So, I’m planning on having some sex soon that I’d really like to be able to enjoy. My anti-depressants kinda hinder the um, well, everything good about sex. I want to be able to maintain my mental health while enjoying a nice romp.
So I’ve heard about taking a little “vacation” from the anti-depressants when you want to be able to get aroused and bust a nut. I’m female, BTW.
Does anyone have experience in this arena? Do I just skip a morning dose or does it need to be a few days? How did you do it? Did it work? Did you um, have the climactic experience?
Please share - I really wanna enjoy the wonderland that is my body.
Discuss any drug vacations with the prescribing physician. Certain antidepressants and other drugs are very brutal to come off of cold turkey, even to miss a dose. Some take a long time to get out of your system. I suspect that just skipping one pill may not have the effect you desire. (IANAD/N, but I have been on antidepressants.)
[I am a psychologist; I am not *your* psychologist, nor am I a/your psychiatrist]
Do not, I repeat, do NOT, and I can’t stress this enough, DO NOT COME OFF YOUR ANTIDEPRESSANTS, ever, without talking extensively with your doctor. Mostly for the reasons that Ferret Herder ably outlined, but also because you can negatively affect the medication’s impact on you for future use. A happy O is simply not worth suffering through the negative impacts of going on a “vacation,” if for no other reason than people coming cold turkey off of most anti-depressants are crazy as hell until everything stabilizes (so you’re probably not going to be in the mood anyway, and your partner will likely be quite concerned for their own safety).
If you are having significant sexual side effects from your medication, there are other medications you could try, or medications that can be added to counteract the effects of the antidepressants. Wellbutrin, Lexapro, and Cymbalta all have low incidents of sexual issues, and are good antidepressants; talk to your doctor (who I hope is an actual psychiatrist, and not a GP blindly handing out psych meds).
DON’T! Even though I tapered off Lexapro slowly, it still wasn’t exactly fun, and if I’d gone cold-turkey it’d have been a lot worse. Every time I dropped the dose a bit I felt crappy for a few days, and it took me about six weeks total – a few days of feeling crappy, a few days of feeling okay, a few days of feeling crappy…and I didn’t have some of the problems other people have going off of antidepressants. And there’s no point in tapering for a month or more just for a few days of fun.
BTW, anecdotal information, but Lexapro did make the whole orgasm thing a lot harder to get to. I could do it, but it took a lot more work and a lot more time. YMMV, it’s supposed to be a lot less brutal than some of the other meds. That plus the sex drive lowering I got on the pill (on several kinds, including the minipill, my body just does not like the hormones) wasn’t much fun. Since I’m now on neither I have noticed a vast improvement in that department, though that’s not why I went off; I could easily have lived with it.
I second the asking about a different drug. Everybody’s different, and maybe there’s one out there that won’t affect your sex life as much.
For me, switching back to Celexa from Lexapro helped my libido and my response. I agree with all of th strong words regarding a “vacation” from your pills. Don’t do it! I’m really sensitive to my med levels, and if I forget or run out and don’t have any pills for two days I’m a basket case.
I didn’t even do it on purpose, I’m just lazy and have a horrible time swallowing pills, and let me tell you, I am now unemployed and dropped all but 1 of my classes this semester. Bad freakin’ idea.
As for drugs that don’t inhibit libido/response, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m on Wellbutrin now and can’t say I’ve noticed a difference, but back when I was on Prozac I definitely wasn’t as horny as I usually am. And I’m not complaining (I’m a girl), my sex drive is such that usually I’m surprised I haven’t taken to molesting the neighbor’s dog. Or the neighbor.
Another Doper chiming to advise “don’t stop cold turkey” (or without discussing it with your doctor).
I was on Effexor for about a year. The couple times I forgot my pill - the withdrawls were immediate and awful. I eventually was weened off of it - the weening process was hell too.
If you stop without any weening - you probably wont be in the mood for sex anytime soon.
