Arahant intro - My experience with PSSD - treatment log.

[arahant]

Arahant how much would you say that your erection improved? That is did you significant improvement in hardness and ability to maintain it for a long period of time?

It is better than BEFORE taking sertraline.

I do not care about "hardness" or "maintaining it longer" anymore.
Performance anxiety is something that I had prior SSRI, and it messed a lot my "erection quality" whatever is subjective meaning of it. Sertraline reduced anxiety because I took it long term, but it messed with my sexual sensations even after stopping it, then I could distinguish clearly both SSRI and anxiety influence.

Aside from some spontaneous erections that buspirone can give you, then it can build a bit of more confidence.
The long term treatment kicks in reducing anxiety symptoms beautifully, with sexual benefits. You do not care whether it will work or not; you just enjoy the moment.

[defmyst]

Arahant how much would you say that your erection improved? That is did you significant improvement in hardness and ability to maintain it for a long period of time?

It is better than BEFORE taking sertraline.

I do not care about "hardness" or "maintaining it longer" anymore.
Performance anxiety is something that I had prior SSRI, and it messed a lot my "erection quality" whatever is subjective meaning of it. Sertraline reduced anxiety because I took it long term, but it messed with my sexual sensations even after stopping it, then I could distinguish clearly both SSRI and anxiety influence.

Aside from some spontaneous erections that buspirone can give you, then it can build a bit of more confidence.
The long term treatment kicks in reducing anxiety symptoms beautifully, with sexual benefits. You do not care whether it will work or not; you just enjoy the moment.

My current sexual function is the same as it was when I was on Effexor. Now at the time, while I was still taking it and was in a relationship my ability to have sex was almost non-existent. I was not able to maintain an erection during intercourse literary every single time. My erection would just drop after a few minutes. This wasn't a confidence issue not one bit. I don't think things have improved even a little bit for me since I got off Effexor. I cannot enjoy the moment if I don't have any moment to enjoy. That is why I wanted to know how bad was your erection problem before taking buspirone. Were you able to have sex before you were on it? Were things as bad as they were (still are) for me?

[br-pssd]

this is my 9th day taking buspirone, i started with 5 mg 3x day, and went up to 10 mg 3x day in some days.
From the 5th day I started to notice benefits, like a more rested body and a better mind.

There were sporadic moments that, my sensitivity and pleasure in the penis improved a lot, and spontaneous erection. and yesterday the anedonia was much better, pleasure in feeling music, something I haven't had in a long time. But these improvements do not last, today I not experienced them.

I intend to take only buspirone, for months, and stay a month at the current dose, 30mg, before going up.

Is it normal for improvements to be sporadic rather than continuous? today I am not feeling improvement in anhedonia or sensitivity in the penis.

Do not bother much about being continuous or not, fluctuations are completely normal. I think everyone get ups and downs because lots of other reasons too, and the human body is not a machine.

over time will the benefits of anhedonia and libido become more continuous? I am afraid these improvements will not return.

[arahant]

over time will the benefits of anhedonia and libido become more continuous?

Why not? I am more than a year experiencing it.

I am afraid these improvements will not return.

Worries are normal.

[arahant]

My current sexual function is the same as it was when I was on Effexor. Now at the time, while I was still taking it and was in a relationship my ability to have sex was almost non-existent. I was not able to maintain an erection during intercourse literary every single time. My erection would just drop after a few minutes. This wasn't a confidence issue not one bit. I don't think things have improved even a little bit for me since I got off Effexor. I cannot enjoy the moment if I don't have any moment to enjoy. That is why I wanted to know how bad was your erection problem before taking buspirone. Were you able to have sex before you were on it? Were things as bad as they were (still are) for me?

Before buspirone, my sexual function (erection) was the same as it was when I was on Sertraline. The erection improved just a bit when I started to use reflex/touch training for erections, which I learned during CBT with a psychologist with sex-therapy experience. Then I was able to have sex, but the sensations and pleasure, and orgasm was shit.

That is why I nocited the difference of ED induced by anxiety (adrenaline overflow and vasoconstriction) and ED induced by SSRI (loss of erogenous sensations, then no drive to be erect).

I hope it answers your question

[Leb89]

My current sexual function is the same as it was when I was on Effexor. Now at the time, while I was still taking it and was in a relationship my ability to have sex was almost non-existent. I was not able to maintain an erection during intercourse literary every single time. My erection would just drop after a few minutes. This wasn't a confidence issue not one bit. I don't think things have improved even a little bit for me since I got off Effexor. I cannot enjoy the moment if I don't have any moment to enjoy. That is why I wanted to know how bad was your erection problem before taking buspirone. Were you able to have sex before you were on it? Were things as bad as they were (still are) for me?

