Effects of different SSRIs on 5-HT1A(r)

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I just found this study. It may be helpful for women who took paroxetine or sertraline.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19466669

Effects of SNS activation on SSRI-induced sexual side effects differ by SSRI.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are associated with significant sexual side effects. By definition, all SSRIs increase overall serotonin (5HT) by binding to serotonin autoreceptors (5HT(IA)); however, each SSRI has a unique portfolio of secondary binding properties to other neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine (NE). As 5HT(IA) receptors mediate NE neurotransmission, SSRIs that are highly selective for 5HT(IA) are more likely to reduce NE efficiency; however, in SSRIs that are less selective for 5HT(IA), this could be counteracted by secondary binding to NE. Norepinephrine is the major neurotransmitter of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), which has been shown to mediate genital arousal in women; thus, it is possible that increasing SNS activity in women taking SSRIs that are highly selective for 5HT(IA) may counteract sexual side effects in those women. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a reanalysis of Meston (2004)'s 8-week, double-blind, cross-over, placebo-controlled study of the effects of ephedrine (50 mg taken 1 h prior to sexual activity) on self-reported sexual functioning of women taking paroxetine (N = 5), sertraline (N = 7), or fluoxetine (N = 7). As predicted, women taking SSRIs, which are highly selective for 5HT(IA) (sertraline, paroxetine), showed improvement in sexual arousal and orgasm. By contrast, women taking SSRIs, which are less selective for 5HT(IA) relative to NE (fluoxetine), showed no change or decrease in sexual functioning. These findings have implications for treating certain SSRI-induced sexual side effects.

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By the way, I'll thank if somebody could explain me the relationship between these findings and my case -I'm a male- where I was poisoned by sertraline, and 5-HT1A agonists made may condition worse -permanently.

[Micromegas]

By the way, I'll thank if somebody could explain me the relationship between these findings and my case -I'm a male- where I was poisoned by sertraline, and 5-HT1A agonists made may condition worse -permanently.

It was sertraline that got me, too. What did you take that made it worse?

[Ghost]

By the way, I'll thank if somebody could explain me the relationship between these findings and my case -I'm a male- where I was poisoned by sertraline, and 5-HT1A agonists made may condition worse -permanently.

Depends on the drug. Probably exacerbated the gene-expression problem of PSSD. Do you have any other underlying mental illness that you are battling?

Most drugs shouldn't make things worse permanently. But I guess if you took it for a long time, maybe your receptors got even more desensitized.

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It was sertraline that got me, too. What did you take that made it worse?

One right after the other:

25, 50 and 100 mg trazodone -I guess I took it for about a week, and each dose made me feel more dysfunctional,

10 and 20 mg ziprasidone -it's supposed to be activating at very low doses, but instead I had to combine it with cabergoline since even at those doses I felt strong akathisia. I took it for about two weeks. And just remained with it because somedays I awoke with a semi morning wood, more flaccid than hard, but overall, my ED worsened-, and,

25 mg quetiapine -also with cabergoline, just for one day, and although I didn't experience akathisia with this, I felt my dick more dead than with the other two, so I didn't continue.

Now, I just read your introduction, and it appears that you have had this problem since late 2012, right? I quit sertraline a year before, in October or November 2011, after about 8 or 9 months on it. Does cialis work for you? It helped me a little -very little-, but after the worsening caused by the above drugs, it's now no more than a placebo for me.

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Depends on the drug. Probably exacerbated the gene-expression problem of PSSD. Do you have any other underlying mental illness that you are battling?

Most drugs shouldn't make things worse permanently. But I guess if you took it for a long time, maybe your receptors got even more desensitized.

I just mentioned in my previous post that they were trazodone, ziprasidone -with cabergoline- and quetiapine -also with cabergoline-, and in total I took them for less than a month. My worst mistake.

I tried the antagonist pindolol too, before those three agonists, but in contrast, it didn't have any effect on me -neither good or bad-, although I was told later that its beta blocker affinity already make it less than ideal for the intended purpose. Since I have nothing to lose at this point, I'll try and go further as you showed in a study about 5-HT1A antagonism.

And about my mental sanity before sertraline, yes, my mind had been already a complete chaos for more than half of my life. On the anxiety spectrum, GAD, SA, OCD and PTSD, and on the depressive side, I was experiencing my all-time worse episode when I was put on sertraline. My last diagnosis at that point was major depression with psychotic symptoms, and ironically, the biggest hurt was that such episode was being caused by the extreme despair of having reached the 28 year mark without even having kissed a girl -much even less have sex with one-. So, the very same thing that was causing my worst depression came to evolve into this nightmare after the intended treatment left me with no hope forever. Life mocked me really bad.
I met a girl for the first time after the damage was done, and she gave me my first kiss and had sex with me -and up to this day-, but I don't feel anything. It's like having being transformed into a cyborg that can't feel the single touch of a kiss, or a hug... Nothing.

