Enduring sexual dysfunction due to Abilify (an antipsychotic) - still considered PSSD?

Any other sexual dysfunctions not properly addressed by medical science.
OCDemon
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Re: Enduring sexual dysfunction due to Abilify (an antipsychotic) - still considered PSSD?

Unread post by OCDemon »

Update: soft glans issue seems to have resolved. I've been using Mag-a-Hol applied directly to my penis, followed by a little MCT oil, 2 to 3 times a day. My recipe for "mag-a-hol" is as follows:

1/2 cup vodka
1/2 cup water
1 cup magnesium chloride flakes (USP)
1 tablespoon potassium chloride

Mix everything together. I use the final solution in a glass dropper bottle. I use a total of 10 full droppers on my body per day, shoulders, legs, belly, chest, feet, etc., wherever I feel like it. But upon applying it to my penis multiple times a day, especially before bed, I noticed within a week my morning wood was back for the first time in almost 3 years.

Erection quality has been much better after several weeks of this. Too soon to tell, perhaps. So I'm skeptical. Unfortunately, the premature ejaculation is still here, and also, the going soft immediately after and sometimes in the middle of ejaculation is still an issue. I fear that the ejaculation issues are permanent, but I have a very small hope that the premature ejaculation may be fixable at some point.

I've been working with the "Love Your Liver" program here: https://nutritiondetective.com/

That's where I heard of this recipe. I'm not hopeful that it'll help with my specific issues, but I also have had enduring chronic fatigue and exhaustion after Rexulti which I'm hoping will improve.

Still surreal to see that I posted this in November of last year. Over the past month or so I felt like I just realized my ejaculation was messed up. I forget how long it's been, and it hasn't even been a full 3 years yet, though it will be soon. It is extremely difficult to have any hope at all. In my mind I've already accepted that I will never be able to have sex again, and even on the very, very off chance that I ever will again, it will not be satisfying.

I did have one experience where I was able to get somewhat hard again after ejaculating, and was able to 'have sex' for a couple minutes before ejaculating again, but I felt absolutely nothing at all during sex and strangely still had the premature ejaculation -- and the second time it was completely numb, it was like going through the motions of having an orgasm but I felt nothing. I'd rather at least be able to last as long as I wanted but even with no sensation, the premature ejaculation is still an issue. I feel like a eunuch at this point and have no desire to even attempt to have sex again and definitely forget about a relationship or anything else. I've never been to a prostitute but it wouldn't even be worth the expense at this point as it's impossible to enjoy sex.

Oh well. At least I'm going to be one of the few adamant people that argues that antipsychotics can and do cause PSSD and I would push to have it re-labeled as PPSD for "post psychotropic sexual dysfunction." ALL of the head meds are unsafe, period. And that's a hill I'm going to die on. I only wish I came to that conclusion before I blindly subjected myself to accepting poison into my body.
6-Eggs!
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Re: Enduring sexual dysfunction due to Abilify (an antipsychotic) - still considered PSSD?

Unread post by 6-Eggs! »

Well that's good news at least for the erections. I too hope my soft glans issues resolve with time and I think they will as I get instances where it's close to normal. also with any kind of SD, I found erections for me at least to be the last thing to improve in the past. Funny you mention the PE. I am having a bit of that at the moment but I found after long periods of bad libido and ED and I start to get a good window I have a bit of PE for first number of times during sex as my excitement is overwhelming but it does settle down with time and return back to normal. I also found it happens when I am at very low doses of Rexulti which cause the following (low libido but high excitement when aroused, poor erectile quality and mild to moderate PE, shorter but very intense orgasms (they feel abnormally sharper)).

I had a slight dulling of my skin in the last week after the latest reduction to 1/32nd dose, saddle and genitals, not as much the glans this time but dulled a bit, and new areas around the upper outer thighs and some inner too. Very odd but it's resolved now.

Glans feeling is still good and getting more stable with time towards completely normal despite reducing my doses over time to minuscule levels.


From all my research, APs effect dopamine system and receptors etc and they are particularly stubborn to return to baseline and typically take 2-5 years or more in some cases. I think you will have recovery but it's slow as, I have found as well.

My reduction has induced weird dopamine related withdrawal symptoms. I have been having issues with automated breathing during sleep and now some involuntary odd moments. Last night I had relentless restless legs and occasional weird sudden air gasps with a snort sound while falling asleep that would wake me up every time.
I also involuntary snapped my jaw shut and bit my tongue jolting me out of bed. Then one random vocalization, itchy face that wasn't real. Quite annoying.

