08-03-2006, 08:06 PM
Does anyone know an anti-depressant that does not lower their libido? I've tried Celexa and Zoloft and have just started today Fluoxetine. Hoping this Prozac type drug helps with that but I have my doubts.
08-03-2006, 08:06 PM
08-03-2006, 08:55 PM
I've read that Wellbutrin leaves the libido alone...but I have not tried it myself (I've not tried any antidepressants because I can't stand swallowing pills) so I don't have first hand experience to back up what I've read.
08-08-2006, 03:02 PM
Since September 2004 until January of this year I was on Fluoxetine. 20mg to begin with which was upped to 30mg when I told my doctor that Fluoxetine was not helping to lift my mood and was causing my insomnia to become a hundred times worse.
In December of last year I (finally!) was diagnosed as having Aspergers Syndrome after I became fully aware of its existance the year before when my mom, who teaches primary school children, had a child in her class with AS. In the 15 years she has been teaching, this was the first time she had taught a child with AS and soon began to notice comparisons between their behaviour and mine, despite the fact that I'm now 23. We decided to look into AS online and quickly realised that their was in fact a reason for me being me, I finally realised I was not the bitch everyone told me I was!!! Anyway, after much arguing with my doctor and digging around for a consultant who could diagnose me, a year later I was officially diagnosed with AS.
As a result of this I was referred to a psychiatrist and he immediately told me that I had to phase out the dosage of Fluoxetine I was taking and start taking a different anti-depressant called Mirtazapin or something like that. Again I started on 20mg but quickly realised this was achieving nothing and so was bumped up to 40mg. The reason I was taken off Fluoxetine so quickly was because he said it could be aiding my suicidal thoughts. Looking back at my diary I agreed with him, as I saw that after I started taking the 40mg dosage of Fluoxetine my moods became more manic and I lurched between very very severe depression and wanting to kill myself, to periods of absolute happiness and brightness where I had too much energy, almost Bi-polar in my mood swings. As soon as I came off the Fluoxetine I became quite frightened of the drug as I realised just how much it had changed me. When you are taking the drugs and you change, you don't notice because you're clouded by the drugs, but the change in me when I stopped the drugs was amazing. I became me again. Essentially, Fluoxetine made me feel worse.
However, I would not reccomend Mirtazapin either because it is a suppressant and has completely ruined the last few months of my life since January. It no doubt helped me sleep, but I couldn't wake up and never felt fresh in a morning. I started not caring about anything and all my emotions were subdued to the point where I just moped around the house all day feeling so, so low and suicidal. 2 months ago I made the decision to come off the tablets as I came as near to committing suicide as I could get. Thank god for my boyfriend. Giving up Mirtazapin has not been easy, neither was giving up Fluoxetine, both were worse to get rid of than quitting smoking. (I haven't smoked now in over a year!)
Despite the fact that I now only get around 3 hours of sleep a night again and that I'm not always in control of my depression, especially in the two weeks leading up to my period (essentially I only live 2 weeks of the month lol!)....I feel like I am myself again, I feel alive even if sometimes that's the last thing I want....and I have my passion for sex back.
I think it doesn't matter what anti-depressant you're on, your sex drive will disappear. Obviously I can't state this as a fact because I've only tried 3 anti-depressants in my life. Cipramil is the other drug I was on when I was younger. But I would appeal to anyone with an ASD to think long and hard before going on anti-depressants.
I think that anti-depressants work for normal people, people who have experienced a tragedy of some kind and things like that. In these cases the drug will lift their mood so that they can function until their greiving time has passed. Essentially this didn't work for me because my depression, I have come to accept, will probably never go away. It is 70% caused by my AS and while there are many things that I am doing, and can do and will learn about in the future, which can help dampen the severity of the depression....long term, I just gotta learn to deal with it. And this is why I think that Anti-depressants are no good for people with an ASD. Inevitably our bodies get used to the drug and the positive effect diminshes because we never get any better.
Therefore, my advice, steer clear of the drugs, look into alternative therapy, actively change and mould your environment the best you can to suit your needs and make your quality of life happier. Engage in exercise, especially yoga or anything to do with meditation, drink plenty of water, eat healthily and avoid activities or situations which make your depression/stress levels worse. Take advantage of the fact that you have a sex-drive again and indulge....after all, sex makes you happier! If you find that your sex life still suffers because of your depression, take a step back, stop putting pressure on yourself to have fantastic sex all the time, and get your partner to help you feel more in the mood so that you both benefit....good food, a nice long bath....if they love you, they will help you because in the end it's positive for both of you.
Hope this helps, sorry for the essay! I blame my AS for my inability to shut up lol....
badonkadonk
xxx
In December of last year I (finally!) was diagnosed as having Aspergers Syndrome after I became fully aware of its existance the year before when my mom, who teaches primary school children, had a child in her class with AS. In the 15 years she has been teaching, this was the first time she had taught a child with AS and soon began to notice comparisons between their behaviour and mine, despite the fact that I'm now 23. We decided to look into AS online and quickly realised that their was in fact a reason for me being me, I finally realised I was not the bitch everyone told me I was!!! Anyway, after much arguing with my doctor and digging around for a consultant who could diagnose me, a year later I was officially diagnosed with AS.
