How to Avoid the Sexual Side Effects of Psychotropic Medications (Part III)
The choice of antidepressant is a complex one. There are many factors that need to be considered, including target symptoms, personal and family history and the potential for other side effects of Wellbutrin, Zoloft or Prozac, so you should always confer with your treating physician in choosing the medication trial that is right for you, but know that not all of these medications are created equal when it comes to inducing sexual dysfunction.The SSRIs are taken daily, sometimes in divided doses and, when suitable blood levels are reached and a person has been taking the medication for long enough for certain physiological changes to take place in the brain, the beneficial effects of these medications on a person's mood last all day.
Like the effect on a person's mood, sexual dysfunction will also tend to occur at a more or less constant level while a person is taking the medication. However, with regard to difficulty achieving an orgasm--which, again, is by far the most common complaint among patients taking these medications--timing can actually make a difference.
Although it may always be more challenging to achieve an orgasm while taking an SSRI, there are times when it will be virtually impossible, and one of those times is immediately after dosing with the medication, when the level of the medication in the bloodstream is essentially peaking.
If you take 200mg of Zoloft , for example, and then attempt to climax half an hour or an hour or two later, you will experience monumental difficulty doing so, and will probably quit trying, very frustrated. If, on the other hand, you attempt to climax as far removed in time from your last dose, you will have a significantly improved chance of succeeding (there is no guarantee that you will succeed, of course, but your chances will be much greater).
Because of the dose- dependent aspect, one strategy for the person who otherwise needs 200mg of Zoloft a day is to divide the dosage into 100mg twice a day. In general, it will be much easier to climax after 100mg than after 200mg. On the other hand, someone else may find it best to take their 200mg in the morning as usual and attempt to climax either first thing in the morning (before that dose) or at the very end of the day.
Check with your doctor, adjust your dosing schedule and do what works best for you. Obviously, having to schedule times for sexual activity may not be convenient or feasible for a lot of people, but at least knowing that there are zones of time during which you are more or less likely to be able to climax can save you a lot of frustration and also help you to be more patient while you wait the weeks or months it can take to see some spontaneous improvement of this bothersome side effect.
There are various other prescription medications that can be added to your SSRI by your doctor for the specific purpose of reversing sexual dysfunction. This is a hit-or-miss strategy; the addition of these adjunct medications can significantly improve sexual dysfunction in some individuals while making no difference at all for others.
The downside is that it involves taking yet another medication, with all of the cost and inconvenience and potentially new side effects taking a prescription medication can entail, but when it works to reverse the dysfunction, most people feel that it's worth it.
Men who experience ED as a result of treatment with these types of antidepressants and anti-anxiety agents are almost always men who have either previously experienced ED or who are otherwise at risk for it: older gentlemen with histories of high blood pressure, high cholesterol and/or diabetes, for example.
Because SSRIs can diminish the libido (sex drive), lowered arousal can contribute to some degree of ED, but the fact is that most males will not experience a complete loss of their sex drives (that effect is more common in females, especially older, postmenopausal women).
Even older men with established ED will rarely complain that SSRIs have completely deprived them of their interest in sex or that, as a result, their ED is noticeably worse; rather, these men are likely to complain about what almost all individuals experiencing medication-induced sexual side effects complain about: the decreased ability or relative inability to climax.
Of course, for those few individuals for whom ED does seem to be a consequence of treatment with an SSRI, any of the above strategies apply, but if there are no other medical contraindications, using medications approved for the treatment of ED is certainly worth considering, and the success rate is likely to be greater than using adjunctive medications in an attempt to reverse anorgasmia.
Disclaimer: The author is not a doctor, physician or specialist. This article does not attempt to give medical advice since seizure disorder cases may vary for each affected individual. It would still be best to consult your neurologist for the best treatment for your particular case, if any.
About The Author
Luis Garzon. Have You Taken Wellbutrin?..Wellbutrin linked to serious side effects of birth defects and other painful illness. Want to know what is Wellbutrin about? Learn about Wellbutrin Wellbutrin and Wellbutrin adverse effects. Visit Wellbutrin Side Effects Now
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