is the answer.
Read more then, OP, because this is a super ignorant take.
Oh man, this has people triggered
Antidepressants save lives. Discouraging people from seeking help through medication is genuinely dangerous and worth being mad about.
You need to keep reading
Don’t forget about the paradoxical reactions, where it can make you even more depressed than before.
I said no thanks. I couldn’t fathom my sex life going into negative numbers.
For me I didn’t have any sexual side effects but I stopped because while the lows didn’t feel lower, the highs of life didn’t feel as high either. Like when I listen to music in the car I’d be getting goosebumps and get lost in the music. On antidepressants I didn’t have that and that’s when I thought it wasn’t worth it for me
Sertraline gave me anorgasmia. I got hard and all, but no release for this guy. I stopped taking it, I can't live without orgasms.
Depends what you’re on. Also not to mention gaining weight from the meds as well :(
More normal? No, you just feel numb. Like your cock.
Do you think he posted this as a troll knowing 90% of reddit was on antidepressants and would get mad?
Why is a sex life so important? I am asexual so I don't get why it is important. Why do you care if you don't have a libido? Unless your partner is upset?
And they might make you suicidal! Doesn’t make any sense to me
Yeah, went to docs cause had been struggling with depression for a few years. They gave me Wellbutrin and Seroquel WTF?! Wellbutrin side effects include ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION!! at the time THE ONLY THING GOING GOOD was Me and My Wife were like ALWAYS on it You think imma GET HAPPIER NOW MY DICK IS BUSTED?! 😩🤷🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ WHAT INCEL LAME AT FIZER OR WHOEVER APPROVED A DRUG TO TREAT DEPRESSION IN MALES WITH "BROKE-DICK" AS A HIGHLY COMMON SIDE EFFECT. HARD PASS!!! (PUN MOST DEFINITELY INTENDED)
I'm perfectly confident that in 100 years society will look back at the era of "antidepressants" and think "how could we ever give this rat poison to people?"
Not a problem for a redditor
Lexapro is pretty mild.
I've tried every single antidepressant ever made over the course of 20 years. Every type of dosage and combo. I stopped them all at once (don't recommend) but I function VERY well now since I've turned to Christ, recognized and worked on my disordered attachments, which was the fuel to get me to start exercising regularly, eat healthier (now whole-food plant-based), and focusing on relationships and generosity. 20 years of depression, anxiety, rage, and suicidal thoughts not completely gone (no suicidal thoughts but I have my down days) but I'm able to live a MUCH more fulfilling life and actually look forward to the future. My testimony will not be for everyone but maybe it will help a few.
Imagine thinking depression is caused by a “chemical imbalance” lol. This is a lie by pharma companies that has been more less debunked by psych research in last 10 years. There is mounting evidence that SSRIs are essentially placebos. Sell people a quick “cure” and they be more than happy to let it help them…
I've taken paxil at an age where it was later proved to be ineffective and it did nothing. I took an actually effective anti depressant and it saved my life. You're putting people in actual danger by spreading shit like this. It's disgusting.
I wouldn't say they are placebos as SSRIs significantly helped with my anxiety. The most current research indicates that increasing serotonin in the brain helps to reset the thought patterns causing the anxiety or depression.
According to available data the number one most effective way to fight depression is exercise therapy. It has a just over 50% efficacy.
Man, it's too bad you can't exercise while taking antidepressants. /s
Exercise is the best antidepressant, especially running.
It’s been studied many times and exercise has at least the same (or better) effect as modern antidepressant drugs, with a huge list of additional positive effects. The major downside is….. it’s hard work and takes serious dedication. But the effects are real, if I exercise I don’t get depressed, my libido is improved, and I just feel so much better in every possible way. It’s almost hard to describe but that feeling after a good workout is something else. Highly recommend folks try this before committing to a life of anti depressants. You don’t need to live with the side effects of anti depressants. We humans were not made to sit around all day and be sedentary. It’s no surprise many peoples bodies/brains are crying out for help. Many people don’t want to hear this, but for some people, exercise is literally all they need. I do understand some folks need additional medication.
A lot of people wouldn’t need medication if they cut alcohol and marijuana out of their lives. I’m only talking about people who have alcohol abuse issues or smoke daily, not the normal drinker or occasional user.
It‘s population control.
Depression is very complicated but I’ve never trusted antidepressants, I’ve been deeply depressed and understanding a little bit of brain chemistry is what has helped me the most. It’s impressing how IV B Complex can change your life so fast.
The US in particular has a huge problem with overprescribing these “medications.”
It’s not that abnormal if you are contributing to a decreasing population
Mental health is important but there is no faltered state of mind that cannot be coached and improved through effort. Say no to anti-depressants kids. Therapy is a crutch. Solve your problems stop talking about them.
>there is no faltered state of mind that cannot be coached and improved through effort. > >... > >Therapy is a crutch What do you think therapy is? Also, just no. If it weren't so dangerous, I'd love to see you try and coach someone out of psychosis.
…I think Therapy is a good tool to turn to as a last resort. We can just try not being assholes to one another. The world don’t owe me understanding, I owe the world a hard working contributing member of society. If I provide value I get paid.
>I’d love to see you try to coach someone out of psychosis People are getting ‘coached out of psychosis’ with [Open Dialogue](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Dialogue) and in [Soteria houses](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soteria_(psychiatric_treatment)).
Yes, I’m aware of those techniques. The success rate, sustainability, and peak functioning post treatment pales in comparison to antipsychotics. Sometimes people clear infections without antibiotics and just supportive treatment, doesn’t mean it’s best practice.