Then I had rapid sleep like breathing continuing after I was awake and had to take conscious control to stop it. Later in the night I had the opposite and choked a few times from stopping breathing. And the weird thing is I can have several nights completely symptom free.

Oh and btw, ended in the hospital again for the 5th time this year a few nights ago as I went blind in my right side of my field of vision in both eyes with weird zigzag multi colored lights. I couldn't see my partners face or the kids faces on my right side but my vision wasn't black, looked fine but they weren't there. Freaky as hell. Then is was followed by a severe headache. The nurse on call hotline recommended to go to ER as it might have been a stoke. CT scan showed 0 issues in the brain so they think I had my first migraine and I had no idea that it could cause temp blindness but apparently they do.

Rexulti has causes my whole brain to go haywire and haywire without it as well, causing a catch 22, damned if I do, damned if I don't and so finely balanced that the whole tapering is walking on egg shells. Fingers crossed I don't loose my marbles in the new year when I finally stop.
OCDemon
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Re: Enduring sexual dysfunction due to Abilify (an antipsychotic) - still considered PSSD?

Unread post by OCDemon »

Checking back in.

Still struggling. I've concluded that ejaculating makes everything far worse. On longer periods of semen retention I almost feel like I have some degree of hope.

More recently, I had sex for a few minutes, which is the second time that's happened in about 4 years since PSSD in 2019. Now, the last time was a few months before. I don't have a partner. It was an ex. And it was not even a shadow of how I used to perform. But I do want to say that gave me some hope.

Still losing my erection immediately upon ejaculating, and I've also noticed I look smaller than I used to be. I seem to measure one half to almost a full inch shorter than I used to be. Refractory period is still very long. As I said earlier, ejaculation seems to make everything awful. It's hard to tell whether the major depression I have after ejaculating is a result of something neurobiologically happening as a result of ejaculation, or merely the stark reminder that I have PSSD that makes me feel suicidal.

Losing my erection immediately and going numb after ejaculating also makes it clear to me that this is an autonomic nervous system defect. Something was broken in the pathways. This is not a psychological arousal thing. I very much want to have sex, so much so that I would consider using a strap-on if I ever was able to find a woman who wouldn't be judgmental about it. Only having a few minutes of sex in a couple years isn't enough to make me believe it wasn't a fluke.

Ejaculation also seems to have a lasting negative impact on erection quality and my ability to even get an erection, for days and sometimes weeks after. The most success I've had with harder erections, not at all like they used to be, but still enough for penetration, has been longer periods of retention.

Perhaps this is a clue. I've heard elsewhere that prolactin levels elevate with orgasm and can take a couple weeks to return to baseline, even in normal, healthy people. So I wonder if people with PSSD like me can have excessive reactions to orgasm. Regardless of how muted the orgasms themselves are. I was surprised to see on a Reddit poll that many people with PSSD still masturbated regularly. I can get that that can be a 'test' thing, like a compulsion almost, because having this condition is so surreal.

Not to get TMI, but I've watched old videos of myself with my ex girlfriend, compared to videos of me masturbating alone now. It's compulsive. Like I just can't believe this is real. The video proof for me was enough though, I can see a clear difference in function. And it's horrible.

I am really trying to have hope. It's getting more and more difficult to with every passing day. Especially with the ejaculation reflex, I don't see how that can possibly heal. That's pure autonomic nervous system. More ambiguous things like arousal, maybe. Erection quality? Maybe. Ejaculation is one that seems hopeless to me. It's like the pathway is actually broken and there is no way to repair it. I can't see it ever going back to the way it used to be. Same for that matter for erection quality.

Sums it up

https://youtu.be/LbhYqV17CoQ
OCDemon
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Re: Enduring sexual dysfunction due to Abilify (an antipsychotic) - still considered PSSD?

Unread post by OCDemon »

6-Eggs! wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:40 am Well that's good news at least for the erections. I too hope my soft glans issues resolve with time and I think they will as I get instances where it's close to normal. also with any kind of SD, I found erections for me at least to be the last thing to improve in the past. Funny you mention the PE. I am having a bit of that at the moment but I found after long periods of bad libido and ED and I start to get a good window I have a bit of PE for first number of times during sex as my excitement is overwhelming but it does settle down with time and return back to normal. I also found it happens when I am at very low doses of Rexulti which cause the following (low libido but high excitement when aroused, poor erectile quality and mild to moderate PE, shorter but very intense orgasms (they feel abnormally sharper)).

