My story

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cosmo
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2021 4:36 pm
Location: Italy
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My story

Unread post by cosmo »

Hi!
I’ve been reading this forum for over a month, so I thought it was time to add my story.
First of all sorry for my english, it’s not my native language :oops:

I’m a 35 year old male and I’ve been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and depression when I was 21.
Since that moment I took so many different antidepressants that I can’t even remember all their names.

Until I was 30 years old I took mainly Lyrica (Pregabalin) and Entact (Escitalopram) and I never experienced any sexual collateral symptoms from them.
When I was 30 years old a traumatic event changed my life (the girlfiend I had since I was 22 left me) and those meds were no longer effective to treat my anxiety and depression.
Since that moment I changed a lot of different types of antidepressants (and also some antipsychotics) without any sexual problem.

The one who worked better for me was Anafranil (Clomipramine) 25 mg. I started taking it 2 and a half years ago in combination with Lantanon (Mianserin) 15 mg and Rivotril (Clonazepam) 3 drops each day.
I have to admit that they worked great for my symptoms, I was feeling very well.

I started taking them in May 2019 and after some months I started suffering from “semi-anorgasmia” (I could ejaculate but it took a lot of time).
No erections problems at all, libido always high.
My psychiatrist assured me it was a temporary effect of Anafranil.
This anorgasmia was absent in masturbation and was worse with occasional girls I didn’t like too much.
I dated a girl back in 2020 for 3/4 months which I really liked and with her it was almost absent.

During the next year and a half I was single, so not sexually active. Anyway I noticed a progressive decrease in libido (no urge to masturbate) but I didn’t give too much importance to this problem (my bad).
I also replaced Mianserin with Trazodone for a couple of months because for a certain period it was difficult to find it in my country.

2 months ago I had the first occasions to have sex in 1 and a half year and was in that moment that I truly realized how my libido has been destroyed by the meds. We tried to have sex in 3 different occasions.
First time I wasn’t able to have an erection, the second time I had an erection, she gave me an handjob and I was able to ejaculate. The third time I had an erection but I rapidly lost it before penetration.
To be honest I have to admit that I wasn’t too much attracted by this girl but I have been with girls I wasn’t physically attracted before and I never experienced ED.

Since that moment I can’t achieve a full erection without Cialis (but it doesn’t work all the time) even during masturbation.

I immediately told to my psychiatrist about the situation and he told me that Anafranil could do that but it was reversible.
So I stopped Anafranil and I started taking Buspirone, since he said it has always worked to resolve those side effects of tricyclic antidepressants.I took only Buspirone for 3 weeks but without any significant improvements.

So I decided to go to an andrologist, who prescribed me a “rehabilitation therapy” with cialis 5 mg 3 times a week for a month (ormonal values are normal).
In his opinion my impotence was caused by a mixture of organic and psychological factors.
I’m still single so I didn’t have the opportunity to test it with a woman. It improve a little bit my erections, I have again morning wood and some sporadic erections during the day but honestly I don’t think it would be enough for penetration since I lose the erection very easily without costant stimulation and my libido is always very low.

At this point I started panicking.

I went back to my psychiatrist and I explained him the situation and told him I was afraid i got PSSD.
He told me that there isn’t any scientific evidence of PSSD and that it is all in my head. In his opinion i developed an obsession for the sexual dysfunctions I had when I was taking Anafranil and now some psychological dynamics cause the dysfunctions to persist after discontinuation.
He prescribed me another SSRI (Fluvoxamina) in order to get rid of this obsession. I told him I was too afraid to take it because I’m worried it could worsen my symptoms but he answered me there isn’t any risk.

I don’t think I will try this medication. Would you?
I’m desperate, I don’t know what do.

I went to another andrologist one week ago who prescribed me 3 months of Cialis Daily (5 mg) and one month of complete abstinence from porn and masturbation (???).
The abstinence improves the situation a little bit and Cialis daily almost resolved the ED but I’m afraid to develop tachyphylaxis taking it every day.

I found a new psychiatrist who believes me and recognize PSSD. She told me that there’s no cure and the only thing I can do is to avoid SSRI and wait.
I also started to do psychotherapy to reduce the distress caused by the situation, which helps me a little bit.