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are your mental illnesses under control or are you not in remission? you're suffering from a lot of anxiety-spectrum disorders and that in itself can kill sexual functioning.

Well, that's what is used to be considered normal, but I was never normal. AS my anxietiy worsened and worsened as years passed (before SSRI damage), mainly because of my OCD which peaked in 2008, my sex drive seemed higher. That was because I had to resort to masturbation in order to calm down my anxiety. The more anxious I was, the more I needed to masturbate. And the same with my major depressive episode at the moment of starting sertraline. I had a high sex drive all the way until being cursed with this.

However, things changed after the fucking "remedy". My OCD, which was my chief anxiety generator, was nearly vanished nearly immediately after BEGINNING treatment, and it never came back. I still fear the same things that caused OCD, but instead of being obsessed with them and react with my plethora of compulsive behavior, I feel apathetic and resignated in the event that they become a real threat. Also PTSD changed a lot thanks to sertraline, mainly because it used to manifest with nightmares every night, regarding my bullying and family violence traumas, but since taking sertraline, I'm totally unable to have dreams of any kind, normal dreams, wet dreams or nightmares. The only thing that makes me have dreams again is mianserin, but they are normal, non-sense dreams.

And despite that GAD and SA continue to pester me, I can't feel them the same way I used to. GAD is the worst one now, since everything causes me intense fears, and my life circumstances and my future scare me a lot, but physically I can't experience the whole anxiety thing as it used to be. It's a numb anxiety. Regarding SA, I became more avoidant of people since PSSD, that because I feel excluded from the game of life. I can't be among people now, mostly because I feel a total stranger. Despite my failure as a man -forever friendzoning myself due to my fears-, I always used to get along better with women than with men, but now I try to avoid women more than men because I feel shit next to them. I feel uncomfortable when they speak to me because I don't feel alive anymore. I don't want that they become attracted to me because I don't want to become more frustrated. That's not really related to my SA problem. It's a consequence of my damn PSSD and also of my circumstances -long story here.

that said, trazodone is an sri and so that could conceivably make things worse.

I guessed trazodone was a SRI at high doses -i.e. 150 mg-, but it affected me even at 25 mg.

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Forgot to tell that I also have some form of epilepsy. I was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy 11 years ago based only on EEG. However at the same time, unaware of any relation, I was suffering from excessive daytime sleepness that I considered to be a consequence of my anxiety. I suffered it since 2002, and it was not until 2010 that a neurologist diagnosed me with narcolepsy based on symptoms only. He prescribed modafinil, and worked wonders at that time -with PSSD modafinil is useless even for my sleepiness-. However, while not on the drug, it became apparent that my so called narcolepsy showed too many variations. There are long periods where it doesn't bother so much, but there are others where I fell asleep every time that I sit down and remain quiet. Atomoxetine and methylphenidate did nothing.

It was not until a few weeks ago that a psych told me that a EEG while asleep should be made, because, as she said, there are some forms of epilepsy that show themselves as excessive sleepiness but can't be diagnosed with ordinary EEG. Then I researched about it and found that there is nocturnal frontal lobe epilepsy, which happens to have most of my symptoms, for example, the excessive anxiety and tachychardia reminiscent of a panic attack that comes in the minutes before falling asleep during the day.

[Ghost]

"It's a numb anxiety"

Totally know that feeling. I get it in entirety.

Wishing you the best, Blackout. I second Catalunya's advice. Obviously, SSRI's are not a preferred treatment for your problems at this point, but they should still be getting some sort of treatment.

[Micromegas]

It was sertraline that got me, too. What did you take that made it worse?

Now, I just read your introduction, and it appears that you have had this problem since late 2012, right? I quit sertraline a year before, in October or November 2011, after about 8 or 9 months on it. Does cialis work for you? It helped me a little -very little-, but after the worsening caused by the above drugs, it's now no more than a placebo for me.

I've had the problem since early 2013, so right at two years now. I haven't taken Cialis in a few months, but yeah, it always helped before. But of course it helps in that indirect way that isn't working on the brain side of the problem.

I've seen other people mention something about Cialis not working after using trazodone. I don't understand that, since Cialis only works on the nitric oxide part of the problem. It's also odd considering people don't report trazodone making PSSD worse in general, not that I've seen at least. I'm not saying I'm skeptical of that, because I'm not — I just don't understand it.