Is PSSD Permanent?

[TalkingAnt]

Is PSSD Permanent? Will we ever feel the way we did before? What are your speculations, thoughts, and evidence on the matter?

[Ghost]

Is PSSD Permanent? Will we ever feel the way we did before? What are your speculations, thoughts, and evidence on the matter?

In my opinion it's likely that things will return to near-normal, but possible for any given person that PSSD is permanent.

There is really no evidence for my opinion other than from testimonies from across the web. I've seen many, many people claim that a few years can really come a long way in healing. On the other end, I've seen people linger on with PSSD for decades. What becomes hard is discerning what happens to people when they leave the forums. I'd say that a good majority of the people here won't be posting about this 20 years from now. In the same way, people who took these drugs in the 90's- early 00's aren't really active on many modern forums. You have to search for their stories, many of which are on sites/forums that are closed. There are a few that pop up every so often, but a majority fade away. What happened to them? We'll probably never know.

But this isn't the end of the road. Even if you don't recover over the years, much of this site is dedicated to regaining some of your pre-SSRI function. Sonny has had PSSD for over a decade, but with a dedicated effort he has mostly put his PSSD in remission.

Things that seem to help recovery:

Being healthy
Being Stress-free
Most of all...
Being lucky

Do you know much about math?

I think of it sort of like a half-life chart. You have 100% of people with Sexual Dysfunction the day they stop the SSRI on the right, and then quickly most people return to normal. Then you keep following the curve. Over time, most people recover, but a percentge don't, and the farther out you go without recovery, the more likely that is to happen.

This curve was random from the internet, but I think it describes PSSD well. Many people see improvements in the first few years, where for some it lasts indefinitely. It has to do with hormones, neurotransmitters, gene expression...It's a mess. Too much to post about here. I suggest looking around the forum for much more info and research.

[Maldoror]

I like to be hopeful, but I haven't recovered not even 1% is almost 3 years so...

[celexahell]

I was afflicted with this fucked up condition over a year ago, on the week of April 7th 2014.

I only took a total of maybe 5 or 6 20mg pills of Citalopram HBr.

Over a year later, I have almost zero libido, numb genitals, and poor erections. I'm very close to killing myself. I would say it seems fucking permanent. Oh how I would love if the creators of these drugs would die the most terrible fucking deaths.

[Ghost]

I was afflicted with this fucked up condition over a year ago, on the week of April 7th 2014.

I only took a total of maybe 5 or 6 20mg pills of Citalopram HBr.

Over a year later, I have almost zero libido, numb genitals, and poor erections. I'm very close to killing myself. I would say it seems fucking permanent. Oh how I would love if the creators of these drugs would die the most terrible fucking deaths.

I've seen recoveries coming much farther out than a year. Many claim it takes 5-10 years. That's not ideal, but it's worth a shot if this is the only life you get to live. Hang in there. I know it's said a lot, but suicide is never the option. I'd say that there are many last-ditch treatment options that have potential. If you ever want to PM me I'd be glad to discuss these.

[apachuri]

I can tell you the PSSD I had over 2 years ago is not the same now. Things have improved for the better and are only getting better as time goes on. I am at around 3 years of PSSD now.

[Ghost]

I can tell you the PSSD I had over 2 years ago is not the same now. Things have improved for the better and are only getting better as time goes on. I am at around 3 years of PSSD now.

I wish I could like, upvote, and give a star to this comment. This seems to be a common trend with many people with PSSD. I want to say this in the least hippie of ways, but I really believe that giving your brain some time to recover can help healing. Meditation, Exercise, and again, time.

[Sonny]

Well, it's been 23 years for me. PSSD waxes and wains, and if you notice the recovered people have problems again. That's better than it being bad all the time. With the right drugs, you can be almost normal during a good spell. Reducing stress in your life makes difference with that too by the way.

[maev]

I'm in a complete remission in a way that sexual effects aren't noticeable any more. Across three years of getting out of the paroxetine rabbit hole I ran through a dozen of pharmaceutics, bupropion, buspirone, tianeptine to name a few. Also tried a gazilion of supplements but found them all near useless. I also experimented a lot. Buspirone made the trick for me (I thoroughly hated the groginess), almost over a year of treatment things went back to normal. 0 fucks given and focusing on another areas of life helped a lot as well. Cognition is where the problem still exists, especially short term memory and fluid intelligence. I have no idea how to counter that. Same goes for general anhedonia.

But the experience differs.

[EricCartmanRJ]

I hope not. If it is, returning to SSRI could be a less miserable life choice.