Weaning off Pristiq. Sex drive came back, now it's gone again. Beginning of PSSD?

[blanketsareawesome]

I'm a 25 year old female. I began taking Wellbutrin 75 mg in February 2019. I realized that my anxiety increased significantly, so my doctor suggested adding on another medication. I began Pristiq 25 mg at the end of November 2019. It made me calm down, but lowered sex drive. Could get turned on but not masturbate. In late December 2019 I developed Serotonin Syndrome, because I used St. Johns Wort along with these medications and accidentally took two Pristiq one day. The symptoms began on January 1st and peaked on January 5th then began improving from there. I couldn't feel or think. I was almost catatonic. I was numb from my face to my feet. My vagina included and I didn't even find anyone attractive. No interest in sex. Emotionally, I couldn't feel much, but cry sometimes out of fear. I couldn't remember things or focus. I couldn't feel when I had to pee or poop. From January 4th to 6th, I got a total of 6 hours of sleep. I felt completely wired.

My doctor wanted me to wean off the Pristiq. She told me to take my pill every three days for two weeks. I began doing that Tuesday January 6th. I saw minor improvements throughout the week and the Sunday January 12th, it seemed as though it all lifted. I felt like me again. I could laugh and cry. I felt desire for love and a relationship again. I could masturbate and orgasm and they were intense. I was so relieved and happy that I only had one more week of taking Pristiq. I was happy that I felt like a person again.

I took my Pristiq the next day, Monday, January 13th. I was weary about it, but figured I should wean myself off it one more week like the doctor instructed. I heard the withdrawals were brutal anyways. I felt great Monday. Tuesday and Wednesday it slowly went downhill. I could still masturbate and orgasm until Wednesday evening. However, I had trouble sleeping since Monday night. My vagina became dry. I couldn't get turned on. My head felt heavy and my forehead became numb. I didn't feel like myself. Again. I can display very few emotions, except to cry sometimes. I don't care about anything and feel detached. Today, I could get wet by masturbating and watching porn, but I don't feel anything. I felt a little more like myself in the morning, was able to cry during a tv show and feel slight sensation when someone kissed. But now going into the evening, I am losing these feelings again. I spoke with the doctor and she told me to stop taking the Pristiq. So the last one I took was on the 13th. The last time I was able to have sexual feeling and orgasm was the the earlier in the day on the 15th. Is this normal? The beginning of PSSD? (I know it's early, but this is odd) Anyone experience anything similar? Any support while I go through this would be wonderful. I will keep everyone updated on my progress if they are interested.

I have a comprehensive list of my symptoms and medications I was taking up to this point. If anyone is interested, I can email it to you.

[magnilo]

Hi, ive read your post, dont worry, its all very common, and it is most likely not PSSD and simply your body slowly adjusting to the absence of the medication.
Chill, endure, and it will sort it out by itself in a couple weeks at max. In my opinion abstaining from sexual activity/content in this period has the double advantage of 1. gathering up sexual energy and 2. while you dont "do it", you cant "think about it" in a assessive way, its impossible for you to get anxious thinking "this right now its not how it should be" etc etc. so all in all you kinda prevent yourself from triggering anxieties in that sense.
Remember that you got on those meds for a reason: you are responsible for your own toughts and its mechanisms, anxiety included. Trying to avoid those patterns is a good help. Hope it made sense...

[blanketsareawesome]

I don't know if anyone is interested. But I will keep updating as to what is happening. Just in case someone else is going through something similar.

[br-pssd]

hi, i also had serotonergic syndrome and i felt the same things as you, numbness in my head too.

[blanketsareawesome]

hi, i also had serotonergic syndrome and i felt the same things as you, numbness in my head too.

It is definitely an odd feeling. Did your sex drive return after?

Also, how are you doing now in general after the serotonin syndrome?

[br-pssd]

after the syndrome, my pssd got worse, my libido is zero, it has been 1.5 years since the syndrome, and i have had pssd for 10 years. I still have numbness in my head.
A year ago I took 1800 mg of sjw before bed, the numbness in my head passed, and throughout my body too, my penis was more sensitive and my pssd disappeared for a day.

[br-pssd]

however I want to emphasize that, I had pssd for many years before the syndrome, so, do not be alarmed by my history.

[blanketsareawesome]

Hi, ive read your post, dont worry, its all very common, and it is most likely not PSSD and simply your body slowly adjusting to the absence of the medication.
Chill, endure, and it will sort it out by itself in a couple weeks at max. In my opinion abstaining from sexual activity/content in this period has the double advantage of 1. gathering up sexual energy and 2. while you dont "do it", you cant "think about it" in a assessive way, its impossible for you to get anxious thinking "this right now its not how it should be" etc etc. so all in all you kinda prevent yourself from triggering anxieties in that sense.
Remember that you got on those meds for a reason: you are responsible for your own toughts and its mechanisms, anxiety included. Trying to avoid those patterns is a good help. Hope it made sense...

Thanks so much for the response! That makes total sense. I will try to be calm and not overthink in the mean time. I did realize that one of the dates was wrong. The last pill I took was on the Monday the 13th and the last sexual feeling or orgasm I had was on the 15th. I don't know if that makes any difference, but I just realized I wrote the date wrong.

[blanketsareawesome]

however I want to emphasize that, I had pssd for many years before the syndrome, so, do not be alarmed by my history.

I'm sorry to hear of everything that has happened. It's a scary feeling to lose feelings in general. I hope that you are doing okay now. Stay strong! If you ever need someone to talk to, feel free to message.

[blanketsareawesome]

Update: January 18th at 1 am.
- I tried to sleep tonight, but was only able to sleep an hour.
- Feel almost high.
- Eyes are extremely dry.
- Cannot even cry (Have always been emotional, even last week, I could cry, despite the fact that I couldn't feel other emotions)
- I do not care about anything.
- Pressure in temples.
- Can't tell when I have to pee.
- Not excited about the idea of love and romance (Previously, have always been very love motivated and sexual)