I'm new here... - az89 OP

[Moloch]

az89 on Sun Nov 13, 2011 12:46 pm

Hi all, I'm from Australia, 22 years of age and i thought i'll share my story with the board...

I was first 19 when i went on Paroxetine, I was suffering from only anxiety, so i set up a meeting with a psychiatrist through my GP...
Totally oblivious i took the Paxil he offered me, without any warnings about sexual side effects or any concern from the doctor about its impact on my life at such a young age. I had noticed a decrease in my masturbation frequency after about 3-4 months on the Paxil, but a delay in orgasm, which i though was positive. I had no idea the drug i was taking was causing this, I continued to take Paxil for another 4-5 months closing in on a year long of taking it... over that time my sexual problems continously got worse whilst on Paxil, and eventually degraded to a point where i felt nothing anymore. My desire, arousal, staying power, all seemingly had vanished.

I figured it was time to get off the drug so that my sex life could return, so i saw my phychiatrist again, he told me it was okay to get off them cold turkey, so i did... I had brain zaps for days, it was agonising...1 month later... still no return ... 2 months ... 3 months... until today almost a whole 2 years later I am still suffering from the same problems whilst i was on the drug.

I have been to 500 different doctors, most of them deny that this can actually happen, most of them give me the "oh the half life of the drug is only this long once its out of your system that's it"... I find it extremely frustrating to try and find someone with the same outlook as me on the problem. I'm still looking today.

So knowing the solution to the problem laid in my hands i had began reading a lot on the internet. Just stalking the threads on here i beleive Sonny has the right theory, although mine was a little off... I'll explain further...

I read a lot on the receptors as i thought this was the root of the problem(I have still not found no doctor willing to be open to the same practical troubleshooting theories as me) , the drug had caused genetic mutations to the serotonin receptors, where they remain active even without the occupancy of a ligand(serotonin transmitter), thus they remain consitutively active even after the drug is not in the system.

SSRI's seem to be a dirty type of drug they work on all the serotonin receptors, i tried to search to find what serotonin receptors have an impact on sexual functioning, and then i also searched what drugs seemed to be helping people with the same problems on the internet. Cyroheptadine came up a lot, it was a 5ht2c antagonist... I knew the Pdoc wouldn't just prescribe that to me so i found a similiar drug Valdoxan which was a 5ht2c antagonist aswell... apparently the 5ht2c receptor inhibits dopamine release in other parts of the brain... which made sense to me as dopamine was well known for feelings of desire and sexual pleasure. So thus my theory was born and i got a prescription for Valdoxan from my Pdoc....

I took it for over a month but it never worked, so i was begining to doubt my theory and almost gave up.

I also tried buspirone for about 3 weeks, maybe it was not long enough that iwas on it, or the dose, i only took 5 mg twice daily.

I came across this forum randomly and it seems sonny seems to have a similiar theory to me, What do you think sonny should i try taking the buspirone again for longer or at a higher dose.

[Moloch]

az89 on Sun Nov 13, 2011 1:28 pm

Also came across this

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2907233/


Let me know your thoughts

[Moloch]

Sonny on Tue Nov 15, 2011 12:18 pm

Welcome to the forum.

A lot of doctors do prescribe SSRIs willy-nilly. Those receptors control a lot of other receptors, so it seems obvious that fiddling around with that could cause all sorts of problems.

One major problem with PSSD is the lack of knowledge. As you say, a lot of doctors don't think this can happen, and relieving this problem is up to us.

I took cyphroeptidine. It had no effect on my PSSD. It is probably the best allergy medication ever made though. It didn't just take the edge off, all allergy symptoms were completely gone. Unfortunately it makes you so terribly sleepy, that it's really not worth it.

Yes buspirone should work just a bit better if you take it all the time. However this only makes it work a bit better at the times you take a high dosage. You really need at least 30mg at time to get any effect on PSSD. High doses cause dizziness, a light-headed feeling, and a drop in blood pressure. You may feel a little hot or a little tired. It sure does work though. Keep in mind it must be taken on an empty stomach. So you take it, wait a couple minutes, and then have something to eat while you wait for it to kick in. It definitely works. It doesn't last very long though.

As for that article, I think the changes they are talking about might be problematic.

[Moloch]

csln2323 on Tue Nov 15, 2011 6:47 pm

SSRIs are hormone disruptors. They affect many hormones such as testosterone, estradiol (estrogen), prolactin, melatonin, cortisol, etc. Hormones effect neurotransmitter levels.

It is important to get a comprehensive blood test of the following:

Total Testosterone, Bioavailable Testosterone (sometimes called “Free and Loosely Bound”), Free Testosterone (If Bio T is not available), SHBG, DHT, Estradiol (Specify the “Sensitive Extraction Method”), Total Estrogens, LH, FSH, Prolactin, Cortisol, Thyroid Panel (TSH, FT3, FT4), Complete Blood Count, Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, Lipid Panel, Homocysteine, and IGF-1.


I recently discovered I have low cortisol and high estradiol after getting tested on my own initiative. High estradiol kills libido and also causes erection problems. No doctor ever bothered to check my estradiol. Most doctors don't check E2 / estradiol (estrogen), especially in men as it's considered a female hormone. Low estradiol also can cause low libido, etc. Low cortisol can cause the high estradiol.

[Moloch]

csln2323 on Tue Nov 15, 2011 7:24 pm

az89 wrote:

I have been to 500 different doctors, most of them deny that this can actually happen, most of them give me the "oh the half life of the drug is only this long once its out of your system that's it"... I find it extremely frustrating to try and find someone with the same outlook as me on the problem. I'm still looking today.


If you print the following Pubmed studies, you can show your doctor about PSSD.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18173768

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16709553


Also, this is a long but interesting study to download and read:

http://www.mediafire.com/?418mevgy4gzo9eo

[Moloch]

az89 on Wed Nov 16, 2011 12:12 pm

I had actually visited an endocrinologist, did a whole lot of bloodwork and a brain MRI scan and conluded everything was normal Sad