I had a slight dulling of my skin in the last week after the latest reduction to 1/32nd dose, saddle and genitals, not as much the glans this time but dulled a bit, and new areas around the upper outer thighs and some inner too. Very odd but it's resolved now.

Glans feeling is still good and getting more stable with time towards completely normal despite reducing my doses over time to minuscule levels.


From all my research, APs effect dopamine system and receptors etc and they are particularly stubborn to return to baseline and typically take 2-5 years or more in some cases. I think you will have recovery but it's slow as, I have found as well.

My reduction has induced weird dopamine related withdrawal symptoms. I have been having issues with automated breathing during sleep and now some involuntary odd moments. Last night I had relentless restless legs and occasional weird sudden air gasps with a snort sound while falling asleep that would wake me up every time.
I also involuntary snapped my jaw shut and bit my tongue jolting me out of bed. Then one random vocalization, itchy face that wasn't real. Quite annoying.

Then I had rapid sleep like breathing continuing after I was awake and had to take conscious control to stop it. Later in the night I had the opposite and choked a few times from stopping breathing. And the weird thing is I can have several nights completely symptom free.

Oh and btw, ended in the hospital again for the 5th time this year a few nights ago as I went blind in my right side of my field of vision in both eyes with weird zigzag multi colored lights. I couldn't see my partners face or the kids faces on my right side but my vision wasn't black, looked fine but they weren't there. Freaky as hell. Then is was followed by a severe headache. The nurse on call hotline recommended to go to ER as it might have been a stoke. CT scan showed 0 issues in the brain so they think I had my first migraine and I had no idea that it could cause temp blindness but apparently they do.

Rexulti has causes my whole brain to go haywire and haywire without it as well, causing a catch 22, damned if I do, damned if I don't and so finely balanced that the whole tapering is walking on egg shells. Fingers crossed I don't loose my marbles in the new year when I finally stop.

Hope you're doing OK. Let me know. Was just reading through this again. Have been off Rexulti since 2019 but am wondering if I'm still suffering effects, as you suggested. It certainly seems so.

Seriously feel like I'm losing my mind. Never reinstated it. I've had stuff like this before the medication but I don't think it was on this level. I think I've been focused so much on the sexual dysfunction I've neglected the severe cognitive effects.
6-Eggs!
Posts: 109
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Re: Enduring sexual dysfunction due to Abilify (an antipsychotic) - still considered PSSD?

Unread post by 6-Eggs! »

OCDemon wrote: Sat Sep 16, 2023 12:14 am
6-Eggs! wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:40 am Well that's good news at least for the erections. I too hope my soft glans issues resolve with time and I think they will as I get instances where it's close to normal. also with any kind of SD, I found erections for me at least to be the last thing to improve in the past. Funny you mention the PE. I am having a bit of that at the moment but I found after long periods of bad libido and ED and I start to get a good window I have a bit of PE for first number of times during sex as my excitement is overwhelming but it does settle down with time and return back to normal. I also found it happens when I am at very low doses of Rexulti which cause the following (low libido but high excitement when aroused, poor erectile quality and mild to moderate PE, shorter but very intense orgasms (they feel abnormally sharper)).

I had a slight dulling of my skin in the last week after the latest reduction to 1/32nd dose, saddle and genitals, not as much the glans this time but dulled a bit, and new areas around the upper outer thighs and some inner too. Very odd but it's resolved now.

Glans feeling is still good and getting more stable with time towards completely normal despite reducing my doses over time to minuscule levels.


From all my research, APs effect dopamine system and receptors etc and they are particularly stubborn to return to baseline and typically take 2-5 years or more in some cases. I think you will have recovery but it's slow as, I have found as well.

My reduction has induced weird dopamine related withdrawal symptoms. I have been having issues with automated breathing during sleep and now some involuntary odd moments. Last night I had relentless restless legs and occasional weird sudden air gasps with a snort sound while falling asleep that would wake me up every time.
I also involuntary snapped my jaw shut and bit my tongue jolting me out of bed. Then one random vocalization, itchy face that wasn't real. Quite annoying.

Then I had rapid sleep like breathing continuing after I was awake and had to take conscious control to stop it. Later in the night I had the opposite and choked a few times from stopping breathing. And the weird thing is I can have several nights completely symptom free.

Oh and btw, ended in the hospital again for the 5th time this year a few nights ago as I went blind in my right side of my field of vision in both eyes with weird zigzag multi colored lights. I couldn't see my partners face or the kids faces on my right side but my vision wasn't black, looked fine but they weren't there. Freaky as hell. Then is was followed by a severe headache. The nurse on call hotline recommended to go to ER as it might have been a stoke. CT scan showed 0 issues in the brain so they think I had my first migraine and I had no idea that it could cause temp blindness but apparently they do.

