26F Paroxetine-induced PSSD

Member Stories
#1

I’m from France

I found this forum through the PSSD subreddit.

I’m 26, height 170cm, weight 57kg

I took paroxetine (brands: paxil, deroxat) for 11 months
20mg for 6 month then half for 3 months then gradually tappered off for the remaining time.

What condition was being treated with the drug? Depression/anxiety

For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)? 11 months

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug? 24

How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit? 25 yo, end of May 2019

How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)? tapered off

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects? About 2 months in

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation? Loss of attraction, desire, libido, a feeling of being disconnected to my past, my memories, impression of not feeling things to a 100% such as falling in love (I’m in love, but can’t feel the passion)

Check the boxes that apply. You can save your post first, then interactively check/uncheck the boxes by clicking on them. If your symptoms change, please update your list.

Sexual
Why 10 boxes for men and only one women can feel concerned with?! Female sexuality deserves to be acknowledged at the same level as men’s!! I took the liberty of adding some boxes
[*] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[*] No morning arousal
[*] No spontaneous arousal (vulva)
[*] Clitoris erectile dysfunction
[*] Difficulty to lubricate

[ ] Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[ ] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[ ] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

Mental
[*] Emotional Blunting / Emotionally Flat
[ ] Difficulty Focusing / Concentrating
[ ] Confusion
[*] Memory Loss / Forgetfulness
[ ] Stumbling over Words / Losing Train of Thought
[ ] Slurring of Speech
[ ] Lack of Motivation / Feeling Passive / Complacency
[ ] Extreme Anxiety / Panic Attacks
[ ] Severe Depression / Melancholy
[ ] Suicidal Thoughts

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[ ] Testicular Shrinkage / Loss of Fullness
[ ] Genital numbness / sensitivity decrease
[ ] Weight Gain
[ ] Gynecomastia (male breasts)
[ ] Muscle Wastage
[ ] Muscle Weakness
[ ] Joint Pain
[ ] Dry / Dark Circles under eyes

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
[ ] Persistent Fatigue / Exhaustion
[ ] Stomach Pains / Digestion Problems
[ ] Constipation / “Poo Pellets”
[ ] Vision - Acuity Decrease / Blurriness
[ ] Tinnitus (ringing or high pitched sound in ears)
[ ] Hearing loss
[ ] Increased hair loss
[ ] Frequent urination
[ ] Lowered body temperature

[ ] Other (please explain)

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug? Nootropics (without improvement): Maca, Gingko Biloba, B vitamin complex

If you have pre or post-drug blood tests, what hormonal changes have you encountered since discontinuing the drug (please post your test results in the “Blood Tests” section and link to them in your post)? Post-drug blood test results came back normal for hormonal levels

5 Likes
#2

Welcome to Propeciahelp.

I’m sorry to hear you’re going through this. I appreciate the liberty you’ve taken with adding a few boxes to describe your symptoms. This was initially a patient support platform for only PFS patients (so mostly male), and this template was from that era.

Since you’ve been off Paroxetine for well over three months and you’re still experiencing symptoms, we would greatly appreciate if you participated in the Post Drug survey project. This exists to categorize symptoms and the data we garner with it will be used to approach scientists with research proposals. It’s really important to get as many patients to fill out the survey as we can, as this makes the significance of the data greater, and us harder to dismiss.

2 Likes
#3

Dear Depcherry,

Welcome to our forum and thank you for taking the survey! It is highly appreciated and will hopefully generate more interest from scientists into this condition.

Thank you also for your suggestions to provide more options for females in our member story template. This forum was originally exclusively committed to patients with persistent side effects after they took Finasteride (Propecia, Proscar, Generics) for male pattern baldness or benign prostatic hyperplasia. Hence, the questions are geared towards males. Since opening the forum for other classes of drugs who can cause an identical symptom profile, we have seen more females join the community, which is very much welcomed. Obviously, we still have some work to do to adapt some things to be more inclusive of other genders and will consider your suggestions.

Please do not hesitate to contact the staff with more suggestions if you encounter anything that is not gender inclusive!

Thank you, good luck and “enjoy” the forum!

1 Like
#4

Maybe you could give this medicine a try. Have you tried estrogen replacement?

There is one female PSSD forum member, Bunny, that claimed lithium treated her.

#5

Thank you I’ll have a look at this, never heard of this potential solution before! (Although from blood tests results my estrogen level is normal)

#6

Thank you for your support and explanations, I understand. I’m sorry for the aggressive tone, it’s just that everywhere on forums and medical studies it seems the main focus is on male patients and it’s already hard enough not to feel despaired.

1 Like
#7

Will do, I just need to get new blood tests done, I only did it once 2 months after quitting the drug

#8

Welcome to the forum !

Would you be able to report your PSSD to Rxisk.org ?

Dr. David Healy, founder of Rxisk, is trying to helps PSSD sufferers - publications, petitions, fundraising etc.

You can also report it to charity called Past Wales - https://past.wales/

They are spreading awareness of PSSD and will be creating online support group for people like us, harmed by SSRIs.

Stay safe.

#9

Already did :wink:

3 Likes
#10

I don’t think she will be online again. But her symptoms of no lubrication is low e2 by the book.
Clitoris dysfunction is low testosterone, females on testosterone get “erections” down there. Maybe her issue is high SHBG??? :face_with_monocle:
Im not a hormonal guru, dont believe me anyways