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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by PianoPlayer131 on May 27, 2005, at 19:44:44
This post is addressed to any males who have used any of the SSRIs (Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, Celexa, Luvox), although I am particularly interested in people's experiences with Prozac.
Please tell me which of the SSRIs you use/have used in the past, at what dosage level, and what specific sexual side effects you experienced (if any) from the drug, including how it affected your libido, your ability to get and maintain erections, and its effect on orgasmic functioning.
I am asking this question because I am currently taking Wellbutrin and am considering a low dose SSRI, yet I am wary of sexual side effects. Also, if anybody has experiences with using Wellbutrin in combination with SSRI's, I'd be glad to hear about it.
Thanks.
Posted by rvanson on May 28, 2005, at 0:22:50
In reply to Male Sexual Functioning on the SSRIs, posted by PianoPlayer131 on May 27, 2005, at 19:44:44
> This post is addressed to any males who have used any of the SSRIs (Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, Celexa, Luvox), although I am particularly interested in people's experiences with Prozac.
>
> Please tell me which of the SSRIs you use/have used in the past, at what dosage level, and what specific sexual side effects you experienced (if any) from the drug, including how it affected your libido, your ability to get and maintain erections, and its effect on orgasmic functioning.
>
> I am asking this question because I am currently taking Wellbutrin and am considering a low dose SSRI, yet I am wary of sexual side effects. Also, if anybody has experiences with using Wellbutrin in combination with SSRI's, I'd be glad to hear about it.
>
> Thanks.
I have found Celexa and Prozac to have the least negative effects on male sex functions with Paxil, Lexapro and Serzone to have the worst.If you have been on SSRI's and are male have your free and bound testosterone levels checked.
My bound Testosterone level was mid range normal but my free testosterone was way below normal, resulting in total lack of libido, possibly caused by the SSRI's.
If your Pdoc wont have the blood tests done, get a new one.
Posted by BIGDaddyachmed69 on May 28, 2005, at 3:11:37
In reply to Male Sexual Functioning on the SSRIs, posted by PianoPlayer131 on May 27, 2005, at 19:44:44
> This post is addressed to any males who have used any of the SSRIs (Zoloft, Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, Celexa, Luvox), although I am particularly interested in people's experiences with Prozac.
>
> Please tell me which of the SSRIs you use/have used in the past, at what dosage level, and what specific sexual side effects you experienced (if any) from the drug, including how it affected your libido, your ability to get and maintain erections, and its effect on orgasmic functioning.
>
> I am asking this question because I am currently taking Wellbutrin and am considering a low dose SSRI, yet I am wary of sexual side effects. Also, if anybody has experiences with using Wellbutrin in combination with SSRI's, I'd be glad to hear about it.
>
> Thanks.I literally could not achieve an orgasm on Paxil...Yohimbe Bark Extract really helped with that, but I noticed it gave me palpitations.
Posted by blueberry on May 28, 2005, at 9:10:06
In reply to Male Sexual Functioning on the SSRIs, posted by PianoPlayer131 on May 27, 2005, at 19:44:44
In my own experiences trying all of the ssris, I found that only prozac was friendly to sex.
Paxil...fair desire, but unable to get or keep an erection.
Celexa...same as paxil, but not as strong.
Zoloft...zero sexual desire, completely numbed.
Effexor...similar to zoloft.
Prozac...actually experienced increased sexual desire early on, but now sexual desire is about normal. Can get and keep an erection, but it takes a little work, so I find viagra works fantastic, better than ever.
I think the most important thing is to maintain the sexual desire. Because without that, none of the rest of it makes much difference. Prozac is the only one that didn't hurt my sexual desire, though it may at first for a week or two.
Posted by PianoPlayer131 on May 28, 2005, at 12:28:01
In reply to Male Sexual Functioning on the SSRIs, posted by PianoPlayer131 on May 27, 2005, at 19:44:44
After reading these posts, and having browsed through the archives, it seems to me that Prozac might not be as bad for guys as was originally thought...a lot of people seem to believe that it is one of the worst SSRIs for sexual side effects, but I'm starting to read more and more about people who didn't find it to be all that bad for their sex lives.
As for my experiences, Celexa lowered my libido a bit more than I was okay with, and made it difficult to orgasm. On Effexor XR, I completely lost the ability to orgasm (and I'm a guy) which was not fun at all. Wellbutrin and Buspar don't seem to have any sexual side effects, but on the other hand they haven't worked nearly as well for my depression and anxiety as Celexa did.
Also, Does anybody have opinions on whether the dosage really makes much difference? I once tried lowering from 20 mg to 10 mg of Celexa but it
didn't seem to change anything.
Posted by Chairman_MAO on May 30, 2005, at 20:16:41
In reply to Male Sexual Functioning on the SSRIs, posted by PianoPlayer131 on May 27, 2005, at 19:44:44
Cabergoline will most likely completely obliterate any sexual side effects from an SSRI.
Other dopamine agonists will work as well, but I like cabergoline's pharmacological profile the best. Wellbutrin cannot measure up in any way to the efficacy of a real DA agonist for this problem.
Posted by PianoPlayer131 on June 1, 2005, at 12:34:31
In reply to Re: Male Sexual Functioning on the SSRIs » PianoPlayer131, posted by Chairman_MAO on May 30, 2005, at 20:16:41
I have heard that dopamine agonists are beneficial. However, isn't the price of cabergoline very high? Does your insurance cover it?
Posted by Chairman_MAO on June 3, 2005, at 10:40:31
In reply to Re: Male Sexual Functioning on the SSRIs, posted by PianoPlayer131 on June 1, 2005, at 12:34:31
I can discuss ways to discount the cost of cabergoline with you if you babblemail me.
This is the end of the thread.
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