Rexulti has causes my whole brain to go haywire and haywire without it as well, causing a catch 22, damned if I do, damned if I don't and so finely balanced that the whole tapering is walking on egg shells. Fingers crossed I don't loose my marbles in the new year when I finally stop.

Hope you're doing OK. Let me know. Was just reading through this again. Have been off Rexulti since 2019 but am wondering if I'm still suffering effects, as you suggested. It certainly seems so.

Seriously feel like I'm losing my mind. Never reinstated it. I've had stuff like this before the medication but I don't think it was on this level. I think I've been focused so much on the sexual dysfunction I've neglected the severe cognitive effects.
I was doing very well and finally got off the Rexulti 5 months ago, stopped at 0.015mg after a low re-instatment of 0.25mg and hyperbolic tapered carefully over 18 months. symptoms improved a boat load during the taper, but not until I started to taper Moclobemide. Pretty quickly I worked out the Moclobemide was to blame for most of the symptoms, they nearly cleared once I was low on Moclobemide vs the Rexulti in a receptor occupancy point of view, but unfortunately the Moclobemide taper was and still is hell on earth! Therefore I was not able to catch up or stop the Moclobemide before the Rexulti, which Rexulti was actually easy when I tapered properly, but it seems either the Rexulti or the combo of the two has made my CNS extremely hyper sensitive to the Moclobemide and now 5 months off the Rexulti, much of the same plus new symptoms have emerged (not to the same extreme but still hard to function with them), but do so in paradoxical waves, more adverse reactions to the remaining dose than withdrawals itself. My doc and I have decided that today I take no more Moclobemide and if I am correct which I pray I am given 2 years of symptoms and tapering pattern tracking, I should start to recover and improve and hopefully stability, not rapid extreme waves of symptoms and "recovery".

3 weeks ago I was the best in 10+ years and then I had a very bad paradoxical adverse reaction within 4 min of taking the Moclobemide that has basically undid almost 18 months of good progress, Paradoxical as in the more I taper, the worse the reactions I get to taking the dose but generally feel better once the drug wears off between doses. Visual hallucinations and extreme burning nerve pain are some of the worst of these symptoms that came of the adverse reactions, same as the first Rexulti cold turkey 2 years ago but worse. This symptoms also improved only with Moclobemide tapering whist still be counted some by the Rexulti.

I very much speculate that the Rexulti, although a terrible drug, was countering the side effect of Moclobemide until it no longer could due to neuropastisity and adaptation trying to circumvent it's action, Moclbemide has actually kept me chronically mentally and physically ill for some 7-8 years without me knowing.

My sexual function and symptoms were better than my pre drug mental breakdown in 2013 but is highly unstable at the moment. Symptoms rapidly change, waves come and go over minutes and days typically. Extremely frustrating the least to say.
6-Eggs!
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Re: Enduring sexual dysfunction due to Abilify (an antipsychotic) - still considered PSSD?

Unread post by 6-Eggs! »

A week in after stopping the Moclobemide and it's withdrawals are more typical from what I have read or been told that antidepressants do. But I can be happy to say the adverse reactions have stopped instantly and the persistent symptoms have improved some and stopped escalating like it was while on the Moclobemide.

Sexual function is starting to improve, not great by any means but near normal when I have my good moments, glans is the most normal it's been in probably a few years, and then not completely garbage when it's bad.

This visual noise is annoying though, it has had some improvement but a small relapse last night as I fall into the peak withdrawal period which peaks at 1-3 weeks after reduction typically, this is normally a very shitty mood, intermittent soft glans, lower libido, deep sadness, muscle tightness and pain, weakness, problems with lack of sweating etc... But as it clears up after this 3 weeks I feel heaps better and sexual function is good. I have not been off the drug before so I am not sure if it's improvement from there on, or more of the waves as usual with gradual average improvement over time, probably the later so I don't get my hopes up lol.

I have noticed that most days my symptoms are much more stable even though they aren't as good as were a while back, prior to the bad adverse reaction nearly a month ago. It seems like a more linear and slower improvement than when I was on this crap trying to taper it.


I guess I'll update this in several weeks or few months. My brain still craves the drug at 5pm to about mid morning and follows this cycle daily. So it's still adapted to the drug action at those times but seems to have mostly been fine during the day between those times.
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