Just had a date with a really beautiful lady, who did not enjoy any part of the activities - at all. She claimed that she has been on anti depression drugs (prozac)for 10 years, and that has lost sensation on her nipples, clit, and vagina. She also giggled randomly during sex (for no reason) which had me worried - till I found out about the medications (she showed me the bottle). In addition she was very down on herself (looks, brains) for no reason.
Was I fed a series of lines, or is this a true side effect of the drugs?

Dear Gosloforme,

I have no idea whether the bottle of Prozac was rightfully prescribed to her or not, but I can tell you that Prozac is NOTORIOUS for tampering with libido, orgasmic function and yes, even sensation for some.

The giggling may just have been out of nervousness, or maybe because she was experiencing your touching as more of a tickle than actually as stimulation of erogenous zones.

If she is chronically dysthymic (low grade depression) or has major depressive disorder, then of course she will be "down on herself." On the other hand, if she's been on Prozac for over 10 years, it may be time for her to change meds. That, however, is not for us to decide; what is clear is that she was taking this medication.

Prozac is one of the first generation SSRI's (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor); when it first came out, it was touted as a miracle. In its defense, there are some individuals who function quite well on paroxetine, while others have reported suicidality, increased depression or no effect at all. We now have single isomer SSRI's that more effectively target their intended areas; other meds target different neurotransmitters that may be involved in depression and/or anxiety. But it's not one-size-fits-all, and therein lies part of the problem.

As a clinician, I work very closely with psychiatrists and I always try to help my clients find the best medication for them. Certain individuals simply cannot go without their meds; it is up to us mental health professionals, however, to stay current on the latest psychopharmaceutical developments so that we can recommend newer drugs that have minimal or lesser side effects.

How sad for this lady,
The Love Goddess

I can only speak for myself, I take a healthy dose of happy and love sex with my boyfriend:my body is responsive and he's hung and I get off. With clients, everything they do just feels annoying or pinchy or proddy. So-this means antidepressants don't affect me. A friend says they dry her up, no matter who she has sex with. Another friend said it lowers her desire, but once she gets going all is well. She shouldn't divulge info like that to you. She should have squirted some lube up there-before your arrival-body heat turns it into what will be perceived by a client as genuine arousal.

My older sister suffered with depression her entire adult life.  She tried all sorts of things, none of which worked.  We all just assumed she was bi-polar and lived with it as best we could.  

I know there is a very wide range of severity and hers may not have been the worst, every year we all feared she'd never make it through another Midwest winter. It adversely affected her life in many ways, but none worse than her ability to hold a job.  As a sign of support, the family quit counting after she'd been fired from her 30th job.  This, despite the fact she had a college degree and had a good work ethic.  As you can imagine, her world kept getting smaller and smaller until she had no friends and finally started working at home.

Then something amazing happened- mother nature stepped in and saved the day.  She went through menopause and her depression stopped!  Not only did she quit being depressed, she became a happy and upbeat person, in fact, she's happier now at age 62 than I can ever remember her being.

While I realize there might be more than one cause for what we call bipolar disorder, and any small change in body chemistry can result in big changes in behavior, was she really bipolar in the clinical sense?  Or did she just have the world's worst periods?  Maybe displaying the symptoms of being bipolar, by definition, mean you're bipolar, but I've never heard of someone just getting better in this manner, especially after a lifetime of  despair and failure.  

Sorry, I didn't mean to hijack the thread.

However, I'll just say this: Some women have a paradoxical response to progesterone. In fact, for some, progesterone makes the cycle worse, not better. When some women's ovaries stop producing progesterone, their mood stabilizes. In fact, if the woman in question is seeing a gynecologist who prescribes bioidentical hormones, it may be that she will be administered natural progesterone at a dose much lower than she would produce endogenously, and hence her mood may remain sunny and trouble-free.

Another issue may be that she had seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and should have avoided those Midwestern winters. On top of it, she could have had Borderline Personality Disorder, which we now conceive of as Affect Dysregulation Disorder which does have a genetic base. We treat that one with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (according to Marsha Linehan's protocol.) BPD can be misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder; however, BPD appears to resolve itself after menopause, which in some way is paradoxical, since the progesterone of a premenopausal woman mediates the GABA (unless she's got a paradoxical response, then all hell can break loose).

She is not bipolar. If she were, she most likely would not have lasted this long without meds. Without any meds, she probably would have died of drug abuse or committed suicide. Untreated bipolar disorder is extremely severe and doesn't just "go away." So yes, most likely this had to do with PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder). Another way of medicating PMDD is to interrupt ovulation completely by administering synthetic progesterone or even GnRh analogs like Lupron. Unfortunately these drugs can cause severe bone loss or induce early menopause. At this point, I wish her the best.

