Anti-Depressants and lowered sex drive

[deepthroat]

This winter, I felt overwhelmed by feelings of doom and impending disaster, despite working in the same job for 23 years and being well-regarded, successful, and highly regarded by by management, peers and customers.

After talking to my doctor, she prescribed an anti-depressant, Citalopram which I was to take 10mg of daily.

I noticed the symptoms of the depression seemed to lift within a few weeks, but also noticed a side-effect - I had no/low sex drive! I used to have sex or masturbate daily, nearly without fail. At 49 years old this had slowed a tiny bit but but not much.

After a couple of months on the Citalopram, I noticed I would often go 2 weeks or more without sex without really noticing it.

I've started taking the drug every other day, and some of my sex drive has returned, but not all of it.

Anyone else have similar experiences? My plan at this point is to wean myself off beginning in October so that by early December I'll be completely off it, and hope my sex drive is fully restored before my late January expedition to LOS.

[Steff]

DT, try to find some alternative option to deal with your malady. I am not an authority (as Kahana will promptly point out) but I distrust chemical anti-depressants and think they tend to fix something while compromising other things as you have noticed and pointed out. Whatever you do, please get yourself in physical shape for the GOTC even it means you're somewhat down in the dumps. :-) We will do our best to make you happy and buoyant. :-)

[Jake_Sully]

You can try breaking the pills into half or 1/3'rd their dose.

And also I'll pm you something DT that may help.

[f0xxee]

In honesty I would be happy with a temporarily lowered libido than a tempoarily lowered will to live caused by depression. One can end up terminal, and it often happens.

I have been down the low libido road myself and once I stopped worrying about it I found it had several good if unintended outcomes:
Less likely to stray from the GF and butterfly, thereby more harmonious home life
More time to concentrate on other things in life rather than being dick-driven 24/7
A sense of moving on to a different plane. Not better, not worse.... just different.

Take the pills. Get better. Maybe there is something to be discovered while your are going through the low libido stage that might make the pills redundant. Who knows?

[rxpharm]

Impact on sex drive is a side effect of many antidepressants. It was more frequent with the older classes of antidepressants such as Elavil (amitriptyline) and phenelzine (Nardil). New ones such as citalopram (Celexa) don't have as high a frequency of this side effect, but it can still happen.

It has been thought that clinical depression now known as major depressive disorder is related to a chemical imbalance in the brain, with a lack of serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine.

You are taking the right course of action so far, with a gradual tapering off your current treatment. A sudden stop can cause problems.

If the tablet is scored, then it can be broken in 1/2 for further flexibility to taper off.

The time frame you have outlined is good and well thought out.

Be sure NOT to take any herbal/naturopathic remedies without consulting with your pharmacist or physician first. Contrary to popular belief these can interact with modern medications and cause severe problems, which I have seen in some of the patients admitted to our hospital. There are databases which can be checked to see if some of the non-traditional remedies interact with medications you may be using.

Also the idea that there is a vast conspiracy by the medical/pharmaceutical industry is overblown. People are helped by modern medicine and drugs when used appropriately.

[pacman]

It sounds like a vicious circle...

Lowered sex drive? Now I am really depressed...

[kahuna]

(deepthroat @ Aug. 15 2010,07:17) This winter, I felt overwhelmed by feelings of doom and impending disaster, despite working in the same job for 23 years and being well-regarded, successful, and highly regarded by by management, peers and customers.

You define yourself through your job...Your job title...Your salary...Your career...That's how you measure your success as a human being...

If that's the case, you need to talk with a professional...You don't want the advice of a bunch of whore mongers on a porno site...

[PigDogg]

(rxpharm @ Aug. 14 2010,18:34) If the tablet is scored, then it can be broken in 1/2 for further flexibility to taper off.

RX, what is scored?

Lots of guys break up pills. Is that something we should not be doing?