As a result of this I was referred to a psychiatrist and he immediately told me that I had to phase out the dosage of Fluoxetine I was taking and start taking a different anti-depressant called Mirtazapin or something like that. Again I started on 20mg but quickly realised this was achieving nothing and so was bumped up to 40mg. The reason I was taken off Fluoxetine so quickly was because he said it could be aiding my suicidal thoughts. Looking back at my diary I agreed with him, as I saw that after I started taking the 40mg dosage of Fluoxetine my moods became more manic and I lurched between very very severe depression and wanting to kill myself, to periods of absolute happiness and brightness where I had too much energy, almost Bi-polar in my mood swings. As soon as I came off the Fluoxetine I became quite frightened of the drug as I realised just how much it had changed me. When you are taking the drugs and you change, you don't notice because you're clouded by the drugs, but the change in me when I stopped the drugs was amazing. I became me again. Essentially, Fluoxetine made me feel worse.
However, I would not reccomend Mirtazapin either because it is a suppressant and has completely ruined the last few months of my life since January. It no doubt helped me sleep, but I couldn't wake up and never felt fresh in a morning. I started not caring about anything and all my emotions were subdued to the point where I just moped around the house all day feeling so, so low and suicidal. 2 months ago I made the decision to come off the tablets as I came as near to committing suicide as I could get. Thank god for my boyfriend. Giving up Mirtazapin has not been easy, neither was giving up Fluoxetine, both were worse to get rid of than quitting smoking. (I haven't smoked now in over a year!)
Despite the fact that I now only get around 3 hours of sleep a night again and that I'm not always in control of my depression, especially in the two weeks leading up to my period (essentially I only live 2 weeks of the month lol!)....I feel like I am myself again, I feel alive even if sometimes that's the last thing I want....and I have my passion for sex back.
I think it doesn't matter what anti-depressant you're on, your sex drive will disappear. Obviously I can't state this as a fact because I've only tried 3 anti-depressants in my life. Cipramil is the other drug I was on when I was younger. But I would appeal to anyone with an ASD to think long and hard before going on anti-depressants.
I think that anti-depressants work for normal people, people who have experienced a tragedy of some kind and things like that. In these cases the drug will lift their mood so that they can function until their greiving time has passed. Essentially this didn't work for me because my depression, I have come to accept, will probably never go away. It is 70% caused by my AS and while there are many things that I am doing, and can do and will learn about in the future, which can help dampen the severity of the depression....long term, I just gotta learn to deal with it. And this is why I think that Anti-depressants are no good for people with an ASD. Inevitably our bodies get used to the drug and the positive effect diminshes because we never get any better.
Therefore, my advice, steer clear of the drugs, look into alternative therapy, actively change and mould your environment the best you can to suit your needs and make your quality of life happier. Engage in exercise, especially yoga or anything to do with meditation, drink plenty of water, eat healthily and avoid activities or situations which make your depression/stress levels worse. Take advantage of the fact that you have a sex-drive again and indulge....after all, sex makes you happier! If you find that your sex life still suffers because of your depression, take a step back, stop putting pressure on yourself to have fantastic sex all the time, and get your partner to help you feel more in the mood so that you both benefit....good food, a nice long bath....if they love you, they will help you because in the end it's positive for both of you.
Hope this helps, sorry for the essay! I blame my AS for my inability to shut up lol....
badonkadonk
xxx
09-06-2006, 05:44 AM
I have heard many people say that Wellbutrin is the only thing they've taken that hasn't had that side effect.
My personal experiences would suggest that you might want to particularly avoid Paxil and Lexapro if you're trying to sidestep that side effect.
My personal experiences would suggest that you might want to particularly avoid Paxil and Lexapro if you're trying to sidestep that side effect.
10-04-2006, 01:09 PM
I suppose the side effect wouldn't be so much a hassle if you didn't have a partner but otherwise, these meds are known for lowering the sex drive.
It just depends how much good they do otherwise as to whether it is worth persevering with them or not.
It just depends how much good they do otherwise as to whether it is worth persevering with them or not.
10-04-2006, 01:47 PM
"The reason I was taken off Fluoxetine so quickly was because he said it could be aiding my suicidal thoughts."
Great when anti-depressants make people want to kill themselves! I thought people took them so they wouldn't be depressed and kill themselves.
My depression is 100% reactive to my life situations. If I had a "natural" ability to deal with my life situations, I would not be depressed. Maybe some people get depressed (biochemistry) and then can no longer deal with their life situations. I think that taking medication and having side effects would just make my problems worse. All I have heard about anti-depressants from people taking them is "sure you still have all the same problems but you really don't care about them so much."
Great when anti-depressants make people want to kill themselves! I thought people took them so they wouldn't be depressed and kill themselves.
My depression is 100% reactive to my life situations. If I had a "natural" ability to deal with my life situations, I would not be depressed. Maybe some people get depressed (biochemistry) and then can no longer deal with their life situations. I think that taking medication and having side effects would just make my problems worse. All I have heard about anti-depressants from people taking them is "sure you still have all the same problems but you really don't care about them so much."
10-04-2006, 01:51 PM
That's probably about right - the meds certainly don't solve your worries - they are only supposed to make them not seem quite so worrying so in theory at least, you can cope better.
10-04-2006, 03:38 PM
SSRIs are not the same as all antidepressants - and not all have as severe side effects. I would recommend trying alternative antidepressants or weaker SSRIs (for a mild depression, st johns wort can work quite well as can raising serotonin levels through other means such as taking extra B vitamins etc).
10-04-2006, 09:06 PM
Mirtazapine is the only antidepressant that ever worked for me. It doesn't touch the libido, but it does make me crave sugar and sweets and I'm very tired all the time. I'm willing to put up with that though for not feeling suicidal.
Of course, everyone reacts to different medications differently. Venlafaxine made me homicidal.
Of course, everyone reacts to different medications differently. Venlafaxine made me homicidal.
10-06-2006, 11:53 AM
Yes, I did fairly badly on Venlafaxine. It made me more aggressive and prone to self-harm.