Comparing SSRIs and discussing persistent sexual dysfunction

I have been doing some research recently regarding the various SSRI chemical compounds which are available and I have compiled a list of each drug's pros and cons. I am doing this because I am trying to help someone choose one which will be helpful to them. I would like to share what I have found. I have also come to discover that many users are reporting that various sexual side effects such as inability to orgasm, numb genitals and decreased libido are actually persisting even after ingestion of the drugs has ceased. These side-effects are apparently persisting for an indefinite period of time and may prove to be permanent.

Here is a video from a user who explains the subject:


The drugs in question:

Lexapro (Escitalopram): Works quickly with most mild side-effects and is very good for depression. Most likely will cause inability to orgasm while on drug and causes extreme yawning.

Celexa (Citalopram): Most likely to work based on statistics. Can increase anxiety at start, weight gain and loss of libido can be bad.

Paxil (Paroxetine): Very potent, good for anxiety. Terrible sexual side effects, Terrible withdrawal symptoms which start if just 1 dose is missed and it takes a long time to recover.

Prozac (Fluoxetine): Can skip doses without trouble, almost no withdrawal. Terrible loss of libido which might be permanent, weight gain and it messes with blood sugar regulation.

Zoloft (Sertraline): Has dopamine to help motivate you. Can make you agitated or manic.

Now ideally one would like to avoid these at all cost but for some people the trade off in side effects can be worth the increased quality of life and peace in their personal relationships. The most troubling aspect of these drugs remains their sexual side-effects. Now that there is anecdotal evidence that these side-effects can become permanent I think even more precaution must be taken when exploring these drugs.

Here is another informative video:

People dont need drugs,.
they need education, physical activity, and proper nutrition.

Notice how the amount of people with mental health issues have dramatically increased over the years?
My guess, it is the continuous feeding of chemical foods from mom to baby to child to adult.
Example,. moms have become all to comfortable with feeding their infant simalac(which is all Soy based) and using bottled water recommended by their doctor that has Fluoride added!!!. Huh?? Giving fluoride to a baby that will loose its teeth anyway? THe issue there is fluoride really messes with a developing mind and body..
Then all the chemicals the parents give to their children to keep them quiet,. Mcdonalds, Sugary cereals and chemical laden milks,..
It really is no suprise the many minds are messed up today,.. no proper nutrition.

I am on Lexapro (Escitalopram) for the better part of a year now.

It has done wonders for me. I am a lifelong sufferer of severe anxiety - not depression. Since beginning taking it, I am more comfortable with myself, which leads me to be comfortable around others, which decreases my need to be on an assortment of other illicit substances in social situations.

In middle school and high school - before being able to obtain said illicit substances - I was throwing up at school regularly as a result of the anxiety I had experienced beginning in early childhood. I am a chronic case.

Lexapro (while I hold paranoiac's resentment for all things designed to sedate the masses) has done nothing to sedate me. It has just allowed me to be myself, which is a tremendous relief. It has also finally allowed me to be in a longterm relationship and pursue a serious professional career - I graduated from college during the intense turmoil of severe anxiety > substance abuse > consequences.

The sexual side effects were something to overcome in the beginning (inability to ejaculate and night sweats are the only downsides) but both are in the past.

Yeah I'm addicted to it. But it beats the hell out of opiate, alcohol, and other addictions I've tried.

I can say one thing for certain.

I was on Cymbalta for pain for about 4 months. I had to stop taking it for this very reason. During the entire 4 months, I had absolutely no desire for sex. If I could place a negative number to my desire I would. How healthy can a drug be that completely removes one of the strongest human desires. Very very odd if you ask me.

It did not help with pain either, and the withdrawals were pretty bad. I will never be going down that road again. Good luck to you all who are on these drugs.


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Zoloft (Sertraline): Has dopamine to help motivate you. Can make you agitated or manic.


I'm on Zoloft for anxiety and mild depression. Sexual dysfunction is a foregone conclusion regarding common side effects for this drug, as dopamine inhibits the production of prolactin. My doctor put me on Wellbutrin to compensate for that particular Zoloft side effect. It does the job.

Regarding Zoloft making someone manic- this usually only happens if someone is mis-diagnosed with uni-polar depression, when they really have bi-polar depression. These folks don't need the extra dopamine.

Another common side effect of Zoloft is emotional numbness. It is usually a sign that Zoloft is no longer working for someone if this occurs. My doctor told me to inform her if this happens to me.

I've had to deal with social anxiety for my entire life. It's nice to no longer feel that. Some of us just have issues with dopamine and taking a drug with dopamine in it helps significantly. Diet and physical activity has had no effect on this life-long issue.

I was briefly on Zoloft and Lexapro.

Taking Zoloft definitely had sexual side effects. The orgasm was a impossibility. I had a girlfriend at the time and she was a big fan(ha!), but you could literally go at it for hours and never stop because you could never ejaculate.

They really should market Zoloft differently. It does what all those male enhancement pills claim to do.

I think some of our brains are actually physically damaged. I know the woman's brain that I am helping out is somehow damaged. Her mother was in her 40's when she birthed her, she was sick all her childhood and spent a lot of time in Air Force hospitals. She can try her best to eat right, exercise and reduce stress but her brain just can not seem to function right.

Yes these drugs suck, but they are pretty much necessary for a lot of people in this modern age.

