Libido not coming back 4 months off--anyone knows what to do???

[siddharta]

Hello everybody

I am new to this forum, and would like to share my story in brief. I have been on various SSRIs on and off for the past 7 years. I started with a low dose of fluoxetine (Prozac), -20mg- which at first seemed a Godsent gift. I took it for about a year, and then tried to quit, reaching doses as low as 10mg 3 times a week, but after a few months depression would recur..so I went back on it, always 10-20 mg..however, after about 1.5 years, I noticed a gradual decline in my sex drive. Every time I stopped the med, it would return in 15 days, but so would the depression (after about 1-2 months)... This was the beginning of the bad side of things...for about 2 years I was switching meds, not because they weren't working, but because I was trying to find one with no sexual side effects...needless to say this created a major problem on my relationship (my gf thought that I was no longer interested in her, but how can a man tell his woman that he has no drive because of the meds???)....After a while, I tried a combo of Wellbutrin (bupropion) and fluvoxamine (Luvox or Dumyrox), at low doses, which seemed to work wonders on all aspects...in fact i became hypersexual, which was, in my opinion back then not such a bad side-effect, but....this only lasted for a year. For some reason bupropion stopped working..I quit all meds, but for the first time, my sex drive would not come back!...this was 2 years ago...anyway, I never stayed off meds up to then for more than 2-3 months. I started again ssris at very small doses, which would kill my remaining libido, and when I would stop, I would get some sexual function back, but just for a month...retrials of bupropion were not working anymore. So, 4 months ago I decided to quit SSRIs once and for all. The first month was ok, but during the second I began getting a very bad reaction. I began feeling empty, not being able to enjoy anything (even smoking tasted different!), which was something compeletely new to me (a very different quality feeling from depression)...I was becoming apathetic, like being a robot inside, and my sexual function which had initially improved a bit, went back down (genital anesthesia again like when i was on SSRIs, no drive, pleasureless orgasms)..So, i started taking agomelatine (Valdoxan), which is a new antidepressant, with no impact on sexual functioning. This helped things, my feelings are somewhat better, but the sex drive is still very low.
Needless to say, this has become a major burden on my life...I am a 33 year old male, and very sad at the prospect of permanently losing my sex drive...
Is anyone here that has been through similar things??? Has anyone regained their sexual functioning after such long-term use of SSRIs?? And if so, after how long?? And how??
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

Best wishes

[scotia21]

Mine came back after about a year. I know that being patient is difficult, but you have to give it more time. You have been on several meds and have gone on and off of them several times. It is going to take a while for everything to return to normal.

[siddharta]

Thanks for the reply Scotia.
I 'd like to ask you something else : what was the time course of the return of your libido?? gradual, sudden, or did it wax and wane until stabilising?? Sorry to bother you with questions, I just seem to be overwhelmed by this thing, and right now I feel as if recovery seems unlikely...I know I may be pessimistic and I should keep hoping, but I have read some stories by other people saying they never got it back, so this prospect is really scary.
thanks again for your words of encouragement

[jule1]

I still struggle with this! However early on it was back with a vengence. Now it's been nonexistent for some time! I think those dopamine receptors have to upregulate and it takes time?? My theory anyway. And as women we have sO many other hormones that have to balance out again.

I remember my endocrinologist saying that my estrogen was so low he had to check me for menopause...at 33!!! It was the Effexor and has since gotten better!

[anjopom]

Absolutely a side effect of the drugs you have taken, no one here can tell you how long it takes to function normal again in that department, everyone is different, but it will come back at some point.

There is nothing you can take to speed up the process, the only answer is TIME.

The one thing i will say is, that its better you tell your woman, you have these problems from the meds, otherwise she may just think its because of HER!!!! Have her read here, she will realise you are NOT the only one who has these issues.