after cipralex permanent reduced libido?

[Ben]

I am a 45 year old male and I started to take cipralex 10 mg. a year ago. I took half doses for a month and since two weeks i'm off the pills completely. I feel o.k. and have no withdrawal side effect.

Since i was ashamed and afraid my wife wouldn't approve me taking anti depression (she would probably rather have me seeing going into therapy or looking for alternative treatment and i felt i was in emergency) i didn't tell her last year i started to take the medication. Two months ago she found out and was in shock. She showed me her diary: she was worried about our sexlife already for a long time, asking herself why i didn't want her anymore like i used to, since we had a very passionate sexlife. She even started to ask herself if i might have an affair with someone else. Also she worried about why i changed in behavior, lost my patience so easily and got completely work aholic....

I was in shock too, didn't notice these changes in myself (a bit of problem with ejaculation, that's all i thought) and started to look different now, through her eyes, recognizing what she said. I felt very bad I didn't share it with her and that i made her so worried over the last year.

I stopped two weeks ago and feel a slight improvement in sex drive, erection and ejaculation. But it is not back to the level i was at all. I started to read on forums about this. Some people say cipralex can make a permanent damage to your libido. Is this true? and if not how long can I expect to suffer from this reduced libido. will i get my passionate sex life back?

 

[*Sapphire*]

Hi Ben

And to the forum.

I have heard that loss of, or lowered libido can be a side effect of cipralex as well as other medications. Sometimes it does take a while for it to come out of your system completely. You may need to wait a bit longer than two weeks.

I'm not sure about whether it affects it permanently, personally I wouldn't think so.

However it is also worth noting that loss of or lowered libido can also be a symptom of depression.

It probably is worth going to your GP to check.

 

[Ben]

Thanks Albert for your fast response.

I don't think that the libido decrease is a response on the depression, since i feel much much better than last year and even then this was not a problem. I accepted it as a side effect of the cipralex but expected it to go. i hope you are right and it will go over time.

my GP is pretty useless on this. He doesn't see any problem with side effects that both me and my wife felt as a serious problem. He didn't inform me well before i started taking the medication. I understand that many GP's kind of ignore the signals of their patients or just tell them it is not possible.

I also can not imagine this problem will stay forever, but since other people wrote about permanent change in the brain or cells i started to worry and hoped someone with experience with cipralex AND suffering during taking it from libido decrease can tell if it for sure goes away and how much time it might take. I hope someone can tell me something more about it.

 

[*Sapphire*]

Hi Ben

Well I am on Cipralex too, and I also was not told about the loss of libido side effect, so this is a bit concerning, however I have been on ads for years and alot of them do have this side effect so probably not noticed.

I have looked on various sites too, and many of the doctors say that there is no permanent side effect. But yes I have also read about permanent changes in brain chemistry happening when taking ADs and other medications. Unfortunately there appears to be little if any published research about this particular side effect on this particular drug. I guess what you may have heard is speculation, or theory. If others have experienced a permanent side effect, you would have to rule out other possible causes, which none of us I believe are qualified to do.

Libido in men does gradually decline with age in many cases. Libido can also be effected by lots of other factors, quality and time of sleep, stress, diet, a physical problem, relationships problems, other mental health issues etc.

You did say that you were over-working that could also have had an impact. But first of all I would give it a month or two of being 'clean' from it, and see how things work out. You might notice a gradual increase.

 

[Ben]

thanks again, great to get some support from another 'cipralex user'. I red about this 'permanent decreased libido' in an add from a female user who took it for the second time and said that she felt her libido never got back to what is was after the first time she took it for a year... like you say, this can also be caused by many other things so i try to relax and give it some months before getting too worried. Indeed i also didn't find a lot of information about this specific question (that's why i put the question here on this forum).

