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Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

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Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#121

Post by standardUser »

lost-found wrote: post #94
ljm wrote: post #8

This was one of the factors that made me think twice about going back on anti-depressants, until I made peace with the fact that my ability to orgasm wasn't going to pull me out of the hole I was in. It's a shitty choice but the desire to not be suicidal forces your hand. It's literally like flipping a switch. One day, the plumbing works. The next day, it doesn't. Many times I'd just give up, out of boredom. The side…

You ever look into ketamine for treating depression? Self medicated this past weekend and had some major breakthroughs with my long time depression/suicidal intrusive thoughts. Nice thing is you don’t have to stay on it unlike other antidepressants—I would never do a medication that you have to constantly take.

"I would never do a medication that you have to constantly take."

Tell that to your heart doctor when you're 70.

Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#122

Post by cwkoss »

lost-found wrote: post #94
ljm wrote: post #8

This was one of the factors that made me think twice about going back on anti-depressants, until I made peace with the fact that my ability to orgasm wasn't going to pull me out of the hole I was in. It's a shitty choice but the desire to not be suicidal forces your hand. It's literally like flipping a switch. One day, the plumbing works. The next day, it doesn't. Many times I'd just give up, out of boredom. The side…

You ever look into ketamine for treating depression? Self medicated this past weekend and had some major breakthroughs with my long time depression/suicidal intrusive thoughts. Nice thing is you don’t have to stay on it unlike other antidepressants—I would never do a medication that you have to constantly take.

Ketamine can be pretty rough on the bladder and kidneys. Please read up on the risks. It is definitely dangerous to take recreational doses several times per week - it seems that low/moderate doses every week or two avoids most of the problems while still providing therapeutic effects, but definitely keep an eye on the health of those systems, ideally with letting your doctor know so they can help.

Many of users on /r/researchchemicals using either ket or novel analogs at recreational doses regularly for both fun and depression relief end up with bladder issues after over-consuming for a period - so while it's a promising depression treatment, I'd recommend caution around dosage and frequency and titrating to find your minimum effective dose.

Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#123

Post by iammisc »

FFRefresh wrote: post #118
n8cpdx wrote: post #113

As someone dating in their 20s, it is getting hard to find people who aren’t having SSRI-related dysfunction. Recently met an older (early 30s guy) and it was seriously cool having a sexual experience that didn’t end with “don’t bother I’m just not going to finish no matter how long we go.” They really seem to be handing out these serious, almost-impossible-to-withdraw medications like candy on Halloween. They don’t…

I do wonder if there's a culture-wide bug/meme with regards to mental health (and beyond) that makes it hard to push for lifestyle changes at scale. I think one such meme is around agency, with the underlying meme being that humans have no control over their circumstances or mental state. They have anxiety or they have depression. It's part of their identity, and these seem to be thought of as immutable diseases. And…

You're absolutely right. This is an unpopular opinion, but I don't think anxiety or depression are mental illness. They are just feelings. Your feelings do not make you ill... People attribute it to a 'chemical' imbalance, but your brain being run by chemical fluctuations, everything is a 'chemical' balance, including this comment I'm typing right now. What we've done is taken these brain fluctuations, and labeled them bad, without addressing why one's brain is thinking this.

I am an anxious person. I have had several terrible things happen to me that have led to prolonged periods of depression. Ultimately, these things are a choice, and people need to be taught good skills for coping with the sad realities of life. Life is ultimately a long series of sufferings, ending in death, which one can either choose to embrace or to worry about. Unfortunately, as a society we have stopped teaching all the traditional tools one would use to get oneself out of such funks.

Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#124

Post by iammisc »

chilmers wrote: post #27
slowmotiony wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tested your hormone profile (blood test)? Testosterone, Free T, Estradiol, Prolactin, Progesterone, SHBG - you could check if all of those are in range because that might be the root cause of your issue. There were studies done where use of SSRIs was causing elevated levels of serum prolactin.

Interesting, thanks. I did do a basic consumer blood test which reported my testosterone as "normal" (whatever that means), but I should probably do a more in-depth one and check these things.

https://www.artofmanliness.com/health-fitness/health/how-to-...

^ has information on why 'normal' isn't a good range for everyone.

Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#125

Post by iammisc »

wayoutthere wrote: post #9

Ugh. Yes. Not meaning to be crude here and I’m incredibly sympathetic to the men I date, but as a woman in her late 30s it’s hard to find a man my age who doesn’t have problems getting / keeping it up. Most of them link back to antidepressant use. What about modern society drives the need for such widespread use of antidepressants? Is that something we should be willing to give up? It hasn’t always been this way, has…

I am a straight man, so have no experience with other men obviously, but this is fascinating. How can it be that so many of us are on antidepressants? Something is surely wrong as you've said right?

There may also be selection effects as men in their late 30s may not have 'paired up' so to speak due to depression. But still, I'm curious if anyone has stats on how many people are on these drugs.

Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#126

Post by cwkoss »

BoiledCabbage wrote: post #69
selexin wrote: post #11

I don’t usually post here, especially on such personal topics, but feel I should. I’ve been on SSRIs and SNRIs for some time now (Pristiq, and now Zolof), and can definitely attest to the some of the changes described in the article. I clearly remember reading the documentation in full that came with both drugs before starting each, and the mentioned side effects were only mentioned in passing, along with possibly ev…

As a herbal observation, it seems like such a scam that medical pamphlets will list possible side-effects, but not frequencies. Knowing that one person in one thousand saw some issue is very different from 20% of people. Especially as almost every medication I've ever seen advertised has a list two pages long of possible side effects. How is a person supposed to make an informed judgment?

> herbal observation

What does this mean?

Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#127

Post by iammisc »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #44
wayoutthere wrote: post #9

Ugh. Yes. Not meaning to be crude here and I’m incredibly sympathetic to the men I date, but as a woman in her late 30s it’s hard to find a man my age who doesn’t have problems getting / keeping it up. Most of them link back to antidepressant use. What about modern society drives the need for such widespread use of antidepressants? Is that something we should be willing to give up? It hasn’t always been this way, has…

> What about modern society drives the need for such widespread use of antidepressants? Is that something we should be willing to give up? It hasn’t always been this way, has it? It's completely possible that there's something messed up in modern society that causes depression, or in medicine that diagnoses depression and/or prescribes antidepressants, but the null hypothesis would be that before modern times, people…

Depression is relative. Today on social media, people come away with the false conclusion that they are meant to feel euphoric most of the time.

I don't believe in 'feeling happy', yet every magazine promises me i'll be happy if I just do X. Instagram says if I just follow , my life will become infinitely better. It's all a joke. I never feel happy, but I am not depressed. And more importantly, I have no interest in constant happiness... how boring. Most days I just feel meh. Sometimes I feel hungry.

Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#128

Post by elwell »

hellojesus wrote: post #106

I want to kill myself every second of every day, and it's been that way for 15ish years now. The only thing, fleeting as it may be, that I find worthy of doing in life is sex, and these ed side effects have kept me from exploring the potential for a world in which I don't to cease to exist or murder in the sake of nihilism. I'd rather destroy the lives of those around me or others' randomly than live without sex. It'…

Sorry to hear that. Do you think it's a function of your philosophical beliefs?

Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#129

Post by iammisc »

Broken_Hippo wrote: post #40
n4r9 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What about modern society drives the need for such widespread use of antidepressants? There's little space for compassion and sociability. Most people in the West spend 8 hours a day working through an endlessly growing backlog of demands, all the while justifying each hour to clients and managers, then go home to drink and watch TV or scroll through news feeds. Our brains are not suited to constantly worrying over…

"There's little space for compassion and sociability" I would argue there is more space now than there used to be. I mean, women were basically property at one point, with changing degrees of freedom. You might not get out of the house much, depending. Folks working as servants around 1900 basically had to do what their employers said, even if that meant you simply weren't allowed to have a romantic partner. We kept…

> I mean, women were basically property at one point, with changing degrees of freedom. You might not get out of the house much, depending.

Can we please stop just repeating cliches that are not even obviously true? While certain countries certainly had these notions, this is not a universal.

And even in cultures with strong 'female ownership', the picture you're painting is incredibly wrong. While women may be considered 'basically' property, they would constantly be socializing with one another. They would be out of their house often with other women and their children. The appearance of 'ownership' would only be from the vantage point of men.

For example, looking at Middle Eastern society, it's completely false to say women don't get out of the house. Women have entire portions of the house to themselves, where they and their female friends can get together, talk, interact, and gossip without any interference from men, including their own husband.

Today we are way more atomized. Many people work, watch TV, and sleep. That's sad. We used to spend most of our day with friends and family. Even the slaves would.

Re: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction

#130

Post by cwkoss »

300bps wrote: post #32
selexin wrote: post #11

I don’t usually post here, especially on such personal topics, but feel I should. I’ve been on SSRIs and SNRIs for some time now (Pristiq, and now Zolof), and can definitely attest to the some of the changes described in the article. I clearly remember reading the documentation in full that came with both drugs before starting each, and the mentioned side effects were only mentioned in passing, along with possibly ev…

When I was in my mid-20s my doctor wanted me to take blood pressure medication because when I went to her office in the morning I had blood pressure of 150/110. I told her I wanted to see what I could do on my own first. I cut out salt and caffeine, increased potassium and exercised every day. I went back in two months and my blood pressure was 120/80. She took it four times because she didn't believe it. I think the…

Have you heard of white coat syndrome? https://www.healthline.com/health/white-coat-syndrome

Recently learned about it, and based on my own measurements, seems I have it to some extent.

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