Hijack averted,
The Love Goddess

Macdadddy, I appreciate your candor about sex work; I even find it amusing and refreshing—sometimes.

But, given the tenor of the OP who is describing a  woman who has lost all sensation in her nipples, clit and vagina? A woman who appears to be very ‘down’ on herself; on anti-depressants for 10 years? A woman who is ‘giggling’ nervously in a session with a client?

Having been in a serious relationship with a woman clinically diagnosed as ‘depressed’---which, unfortunately, seems to have become so commonplace these days that, personally, I question how many of these ‘depressed’ people really need help from the pharmaceutical companies.

That said, I’m no Dr, so I won’t go second guessing here. But, having negotiated the side effects of anti-depressants on sex-drive/libido---not to mention the unexpected roller-coaster ride the occasional drug adjustments can evoke, I can say from experience that the side effects of these drugs are no joke; not only for the person taking them,  but on the lives of those who love them. And, that is not just in the context of sexual drive/desire.

For someone to say: “She should have squirted some lube up there-before your arrival-body heat turns it into what will be perceived by a client as genuine arousal”?

I’m a bit stunned at the insensitivity of that.

Not everything is about business.

The genetic factor is a strong possibility because my mother had major problems, too.  And while I was too young to appreciate what was going on at the time (I could only understand the yelling, screaming and beatings), as adults my father was able to fill in some of the blanks.  

Unfortunately, he traveled during the week on business and actually cried when he found out the hell she'd been putting us through when he was gone.  Given 1960's small town understanding and treatment of these problems, the medical help she received didn't help much at all.

There's a reason I live 2000 miles away, in So. Cal.  Isn't it amazing how a few milligrams of a compound can affect so many lives.

Thanks for your response.

I have had a sexy sexy sexy client that had showed up to my incall. I really enjoyed him.... it was amazing. he told me that the girl he had prior to me was like whining and saying "are you done yet????" Why would she do that this guy was gorgeous.....????? but it wasn't him, it was her.
there are times that i am depressed. but i do sports and hang out with friends and that takes my mind off of my extreme lifestyle. Then I miss all the excitement you know.....
When a girl gets burnt out like that she sees herself as a machine and she sees men as machines.
also i will say that when you m&g you should look at the girls expressions on her face and she if she looks like she is excited to be there. Not someone who is burnt out. look for chipper spunky girls that are full of life and responsive, not ones that look like they are glazed over on pills.
I have the deepest compassion for people with depression. I battle it myself sometimes but I really doubt that those pills took away sensations. Although I have heard that users can have muscle spaz. and ticks from those pills screwing with their nervous system. But I think that she had a bad day or something and is hiding behind an excuse.  

she needs to change meds!  Depression is a serious illness and many suffer needlessly from it! With hundreds of antidepressants out on the market, why would someone still be taking only Prozac?  It works well for some people but loses its effectiveness over time for many.
It's too bad that the nature of this illness makes people just accept living a substandard life without the joys of sex.  


My father is bipolar and my mother is severely depressed-I know first hand about depression unfortunately.

She can not have orgasms because of it, but she is a good provider and makes me happy.

She says that she always enjoys the other aspects of sex:  the sensations, the touching, companionship, watching me come, etc.

Orgasm isn't the be-all and end-all of sex, though I agree it would be nice if she somehow were able to orgasm sometimes.

But the client was there for business. A lot of people who do this need psych meds, either to cope with it of for preexisting issues. The idea that she would bring her personal and medical issues up to a client(happy? I said client instead of john) shows boundary issues. I feel bad for her, but she could have avoided this whole sitution.

to your considered and educational responses on this obviously serious issue. I do feel bad for the provider (who by the way described not being able to hold a job, despite a good education).
This is one of those times that makes you realize exactly how many problems and issues others have to deal with on a regular basis.

Lol well at least you admit it.

I was on Lexapro for depression for awhile and I can tell you that I also experienced a loss of libido, I could get an erection but there was some loss of sensation and I couldn't get off to save my life. I was with a really wonderful and understanding woman at the time, she blew me for THREE HOURS once, and this girl had some amazing oral skills, but I just couldn't cum. Another time we had sex for seven hours and I never blew (but she had so many orgasms I lost count). After that I threw the shit away and will never touch it again. Screw that! I'd rather be depressed but horny! And honestly sometimes an exceptional lovemaking session was just what I needed to snap out of my funk. I've wrestled with some seriously dark depressions and tried many different SSRIs and I never felt that any of them made any difference. Beware these drug companies. Sometimes lifting your mood can be as easy as changing habits: eat better, sleep better, fuck better!