At the moment I’m taking only 7,5 mg of Mianserin sporadically, only when I have severe insomnia (2/3 times a month) and 1 drop or Rivotril (Clonazepam) each day (0.1 mg) to contain the severe anxiety caused by this condition.
Since I stopped Anafranil I don’t suffer of anorgasmia anymore but my libido is still very low and I have pretty severe ED (I can have weak erections only with constant stimulation) which is partially “cured” by Cialis.
I also take L-Citrulline 2 g x 2 times a day.
I vape and I drink just one/two beer a week.
I’m phisically active, I run 30/40 km a week.
I smoked weed from 15 to 30 years old but now I don’t take any drugs.

Since I also have traits of OCD I’m worried that psychogenic factors could play a huge role in my situation, preventing me to feel any possibile improvements.

What’s your opinion?
Anafranil (Clomipramine) May 2019-October 2021
Lantanon (Mianserin) May 2019-May 2021
Trittico (Trazodone) May 2021-October 2021
Rivotril (Clonazepam) May 2019-present

PSSD since October 2021

Symptoms: low libido and severe ED
Kostakonkordia
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2022 3:33 pm
Contact:

Re: My story

Unread post by Kostakonkordia »

Hello Cosmo,
I can sense you're are in alot alot of stress and anxiety. I can understand that very good, this situation you got yourself into is very scary.
I would advice you to not take more ssris, and any form of psychoactive substances for a while. Also alcohol. Do you take clonazepam every day? If so, you will have to taper. Mianserine is also a AD so you will have to taper that too. Those medications can have a impact on sexuallity. I would advice you to go to survivingantidepressants.org and post a introduction story there. They can give you advices on tapering you're mediation. Btw you're psychiatrist is probably wrong there is a new theory on pssd and from that perspective it is totally curable. So try to not stress out. You will get better i can assure you that. Do you have any psychological symptoms like anhedonia depersonalisation etc? Also read success storys, they can calm you a bit.
I wish you all the best
Kosta
cosmo
Posts: 23
Joined: Thu Dec 23, 2021 4:36 pm
Location: Italy
Contact:

Re: My story

Unread post by cosmo »

Thank you very much for the answer kostakonkordia (btw, are you italian?)
Yes, I take Clonazepam every day since three years.
I take one drop a day (which is equal to 0.1 mg).
I managed to stop taking it for a month but I didn’t see any improvements in the sexual sphere and the anxiety caused by the lack of improvements was too much to handle so I restarted.
I feel suicidal most of the days and I wake up in the morning with a pain on my chest which is unbereable.
Also the second psychiatrist I saw told me to restart taking Clonazepam because of my anxiety but I think this drugs can definitely have an impact on my sexuality (I also found this study which confirm this https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9160580/).
Anyway I’ll try to gradually taper Clonazepam as you suggest.
About Mianserin I think I can stop taking it easily since currently I take it just 2/3 times a month. Melatonin works well to put me to sleep most of the times.
I don’t have any other symptoms, just ED. No anorgasmia, no genital anesthesia, no depersonalization.
Just anxiety, depression and low libido but I think they are just a consequence of ED because when I take Cialis and I can have erections the libido increase and the depression seems to improve.
Thanks again for your suggestions and for the encouragement, it means a lot!
Anafranil (Clomipramine) May 2019-October 2021
Lantanon (Mianserin) May 2019-May 2021
Trittico (Trazodone) May 2021-October 2021
Rivotril (Clonazepam) May 2019-present

PSSD since October 2021

Symptoms: low libido and severe ED
Kostakonkordia
Posts: 56
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2022 3:33 pm
Contact:

Re: My story

Unread post by Kostakonkordia »

No im not Italian,
Are you Italian?
I would stop taking mianserin if I was you.
Yes benzos can cause that too.
Go on Survingantidepressants.org and write you're intro story they are gonna help you with tapering.
Also get tested for dysbiosis, pssd is probably the cause of dysbiosis which is induced by benzos ssris etc. If that's the case its reversible.
No problem Im glad I could help.
I hope you alle the best :)))
Kosta
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