Before buspirone, my sexual function (erection) was the same as it was when I was on Sertraline. The erection improved just a bit when I started to use reflex/touch training for erections, which I learned during CBT with a psychologist with sex-therapy experience. Then I was able to have sex, but the sensations and pleasure, and orgasm was shit.

That is why I nocited the difference of ED induced by anxiety (adrenaline overflow and vasoconstriction) and ED induced by SSRI (loss of erogenous sensations, then no drive to be erect).

I hope it answers your question

Hey Arahant,

I really appreciate that you are still active here, despite you feel cured. Would you mind writing down a comparison of your function between now and before the Sertraline. Like ED 8/10, libido 6/10 and on ... of course only if you find the time to do that ... best regards and thanks for giving us all the infos and updates. Somehow I think you could be right, that it should be better to give every experiment more time and not to quit so early.

[Halan]

Arahant, are you still using hydroxyzine?

How do you know buspirone alone brought your libido back? You were taking this combo, no?

[arahant]

Arahant, are you still using hydroxyzine?

How do you know buspirone alone brought your libido back? You were taking this combo, no?

I took hydroxyzine in very small doses (1/2 25mg tablet) just for a few months just to regulate my sleep.
It is strong, very sedative. I quit because it was messing with my marriage, I was snoring loud and sleeping like 10-12 h /day.
But it is also a weak 5-HT2A antagonist, like buspirone, Mirtapazine, and weaker than Cyproheptadine.
It got also increased appetite taking hydroxyzine.
I did not take hydroxyzine enough time to know if it helped in libido and etc...Buspirone alone was enough, and it took a lot of time.

[arahant]

My current sexual function is the same as it was when I was on Effexor. Now at the time, while I was still taking it and was in a relationship my ability to have sex was almost non-existent. I was not able to maintain an erection during intercourse literary every single time. My erection would just drop after a few minutes. This wasn't a confidence issue not one bit. I don't think things have improved even a little bit for me since I got off Effexor. I cannot enjoy the moment if I don't have any moment to enjoy. That is why I wanted to know how bad was your erection problem before taking buspirone. Were you able to have sex before you were on it? Were things as bad as they were (still are) for me?

Before buspirone, my sexual function (erection) was the same as it was when I was on Sertraline. The erection improved just a bit when I started to use reflex/touch training for erections, which I learned during CBT with a psychologist with sex-therapy experience. Then I was able to have sex, but the sensations and pleasure, and orgasm was shit.

That is why I nocited the difference of ED induced by anxiety (adrenaline overflow and vasoconstriction) and ED induced by SSRI (loss of erogenous sensations, then no drive to be erect).

I hope it answers your question

Hey Arahant,

I really appreciate that you are still active here, despite you feel cured. Would you mind writing down a comparison of your function between now and before the Sertraline. Like ED 8/10, libido 6/10 and on ... of course only if you find the time to do that ... best regards and thanks for giving us all the infos and updates. Somehow I think you could be right, that it should be better to give every experiment more time and not to quit so early.

Hey leb89,

To be honest with you, I think putting numbers in something fucking subjective as sexual experience can be a hell of misleading.
My background is Physics, and even in a much more "exact" science, we have to be careful when dealing with scales, and accept the notion of uncertainty.
We can end in a mental trap of "quantify" everything in a scale, something that can build a lot of frustration.
I have anxious/obsessive/OCPD traits, and I know how the feeling that "things are out of order, and must be this/that way" is unbearable.
Like having the mind imagining a "ideal" score that never happened even before.
And worse, trying o put it on a scale of 1-10, as like we had a precise measurement device to quantify it.
Our mind is not as precise in remembering and quantifying stuff as we think it is.

Then my "scale" for my function is like:

Before sertraline was never "magical and perfect", during and after sertraline was shit for many years.
With buspirone was awesome after I spend the time enough to kick in and found proper dosage.
The only thing I care is that today is better than before sertraline.

Take care,

Arahant.

[alexc]

Well, I decided to bite the bullet and give Buspirone a try since I responded so well to it more than 12 years ago while I took it a along with Prozac. Back then I was on very high doses of Prozac and 60mg Buspirone. Since they are almost opposing forces in some sense – – when it comes to libido and function – – I am hoping I can keep the dose much lower since I will be taking it alone. Today was day three at 5 mg three times per day. I have not had any side effects other than a mild headache. I used to have extremely severe OCD and fortunately have recovered 95% over the course of the last 12 years without any medications; using only cognitive diversion and supplements. I will post back my experience with the Buspirone.