Originally posted by Socrato
I think some of our brains are actually physically damaged. I know the woman I am helping out is. Her mother was in her 40's when she birthed her, she was sick all her childhood and spent a lot of time in Air Force hospitals. She can try her best to eat right, exercise and reduce stress but her brain just seem not to function right.

Yes these drugs suck, but they are much necessary for a lot of people in this modern age.

Why are you helping her? Are you a doctor? After finally getting sick of dealing with the constant anxiety and mild depression, I decided I had to take action. I contacted my insurance company and got approval for psychiatric services. I then filled out the paper work to send in and a psychiatrist contacted me to set up an appointment. (You can't just call up a psychiatrist out of the blue for an appointment.)

My doctor then evaluated me and told me about my options, what she recommended for me and why, along with side effects. She then referred me to a counseling psychologist that specializes in anxiety. I go back for frequent visits so she can monitor if the meds are working properly, and if not, we'll re-evaluate my options.

reply to post by LeSigh


I'd rather not say, I know it sounds odd, but it's not don't worry.

I'm glad you said something about a psychiatrist because I forgot there was such a specialty.

Want calming foods. I know a little about that.

Naturally fluoridated foods like grapes, tea, coffee, and some other foods grown on volcanic soils contain organic fluorides. They calm a person by lowering Iodine use in the body, especially the thyroid.

Eating broccoli and cauliflower lower iodine absorption because they contain isothiosulfates and another chemical. They block iodine absorption within the digestive tract. Other cruciferous veggies also do this. This calms a person longterm but also can cause the liver to lack iodine and stop detoxing things which poisons the thyroid and adrenal gland if too much is eaten. Boiling the veggies gets rid of the problem but also looses the calming effect. Eating dip containing calcium helps to neutralize the oxalates in spinach and broccoli by tying them to calcium within the intestinal tract.

Asparagines are good for calming, the natural form is the best way to get them. Asparagus is a good source of these as well as potatoes. Potatoes should be eaten with vitamin K1 or K2 foods though, they help to detox some of the nightshade problems......just put butter on the potatoes. Breads are also a calming foods, some of the starches are asparagines. When asparagines are browned they form acrylamides. A little acrylamides are good for things but too much is no good. If you want less dumbng down, toast your bread. These are just a few examples of these foods. Old recipies are great for researching these things. Cooked cabbage is another good calming food, used a lot by Asians to calm their people. Aspartame is an asparagine but it is not tied to anything and can cross the blood brain barrier causing problems.

Beta blocking food can calm a person, Natural good sources are most red meats and asparagus again. These help regulate energy use by blocking the signal of the brown fat and lowering the overall ketones available to the body. The natural foods don't make you gain weight like beta blockers do. They calm you. There are many other foods that regulate the beta waves, too many for me to start listing. Same with the other calming techniques, many foods contain them.

Next is maoi inhibitor foods. Turmeric and nutmeg can help to calm people by inhibiting the breakdown of the Tyramine. Just eating more tryamine containing foods or getting the right probiotics in your gut can help with this. Foods containing tyramine are fermented foods and they include beer and good aged cheeses. Too many tyramine foods while consuming turmeric and nutmeg containing foods (mustards and pumpkin pie) can give you a migraine. It's called the cheese effect. Tyramine is better than eating MSG because MSG crosses the blood brain barrior.

Other things calm people by weakening them using the Plant defense system. Banana and avacodo are a good example of the class 1 plant system. Defense systems are chitinases and over consumption shuts down the human mammilian system. A small amount can help us build our system. Potatoes and many root veggies utilize the class 2 system. Moderation is best because we don't want to calm ourselves by being weak. Pharmacuticals often concentrate these chemicalst and it weakens us.

There are other ways to do this also. I look at what the FDA is pushing to find out ways to dope people. I know of a few more chemicals but can't comment on them much yet because I need to research them more. Not everyone can eat all of these foods and too much has bad effects also. The safest I found so far seems to be asparagus and boiled cabbage. Asparagus was used by Odin and Cabbage was used by the Romans and Germans. Potato is safe but should be used in moderation. Potatoes cross react with bananas also to give allergies. Potato, tomato, banana, latex cross reactivity is being researched also. so don't eat the potatoes in the same meal as bananas unless the bananas are cooked in bread or pie or something.

Before using natural foods to help calm yourself, it is good to study them a bit. Using these foods if taking meds also causes side effects. You can't use the immune or defense system of a plant if the medicine you are getting is utilizing that concept, you will overdose. If there is a cross reaction of different chitinases, like class one in the medicine and the class two in food you eat, (potato and carrots) there is a problem brewing.

Research on your own, listen to the doctor if you are on these sort of drugs if they say not to eat or drink certain kinds of foods then don't and ask why. Hope your doctor knows about these things, they may be clueless.

I remembered something I can give some information on. Nicotinic acid in foods, plant based niacin, can help with energy utilization and can help calm some things but if too much is consumed it can cause you to have other problems. Women need more Lucine to counteract too much niacin in the body. Foods containing Lucine can help with acne possibly also because too much nicotinic acid causes the skin to break out. Acne itself causes depression so that may contribute.

Eectile disfunction may be helped by chocolate or beets, both help to dialate the arteries and may allow the "Hum Hum" to last longer. It also helps women in a similar but different way.

So Its not an SSRI, its a try-cyclic antidepressant, but Deptran (Doxepin) greatly reduced my sex drive when I started taking it (3 years ago), this has improved over time and is no-longer an issue; For a while tho it was ruining a relationship.

thanks