I know everybodies story is different, but since you share that you take this medication too after other medications i want to share with you how I decided to get off the pills and found other solutions with better results and without any side effects. After reading a book of dr. David Servan Schreiber, a french psychiatrist, i understood there is a lot of research about other treatments then medication for depression and anxiety. He eleborates about EDMR therapy, light therapy, bio-feedback (learning to influence your own heart coherence and relaxing yourself), acupuncture, sport and more. They made research with groups of people with same symptomes putting half on medication and half on sport for example and both got out of the depression with the only difference that after treatment the sport-group didn't have any fall backs while the ones on medication did. Also acupuncture has great affects, no vague 'believe' but hard data on treatments. i learned that the pharmaceutical industry loves us to believe pills is the best solution, but finding the source of depression is a choice and a journey that can help us out much better and gives us a better future (and a healthy sexlife ).

wishing you a shiny future, noticing the flowers while reaching for the moon.

Ben

 

[*Sapphire*]

That's very true Ben. I do believe we live in a pill popping society, where we hope for a quick miracle cure to our ailments. I am of the belief now that pills do not really help much.

Yes they may alleviate the symptoms slightly, but they do not get to the root cause. To do that requires alot of research, trying different things, making changes to lifestyle and trying different treatments, be they therapeutic or 'alternative'.

I think the pharmaceuticals who are raking in the money on distributing meds that they claim to work with their so called well documented research (where they are allowed in some cases, and have witheld parts of those research findings) have helped push this so called miracle cure in the form of a pill. And our NHS and other health authorities, as well as individuals lap it up because it is cheaper, less painful and requires less efforts than the alternatives. Yes I do think they have their place, but I don't believe they are the solution.

Good luck on your journey. I hope you get some personal growth by undertaking it, and that you also see the flowers beneath your feet as you reach for the moon.

 

[TheRedStar]

Nothing new to add as regards the titular question, but hopefully another voice saying the same thing will be of further reassurance. As I understand it, loss of libido is pretty much the most common side-effect of any SSRI, not just Cipralex. That was certainly the case for me, and I've taken about 6-7 types of SSRI.

However, my libido always came back - and just as strong as it ever was - whenever I came off of medication. I had never before heard of the idea that the loss of libido can be permanent... I'm tempted to think that, in instances where that seemed to be the case, other factors were involved.

As for Ben's point... I too agree that it seems to be all about pills; I've complained to my GP on several occasions that I feel as though the general attitude is 'take some pills and go away'. However, on top of undoubted pressure from the pharmaceuticals, it's also true that medication is far cheaper and easily available on the NHS than any other kind of treatment. I mean, I've never had to be put on a waiting list for medication, and it's undoubtedly the case that not only is it something tangible, but that it is beneficial to many people. I am still hopeful that medication will be of great benefit to me, and that the only reason it hasn't done much for me to date is because I've been taking the wrong type for so many years; until this year I was being treated for unipolar depression, but now I've been rediagnosed with cyclothymia I'm going to be tried on mood stabilisers.

 

[Ben]

This is for sure reassuring. It certainly helps me to relax and i guess this will be half of the solution. So to hear that you, out of your own experience, can testify that your libido always came back after stopping medication gives hope for the future.

Could you tell me after how much time it came back? And what is your age? Since with me maybe also age is a factor (though I didn't notice any changes there until I started with the medication).

And yes, if pills are a solution or at least of help is not an easy question to answer. For you i hope you'll find one that can ease your moods and make life happier. And for the long run I wish for you to find out about the source of them and enjoy life fully without them.

Getting responses on this forum from you out there somewhere having personal experience with this kind of medication, making the effort to share them with me, gives me a lot of support. Thanks.

 

[schizzzoid]

I'm 44, and SSRI's (like tomedcollins, I've tried half a dozen or more), literally, castrate me! It took me six months (ish), before I could function normally again.

However, I do need to be on anti-depressants (probably for the rest of my life, altho' it's too early to say ) and I now take Amytriptaline based drugs - Trazodone and Lofepramine, which don't affect me downstairs!

