Guys,

ANyone out there familiar with this new anti-depressant/anti-anxiety medication? I am taking it, and it has a nasty side effect. WHile my libido is fine, I cannot ejaculate. I am climbing the walls? ANy suggestions other then stop taking the medication??

except Wellbutrin. You should tell you MD about it, it's a well known side effect. Have the doc add or switch to Wellbutrin and you won't have that problem. (I'm not an MD, but have made a career out of studting the effects of drugs.)

Reamn Lexapro!!

took me two weeks of almost daily fucking before I finally
came on zoloft the first time.... lots of luck...

btw now I have a normal response.

lustman

ps- the ladies like getting there first though

I've tried numerous AD's for 20 years, and haven't found any that avoids this nasty side effect yet.  Including Wellbutrin!  (ymmv)

I finally decided I'd rather be depressed, but still enjoy sex.
The drug company that solves this side effect will get rich!

I used to be on celexa, which is the predecessor to lexapro.  It made me feel great, but I lost my sex drive altogether.  I'm now on zoloft because the celexa also has a weight-gain side effect and I can feel things returning a bit, but honestly it doesn't matter much.  I'd rather have my sanity!  Good luck!

Reamn Lexapro!!

they tried cexela and zoloft and I was worse than before,
I knew that wellbutin worked for me so I insisted that I
receive that. it had less of a side effect than other drugs.
and it did the job with me, now I am drug free and doing very
well, but I was in so much pain for so many years that I was
ready to give up but thanks to my loving family and some very
good one on one sessions with a good head doctor I am a very
emotionally healthy guy now! but it did take a while!
whatever happens don't give up hope!
I have a dent in my head from driving a 45cal bullet across my
head, and some lingering side effects from asprin overdose,
and alot of self doubth sometimes about my self worth but I
am getting better each and every day! sorry about the rambling
on but I want to be honest about what I did to escape the pain
of depression and how I choose to deal with it at the time,
If anything keep your doctor informed as to how you are feeling
and don't floss over any side effects, they cannot help you
unless you are honest and upfront, and for God sakes don't feel
guilty for feeling the way you do cause it is not your FAULT!
enough said and p.s. if ya need to unload or talk then look me
up! [email protected]

Reamn Lexapro!!

allo I ask is that you title the email as your address and
depressed ect and I will respond! take care of you!

I have been on Prozac (now the generic Fluoxetine HCL) for 10+ years.  For a short time, it affected my libido a bit.  No problem with coming though.

-Hoot.

Reamn Lexapro

I don't suffer from depression but have an anxiety disorder. I was on Prozac which is used to treat both and did well on it for many years. Recently it was no longer working. My docter recommended Lexapro. While it appears to be working, the problem is that I am as horny as ever, but I cannot cum.  It appears that one of the side effects of this drug can be to interfer with ejaculation. I am wondering if there is anything that I can take to counter this effect or if with time, I will get used to it and be able to reach a satisfactory climax. I have been on the drug for about a month...

Reamn Lexapro!!

Adding Wellbutrin will help a little, but YMMV. It is not a cure-all. Having just gotten off a fairly liberal dose of Effexor (plus Wellbutrin), which isn't dissimilar and absolutely destroys the ability to close the deal, I can tell you that your regular libido will come back within about two weeks of your last taper dose, but you may as well forget about it during your course of the meds. It can be so bad as to actually be physically uncomfortable to ejaculate, if you even can.

Other than that... you're gonna hafta choose between treating your depression (which should really be number one) and uh, treating yourself.

You could have your shrink add a benzodiazepine-- not uncommon for an anxiety effected depression-- which will take care of a lot of your libido.

Reamn Lexapro

Trying to understand the situation better, I did some quick searching on the net and found this http://medicalsexuality.org/html/ask/ask_9.asp .  What I gleaned from this is that the problem is related to all selective Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) but that not all SSRIs will cause the same side effects (makes sense).  Why not just give it another month and see how you do.  If you are not adjusting better, you could try another SSRI.   Also this article indicates that polypharmacy and/or dose adjustments has had an effect on ridding oneself of side effects http://www.vh.org/Providers/Conferences/CPS/13.html .

-Hoot.



-- Modified on 11/3/2002 1:13:48 PM

Reamn Lexapro

I’m an MD, Psychiatrist actually, and I understand your frustration about the side effects of Lexapro. Truth about this drug is that it’s brand-spanking new and we don’t know much about the side effects yet. A little background on the drug: Celexa is made up of two isomers(chemical mirror images of each other). The drug company separated the two and the active isomer is Lexapro, it’s supposed to have all the clinical anti-depressant effects without the side effects of the other, inactive, isomer which caused all the side effects. Now that’s what the drug company says, the truth is we really don’t know what it’s going to do and everyone is different, so these kind of reactions are not surprising. My recommendation would be Serzone, it’s a newer AD and is one of two that are supposed to not have sexual side effects, Wellbutrin being the other. If you had side effects from Wellbutrin I would try Serzone and see what happens. Also, I’d recomment seeing a Psychiatrist to titrate the doses of the drugs, if you’re not already. Internatl Medicine and Family Practice doctors give out AD like they’re candy and don’t really have the expertise to know exactly how to dose and what to do if they don’t work or have side effects. Anyway, I hope this helps.

Reamn Lexapro!!

Watch out.  I've been taking SSRIs for almost 10 years now.  My erection are fewer and weaker than they are off meds.  I could swear that my penis is a full inch bigger when I'm not on medication.  The only medication I ever took are Zoloft and Prozac but they both causme weight gain and a softer penis for me.  But I'm not really able to quit the meds.  Wellbutrin might be a possibility.

Thanks for the information. THis is real helpful...
I will let you know how I do.

Reamn Lexapro

Actually I am seeing a Pschy. Was easier to spell Docter. I will follow your advice. I am due for a check up anyway and will see what happens. Appreciate the advise..

I seem to be experiencing Retarded Ejaculation also, requiring manual stimulation to take me 'over the top'. This link http://medicalsexuality.org/html/qa/male1.asp#11 doesn't mention Depakote, so does that indicate "a psychological etiology is likely" ?????

(I really love that $ .25 word 'etiology'. I guess if photographers are allowed f-stops and stop down, why can't docs say some groovy word in place of 'origin' or 'cause' [???]).