Took Prozac Twice, Recovered Once (So far!)

[dandelion5]

Just wanted to share my story here. I'm female. As a kid, at 13, I was dealing with a lot of bullying in school, so naturally I was depressed. My parents took me to a psychiatrist who put me on Prozac. I don't recall the dose, but I know it was high for a child. It did help me at that time. I was more outgoing, had less anxiety and depression, but I felt emotionally numb. Since I was 13, I wasn't really aware of how I should feel sexually, so the genital numbness didn't really bother me until I was 16 and experimenting with sex. That's when I realized that it felt like something wasn't right, so I stopped the medication due to both that & the emotional numbness.

Shortly after stopping it (maybe about a month or so?), I experienced amazing orgasms and return of my libido and everything was normal after that until recently.

This past year, at 33 years old, I became very depressed and started to really struggle with panic attacks due to some life events. Remembering how Prozac had helped me in the past, I decided to try 2.5 mg of it to see if it could just give me a boost. Well, I didn't really think much about the sexual side effects it had given me because I assumed they only occurred because I was young and it was probably a very high dose.

Unfortunately, within about 10 days of taking it, my genitals again felt numb, so I weaned down very quickly, stopping on day 14.

It's now been 2.5 months. I've experienced slight improvement but still feel pretty numb and my orgasms aren't enjoyable.

This is giving me extreme anxiety and I'm blaming myself over and over again.

I have friends who take Prozac with no issues whatsoever. It's so interesting to me. I've been doing some research and reading this forum. How is it that some of us are affected and others are not? And how does it have a permanent effect? There has to be something that changes it. Since I did recover from it as a child (which seems unlikely given I probably wasn't even fully developed) recovery must be possible.

There is something else I want to note here that may be of interest. I have an ovarian condition, and due to this, I take hormone replacement therapy and have throughout my life. I take progesterone and estrogen. It appears to me that, when taking progesterone (14 days of the month) the numbness increases. This did not happen prior to this recent trial of Prozac. Before there was no difference. I would be interested to see what testosterone would do, but I probably can't get a script for it because my levels are normal right now.

I'm thinking of all of you and wish you the very best. I know how scary and emotionally exhausting this whole thing is.

[nasibi]

You erred very badly making the same mistake twice. However your chances of recovery may be higher. Just sexual problems and lesser than a month time. Don't panic. Give it some time. As for you being affected by PSSD and your friends not it is simply a matter of biological variation. Every indiviual is biologically different than others to a degree.

[dandelion5]

I wouldn't have tried it a second time had my first experience with it been as an adult. I was in a deep depression, so obviously I wasn't doing tons of research. I assumed that the sexual dysfunction occurred because I was a child when taking it and because I was on a high dose.

[nasibi]

It's ok. Don't stress too much. Give it some time. You will probably recover.

[RainebowGirl]

I just want to first say that you did NOT make a mistake putting your mental health first. You did was you've been taught to do and what anyone would do in the same situation. You didn't "err badly". Don't even get that nonsense in your head.

I had a similar experience, where the first time I took the AD, my body recovered after stopping, but not the second time, and I also dealt with those feelings of blaming myself and wishing I hadn't. It takes time for your body to regulate itself after stopping something like an antidepressant, so try to give it a bit more time. If you're still deeply depressed after a few months, I suggest asking your doctor about wellbutrin, which is one of the ADs that seems least likely to cause sexual side effects and is usually prescribed alongside other ADs to alleviate those side effects.

I do personally think that certain people probably have a gene that makes this more likely to happen, and we might be those unlucky ones. Unfortunately, not many doctors will even acknowledge this condition, much less study it.

Progesterone is a hormone that makes lowers your libido, I'm pretty sure. So it's just doing what it does and it's probably more noticeable now because of your situation. I also find it a bit unwise to play with hormones while you're dealing with this issue without knowing if this is caused by your hormones. Tell your doctor what is going on with you and get tests done. Let them rule out things, don't just start taking test because you think it'll help when you don't need it.

[dandelion5]

Thanks so much. You're right - it is nonsense, but it's difficult not to feel remorse and self-blame.
My depression has improved a lot, and I wish I had made some life changes prior to trying antidepressants, but I was in a dark place, and I was hopeful that it would change my life for the better.

Have you had any improvement at all? I do have windows of improvement, but then it passes and the numbness returns. I can't figure out what the pattern is.

If you don't mind me asking, what are your symptoms? I haven't come across many other women with PSSD.

About my hormones - I'm not experimenting with them. Unfortunately, I always have to take Progesterone 14 days of the month because of my ovarian condition. I just find that the other 14 days, I'm not as numb in comparison. My hormones are very low and always have been. I've wondered if maybe that was a contributing factor to this happening to me and whether or not, dose changes will help in the future. Hard to say though.

[Gameclay]

I just want to pitch in here and say i've had a similar experience. I took Fluoxetine (prozac) for 5 years from ages 15-19, going from a dosage of 10mg and fluctuating as high as 40mg. It is possible i was even on 60mg for a time but i do not exactly remember. During these 5 years, i never had any sexual dysfunction at all. I had a very high libido, and never had any erectile or orgasm dysfunction. When i was 19 i came off the drug over the course of a week or so, and i still did not develop any sexual dysfunction. All was fine and normal until a few years later when i was 21 i started taking it again and got PSSD after a month and a half. This time again on 20mg fluoxetine, the same exact thing i took before and was fine on.

[sopgirl]

Dandelion,

I am a woman who's had PSSD for 6 years. (With 2 more years of sexual dysfunction whilst on the SSRI.)

Within days of starting sertraline I experienced genital numbness, absent libido and anorgasmia and this lasted the 2 years I was on the drug.

After I stopped the drug my ability to orgasm returned but it is pleasureless. I have a real problem with achieving lubrication. Some of my genital sensation has returned, but it is nowhere back to normal. Also, during arousal there is no increase in sensitivity, no pleasurable sensation. It is little wonder that I have a low libido.

I think that the reason that PSSD appears to be rare in women is that few women will even realise they have it.

[tenacity]

Aw darn, I can kinda relate to this in a different way. I was prescribed Lexapro, took one pill. I am always pretty cautious, so I decided to look up the side effects that same day and I came across the Rxisk website and read about PSSD. I believe I was even taken to this forum. That deterred me from taking my prescription for about 2 weeks until I finally broke down and felt like I couldn't function like a normal human being anymore. I convinced myself that everything I read about PSSD was nonsense. Of course, in the end I ended up here and I experienced the same symptoms that I had read all about even though I convinced myself that they weren't real because I so desperately wanted to be better. It isn't something to blame yourself for at all. I'm at the 11 month mark now, and I can confidently say I've been anywhere from 60-90% recovered on any given day, so I try not to think about the fact I was even affected by this that much anymore unless I can help benefit someone else. I can confidently say that even if your recovery is slow, you will probably experience some form of a recovery given some time! Stay strong.

[PittieLady]

Sopgirl- you sound just like me. Also was on zoloft/ sertraline (twice). Once from age 16 to 19 and then once again from 32 to 35 ((currently weaning back off). Having 13 years off a drug and pleasureless orgasm I figured I might as well be nonsexual and not anxious/depressed vs depressed and nonsexual. However I'm feeling mentally better and ready to go off again. I'm expecting the pleasurelessness will continue given my track record. Just wanted to say I relate. I do have faith that it can change...new drugs and research all the time. Just started flibanserin 10 days ago so once im off zoloft again I hope that will help. Send a prayer!