 

[Ben]

Hi Schizzzoid

Sounds very long, 6 months... hope i will make it faster back to my sexual life . But still good to hear that you got back to 'yourself'. What makes you think you'll need them 'forever'? I'm very worried about this, i hope i will make it without it, also at work. If i keep the option open to go back on ADs my wife gets very worried too. Of course sex is not all of the relationship, but with us (i guess for many others too?) it is a very substantial part of it.
how do you manage with relationship while being on medication effecting your libido?
Wish you all the best and hope you have a chance also without medication one day.

 

[schizzzoid]

6 months for me, 6 weeks for him, and, 6 days for him, we're all different! Try not to worry about it (easy said I know!), as worrying can affect your libido, just as much, if not more, than meds.

As to coping in relationships... I haven't been able to get into a relationship for many years, so I can't comment. Recently, however, my dastardly psychiatrist, knowing that I will rise to a challange, has challanged me to get into a relationship...

As to taking meds for the rest of eternity, I am depressed, to some extent, all the time, and they help me sleep. On one hand I hate taking them, but, I'm aware of what happens when I come off them. So, I grin and bear it.

And finally, all the best to you too!

 

[Snowflake3008]

Hey Ben, I'm very sorry about what's happened, it sounds very frustrating, but I hope things are back to normal soon.

I think what might help in the mean time is starting to eat a few foods which are known to increase your libido. I'm not entirely sure which foods, but I'm sure good old Google will tell you. You may even find you like some of them already! Also, if your sex life has turned a bit like a routine maybe it's time to try a few new positions or something kinky Something fun for you both and might help aswell. I've heard exercise is supposed to help too.

It sounds strange coming from a 16 year old, but I'm quite educated in the matter XD Not in a physical sense though....honest

All the best, Danni xxx

 

[TheRedStar]

Sorry for the belated reply here... I've spent the last week with my head up my backside. Please forgive me

I'm 31, and to be honest my libido comes back very quickly - we're talking days rather than weeks or months. However... I have a - stupid, I admit - tendency to take myself straight off of medication. No gradual tailing off for me - I'm on it one day and off of it the next - and I strongly feel that this is part of the reason as to why everything comes back so rapidly.

 

[Ben]

Hi Tom,
thanks for your response.
I'm almost sure you are right. two months ago, when i thought about starting to get of I tried to go of like you do. Indeed in a few days I felt like sexually back alife completely, just like before i started taking pills.
but then, after another few days I got a very down day at work and felt heavy and got scared.... and took back the pills. By then i started acupuncture and I also started to take half a pill every day. This I did for about six weeks and then stopped.
Until now I still don't feel back myself completely. A bit more libido, but not close to what it used to be. Frankly, my wife feels it even more than me.

I took the pills the first 9 months without her knowing it. She felt the change in me basically from the beginning, had no idea what was going on and thought maybe it was something between us.... I'm not proud of it, since for all those months only twice (in the end) she wanted to talk about our sex life and both times we didn't enter it. She was worried to talk about it would make me insecure about my erection and make things worse, not knowing I took cipralex.

Anyway, we are out of this mess of secrets, but not back to our passionate and intense sexlife yet. We had a talk some days ago. After all the mess we had this year we promised each other no secrets anymore, she said that if we didn't have, she would not have said yet that she doesn't see a big improvement, since just talking about it and making it an issue worries her to make stress on it. I hope, and she also, it will not be like this. She says it is not only about erection, it is even more about my urge. The way i approach her in the day, the way i talk to her, kiss her when i come home from work...
I feel she also responds different to me these days than she used to do. Less passion. She is afraid to get hurt again, she says.

I hope we'll manage to relax and that the gradually stopping will not have another affect than your way (and mine two months ago). I hope my libido will get back to me completely. Maybe it just will take longer... I hope it's just a matter of time.

 

[Ben]

For all people encouraging me when i posted my question: you were all right. Six week after I took the last pill now and I feel that the side affects are over. It took me more than the first time i (tried to) stop(ped) but i feel fully back to myself, libido, ejaculation, passion. This is the good news. The bad news is that I also feel back depressed and much more sensitive when exposed at work.
Don't know how to find my way out this time if not going back to medication since i don't want to loose myself again