Effexor ruined my sex drive

[Lost Libido]

WASHINGTON

I was on effexor for almost a year. Like most ssri antidepressants i lost complete interest in sex, had no sexual desire, and had almost no erections in that one year time. I decide to stop taking effexor in hopes of my sex drive returning. Its going on 8 months since Ive been off, and Im still haveing the same sexual side effects as when I was on it. I had a very high sex drive before I started taking effexor. I'm a 32 male, non smoker, excersise, eat somewhat healthy, I had my testorone levels tested and they came back fine. Oh and my doctor gave me sample packs of all the E.D. drugs on the market, they had little or no effect. I'm becoming very frustrated with my situation, do I have a case?

 

[lealea1005]

WASHINGTON

I was on effexor for almost a year. Like most ssri antidepressants i lost complete interest in sex, had no sexual desire, and had almost no erections in that one year time. I decide to stop taking effexor in hopes of my sex drive returning. Its going on 8 months since Ive been off, and Im still haveing the same sexual side effects as when I was on it. I had a very high sex drive before I started taking effexor. I'm a 32 male, non smoker, excersise, eat somewhat healthy, I had my testorone levels tested and they came back fine. Oh and my doctor gave me sample packs of all the E.D. drugs on the market, they had little or no effect. I'm becoming very frustrated with my situation, do I have a case?

Never stop taking an antidepressant on your own. It should only be decreased/discontinued under the supervision of your Physician.

One of the side effects of ssri's is decreased libido.

One of the most common side effects of depression/anxiety is decreased libido.

Has your Physician tried you on any other depression/anxiety meds in conjunction with the ED med?

You would have to prove negligence and show damages to have a "case".

 

[xylene]

WASHINGTON

I was on effexor for almost a year. Like most ssri antidepressants i lost complete interest in sex, had no sexual desire, and had almost no erections in that one year time. I decide to stop taking effexor in hopes of my sex drive returning. Its going on 8 months since Ive been off, and Im still haveing the same sexual side effects as when I was on it. I had a very high sex drive before I started taking effexor. I'm a 32 male, non smoker, excersise, eat somewhat healthy, I had my testorone levels tested and they came back fine. Oh and my doctor gave me sample packs of all the E.D. drugs on the market, they had little or no effect. I'm becoming very frustrated with my situation, do I have a case?

Your statement "Like most ssri antidepressants i lost complete interest in sex," is exactly why you have no case.

Seek the assistance of a professional psychiatrist with experience in sexual dysfunction.

 

[jackmcmanus21]

Are there any warnings on effexor about decreased libido? If so, you are out of luck. Take the advice of the rest of the people in this thread and go see a psychiatrist.

 

[Lost Libido]

I stopped taking effexor under my doctors supervision.

I've tried paxcil and had the same sexual side effects when on it, but they returned back to normal when I discontinued use.

I had a normal sex drive before I started taking effexor, sure I had depression but at least I could have sex or masterbrate. Now that I'm off of it, I cant do either, and if I do its very difficult to do so.

My sex drive should have returned back to normal when I stopped taking this product?

 

[ecmst12]

What did your DOCTOR tell you?

 

[xylene]

echo.

Honestly, this is not a legal problem.

Loss of sex drive is common side effect, and not malpractice.

You need to see a medical specialist, a psychiatrist who specializes in human sexuality and sexual dysfunctions.

 

[taro]

Those drugs remain active for an ungodly period of time, several months. Perhaps during this period your brain decided your libido was shot when maybe all you need is some exercise. Our brains can convince us of most anything. The obvious defense is depression causes loss of libido and since you stopped taking your anti-depressant your depression returned. At any rate should you actually win this it would be a CNN front page story.

 

[SF439]

No, you have no case. Effexor has that as a possible side effect in the packet. I'm thinking that perhaps the problem isn't the medication but something else. Perhaps it's psychological in that you are so worried about it that you are having problems. Cause/Affect. I'm on effoxor and the first 2 weeks of taking it there was a decline in my sex drive but it passed and I'm totally back to normal and still taking Effexor.

 

[seagoing]

been there,but it is a side effect,I knew it,after I got my life together and stopped taking effexor and other drugs,my life got up again,no probs.in the sex dept.for ME

 

[Lost Libido]

I cant believe I found this. Anyways I posted this in 2008, here we are in 2022. My sex drive still hasnt returned. Theres a name for this condition, its called PSSD (post ssri sexual dysfunction)

 

[quincy]

I cant believe I found this. Anyways I posted this in 2008, here we are in 2022. My sex drive still hasnt returned. Theres a name for this condition, its called PSSD (post ssri sexual dysfunction)

I am sorry you are still experiencing the side effects of the drug after 14 years. I hope you are under a physician’s care.

 

[Taxing Matters]

I cant believe I found this. Anyways I posted this in 2008, here we are in 2022. My sex drive still hasnt returned. Theres a name for this condition, its called PSSD (post ssri sexual dysfunction)

I'm sorry you are still suffering from this. However, it's not anything you may pursue in a legal action. Even if there had been malpractice (and based on what you wrote in 2008 there isn't any clear evidence of malpractice) you'd be far too late to sue for that now. You would have had to pursue that back when you first became aware of the issue, not 14 years later. I too hope you can find a doctor who can help treat this problem.

 

[Lost Libido]

As you can see from the comments in 2008, people were saying I didnt have a case back then. Not much was not know about it back then, keep in mind social media was just starting, people werent talking about issues like these. Now theres multiple victims on all social media platforms sharing their experience about this.

 

[quincy]

As you can see from the comments in 2008, people were saying I didnt have a case back then. Not much was not know about it back then, keep in mind social media was just starting, people werent talking about issues like these. Now theres multiple victims on all social media platforms sharing their experience about this.

There were lawsuits filed over the Effexor marketing advertisements (re. false promises), and the drug was linked to birth defects which resulted in lawsuits, but there were warnings at the time about possible side effects, one of which you unfortunately experienced.

Because you were made aware that taking the drug could result in a decreased libido, you would very likely not have had a successful suit to pursue years ago, you appear to be out of legal options now.

You should speak to your current physician to see if there are any new drugs or treatments available now that might help you.