Premature Ejaculation Due to Withdrawal - Tips? Suggestions? Hope?

[everythingisnotokay]

I know this question has been asked before, and I know that sexual dysfunction is a symptom of withdrawal, but found few suggestions or advice on how to deal with P.E., or if there is any hope of improvement?

Before I share my story, more importantly I want to know if any guys who have been through withdrawal were able to figure out ways to solve this or return to some sense of normal eventually? Tips? Supplements? Drugs? Anything?

When I was on Paxil I had delayed orgasm, and occasionally couldn't reach climax. It was frustrating at times not to be able to get off, but the majority of the time I could climax after about 10-15 minutes. If I paced myself I could last even longer (20+ minutes). When I did climax it was euphoric, intense, and pretty much amazing. Better yet I could usually have sex again within about 20-30 minutes (hurray for being in my early 20's).

For the 3 and a half years I was on Paxil I was pretty much a sex addict. I probably had sex 3-5+ times a week while in a relationship (was in 2 year relationship, then 8 month, then 4 month during the 3 and a half years on Paxil). Since I lasted so long my sexual confidence was above average. I'm not trying to brag or anything, just simply stating my experience and how surreal it all seems now given my current circumstance.

I'm now single and 4 and a half months off Paxil (I tapered but way too quickly) and my sexual function, sex life, and sex drive have been completely devastated. I now suffer from considerable premature ejaculation and climaxing within 1-3 minutes, and when I do it's barely even pleasurable. I seem incredibly sensitive in that area in a nervous not so pleasurable sense. I feel completely emasculated, and humiliated by this, and I've lost interest in even attempting to date again (the other withdrawal symptoms, plus living at home again because I lost my job and sanity haven't helped either). It's almost been 2-months since I last had sex (stopped seeing the girl as well), and I almost don't even care... almost.

I've tried everything: I've been doing kegel exercises regularly for about 2 months now, breathing techniques, stop and go techniques, grip techniques, and occasionally I'm able to last 5 minutes if I really try and stop and go (like once a week). I've tried cutting back on masturbating, and I've tried doing it daily to see if I could build up some kind of endurance or something (neither seemed to have any affect).

I realize my Paxil marathon sex days are gone, and ideally I just want to be a 5-7 minute man and experience something pleasurable. Right now I don't even feel like doing it myself because it is just so discouraging.

Are there any supplements? Suggestions? Is there hope? Will I ever return to some sense of normal? I'm in my early 20's I'm not ready for the party to be over yet.

[ray34iyf]

All I can add to this is that when I was off of Lexapro for a month over the summer, I experienced the intense sensitivity and premature ejaculation problems also. This, like all of the other problems, will undoubtedly be healed in due time. When that will happen, it's up to your body. Nobody can tell you.

[LossLeader]

Had everything you describe. It ruined my life (even before you factor in the other effects of a really horrible withdrawal).

I was totally convinced it was never going to get better, but it did, eventually. I'm not going to lie: it took a long time. I didn't see any real improvements for well over a year, and was nowhere near "cured" until about a year ago (I was in my mid-thirties, though, and I'd taken SSRIs for ten years, so you may well recover much faster than I did).

I'd suddenly find I could go on for five minutes instead of one... then a few days later the improvement would disappear. Then a bit later I'd find that I could go on for ten minutes... then a week later the improvement would disappear. And so on. Improvements happening, then going away again, in a weird pattern that didn't seem to make much sense. But eventually it all pretty much stabilised, and these days I'm usually fine. Occasionally the old PE comes back, but it doesn't happen very often these days. Sometimes still have weak orgasms, but in general they're good again (though not as strong as when I was on ADs, I'm afraid).

This gets better - you just have to be very patient. I never found any particular technique or supplement or whatever that made any real difference. The only thing I noticed was that the more confident and relaxed I felt at any particular time, the less bad this was likely to be. Easier said than done, I know. But I'm convinced that while this is a physical / biological problem at root, it's massively worsened by anxiety and stress (which can cause PE anyway). My improvements sped up when I just stopped worrying about it so much. Right now it might seem insane to "just not worry" about this - it would have seemed insane to me at 4 or 5 months off. I worried about it ALL the time. But once you see some improvements, make sure you really relish them at the time, and allow that to improve your confidence so you feel a bit closer to your real sexual self. Once you start to change your mindset, things will get easier, although this isn't going to happen overnight. If you can find a girl who's understanding (easier when you put in a lot of "work" in other ways...) but doesn't treat you like a charity case (which won't help your confidence return), that'll help a lot - locking yourself away from the world won't help at all.