[Rocket J. Squirrel]

Although I do not suffer from depression, I am convinced that it is a very real and sometimes debilitating illness.  There are many who feel that one can just "tough" their way through in a way similar to solving an addiction problem by "just quitting".

I have seen a number of examples of people getting tremendous help from prescribed anti-depressants.  In most cases, it took them some trial and error to find what worked for them.  For some, it has been a new lease on life.

I absolutely agree with Kahuna that if one is having a medical problem, a professional's opinion should be sought (as you have done) as opposed to the authorities here.  I do believe that, for me, when my emotional life is good, my sex life is better.

BTW, not masturbating or having sex daily may not mean that something's wrong - it might only mean that something's "different". (good post above f0xxee)

I know you'll be fine in February once you land in BKK.  For one thing, it won't be winter there!

Just for kicks, try posting this on Thai Visa and see what kind of advice comes back  

Rocky

[rxpharm]

A scored tablet is when it is manufactured with a "weak spot" so that it can be easily broken in 1/2, 1/3's etc.

See the photo below:


Tablets that do not have scores cannot easily be broken into smaller doses with reasonable accuracy. A pill splitter (see photo below), can cut non-scored tablets easily with accuracy.


Certain kinds of tablets should not be broken up - enteric coated which are designed to dissolve in the intestine instead of the stomach and slow release/timed release/controlled release formulations designed to release over long periods of time.

[PigDogg]

(rxpharm @ Aug. 14 2010,19:31) - enteric coated

How can a layman tell if a tablet is enteric coated?

[rxpharm]

PD, it should be in the description of the medication somewhere on the bottle/box/information leaflet as it is required by government regulation (all governments).

[Jake_Sully]

I forgot to add 1 thing. Avoid eating apples. Apples tend to absorb every chemical there is in the ground, from fertilizer to chemicals dissolved in the water table from flushing them down the toilet. More often than not, it can play with your moods so just eat other fruits instead.

[deepthroat]

Thanks guys!

By the way, don't worry - I'm not about to fling myself from an overpass or anything like that! And believe me, this is the LAST place I'd come for psychiatric advice, I wanted to see if others have had similar interactions with their libido and anti-depressants. Where I come from (long term recovery from addiction via a 12 Step program) there's an abnormally high rate of depression amongst the people I regularly associate with, as many or most of us probably have chemical imbalances (related to seretonin and dopamine production) that we were trying to deal with through our "self medication". Then, after being clean for a number of years, we sometimes find the depression gets to a stage that requires some additional attention.

I also believe that my form of depression, which is very mild, can also be treated by increased exercise and other basic activities, so I do have other tools to deal with it.

Not to get into a long debate about the efficacy or need for pharmaceuticals - that's not a debate I'm prepared, willing, or qualified to have.

But I wanted to say "thanks" for the input, especially Jake and Rx.

Kahuna, the issue isn't as simple as how I define myself, although there's enough truth in your deduction that I won't deny it completely. The issue was that the fears were about my financial situation, which is strongly tied to my career, and the point was that I really have nothing to fear so it was an irrational but inescapable (nearly intrusive) sense of fear that was bedeviling me. Nonetheless, your point is valid and worth investigation.

[strocube]

Hey DT, hope you're able to resolve your issues. Depression is no fun; I know because I've struggled with it for years.
I've also gone down the pharmaceutical route and then stopped. I was taking Welbutrine(bupropion),which does not cause any sexual side effects. In fact, it has the opposite effect, that stuff will make you really horny. Unfortunately it also made it impossible for me to sleep. I stopped taking eventually.

I have found that I am able to manage my symptoms on my own without pharmaceuticals. For me it's all about diet and exercise. If I eat shitty food, drink too much and don't get regular exercise I start to feel like absolute SHITE. If I work out at least 5 times per week keep the booze down to a minimum and eat decent food, then I find I can manage my life without meds and without carrying all that doom and darkness around.

Cheers.