Anyone on an antidepressant?

[DeniedHard]

Thank you FlinstoneToes for sharing your personal experience, advice, and the compliment. I really appreciate it and everyone else's view points as well. Thank you Les for your viewpoint of medications in general and I just so happened to be thinking about medication from a price perspective recently also and was wondering if they really gave me the best medication and how price affected what they prescribe. Thank you Gerad for that link you provided. I think the feeling of not being alone seems to have helped.

Edit:

Also, I'm kind of worried about whether denial is safe while on an antidepressant. My drug has a risk, although it appears to be small, of Priapism. I wonder if being in state of denial would increase that risk. Although the drug information says it could happen at anytime. That's my health anxiety kicking in.

[shell]

Hello, I would like to add my story to the mix. *smile*

I was having some severe medial issues over 6 years ago. They caused my normal anxiety situation to go off the charts. I was afraid of everything. I have phobias that probably don't even have names yet.
One of my phobias is the fear of taking medicines, or Pharmacophobia. When the doctor suggested I begin taking an anti-anxious medicine, I was so full of panic, I switched doctors.
The new doctor was awesome and he walked me through what I would feel and wouldn't feel. I was allowed to take the first dose, while sitting in his waiting room, "just in case" something bad happened. He told me I was in control. I could take it or not take it. I did.

I was placed on 0.25 MG of Xanax, twice a day. It wasn't a large dose, but within an hour I felt a calm I had never felt before. I also slept through the whole night for the first time in my life.

I was having phobias and issues of a sexual nature at the time, and wasn't engaged in sexual activity. So I can't say if my sexual desire went down or not.
But, within that year some of those sexual problems were addressed and I was wanting sex, just as much as I always had.
Six years later, I am still going strong, enjoying T&D, enjoying multiple orgasms. Sex isn't a problem at all.

Since that time, I had to let my doctor go, because he moved out of state. I have been to two other doctors since that time. Both tried to get me off the Xanax, because it is an addictive drug. I tried, Paxil and Zoloft, both which made me sick, the second making me hallucinate.
Now, when a doctor suggests I make a change, I hold my ground. I remind them that in six years I have not had a dose increase in all that time and I am content with the Xanax.

I did spend a few months with a therapist and learned some breathing exercises to get me through the stressers and panic attacks. I have come a long way in 6 years.

As to if it will give you a problem with priapism or not....there honestly will be no way to know until you try. But you should ask the doctor first. Get your facts. Know what to do if it should happen. Understanding will aid in you being able to get through the panic.

Things of a sexual nature are supposed to be enjoyable. If you are terrified, beyond reason, of what might happen, then it's time to do one of two things.....work to conquer the fear, or give up certain areas of sex that are not needed to have a healthy sex life.
I do understand conquering fear in sex...it was one of the hardest things I have ever been through.

You are the only one that can decide what to do.....it's your choice.
I caution you not to give up on the drug without really giving it a good month for your body to regulate. But again, it's your choice.
Like others have said.....do NOT stop taking the drug without the assistance of the doctor.
With the help of the doctor that put me on the Xanax, I have my plan all laid out, when I go to remove myself from the Xanax. One day, that is my plan. There is a weaning that must take place for depression not to set in. That is why is is really important for you to have contact with your doctor.

You can do this.......which ever way you go.....you are in control. *soft smile*

[dix]

I've been on a fair few AD's in the past and I didn't notice any chance in "performance". To be honest I didn't notice any change what so ever. Just another example of a what limited grasp of medical science that we have. Treating the symptoms and not the causes. In the end I just went cold turkey and then told the NSH and those useless, overpaid private shrinks that they could go fuck them selves.

Until you learn to control it yourself it will never truly get better. With these kinds of problems, you're the best person to know how to fix you. But hey, that's just my 2 cents.

Dix.

[Human]

Do antidepressants cause loss of libido, or is it just that it is more difficult to reach orgasm?

[Human]

I also have issues with depression, and I have no doubt that if I went to a doctor, I would be medicated. Yes, contemplated suicide many times.

I self-medicate by way of exercise. By exercise I mean intense exercise like squats, deadlifts etc which produce nice chemicals in the brain. It takes about a month or so to start working, but then you feel different. Calmer, more focussed, less anxious. More tired also

[DeniedHard]

Human, my research indicates that Antidepressants can cause both loss of libido and delayed ejaculation but it is different for everyone. I've heard of pretty much everything from people: decreased libido, increased libido, ejaculation problems of all kinds, and no change in either. I'm guessing that delayed ejaculation is really common though because I've read that SSRI's are even often prescribed for premature ejaculation.

Not sure how accurate this is but a post on a forum I read said this:

"Psychiatry department at University of California-San Francisco has a continuing medical education course where they inform doctors that Paxil should be reserved for anorexics, pedophiles and nymphomaniacs."

A statement intended to highlight Paxil's reputation for increased weight gain and decreased libido.

For me personally my SSRI hasn't decreased my libido yet in fact it may have even increased it. But, I'm still on a low dose. The delay in my orgasm, however, is extremely noticeable even at my low dose.

[bobroberts]

anxiety is very difficult to live with. but are there other medication options?

[Salt]

heh, funny how many of us are on anti-depressants. I was given some by a doctor earlier this year, Cipralex. I did not notice any change, but after 2-3 months I was talking to a friend who was commenting how much worse I seemed, I just quit. Probably a terrible idea, but I figured the warning was more for people who really needed anti-depressants(i.e. I told people repeatedly I wasn't going to kill myself, but no one beleived me, if I had really been thinking of killing myself i probably wouldn't have just dropped the pill)

I would say I didnt have reduced libido during the time and edging wasn't any more difficult. Its hard enough for me anyways lol.