5 months escitalopram, 9 months hell

Member Stories
#1

How did you find this forum (Google search – if so, what search terms? Via link from a forum or website – if so, what page? Other?)

Google

What is your current age, height, weight?

26,183,65

What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?

Escitalopram

What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?

20mg/day

What condition was being treated with the drug?

Mild depression

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

5 months

How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
25
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
26
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?

Fast taper

How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?

After three months. But while on drugs Sides were really light.

What side effects did you experience that have yet to resolve since discontinuation?
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
[++] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[++] 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?
MACA
INOSITOL
CHOLINE
PROBIOTICS
VITAMINS
GINKO
OMEGA

Tell us your story, in your own words, about your usage and side effects experienced while on/off the drug.

I was taking escitalopram for 5 months. Had severe delayed ejaculation and mild ED while on it. Maybe one month after discontinuation of the drug, the hell started. Its been 9 months and still there is no big improvement. The few things improved over time, like dry eyes, tinnitus, and now I have morning wood almost every day.

This condition ruined my love life, sexual life and lust for life in general. Since I have good response to probiotics I hope FMT may help me. Anyway, thats not a big hope cause partly I beleive this condition is genetic damage. My biggest problem is severe numbness. My whole body is numb, I have problems with hot/cold sensations and taste. Erotic sensations do not exist even if there is a bit of libido and good erection sometimes. Im not sure if I can feel pain properly because I cut myself acidentally and felt no pain. Its pretty scary. Also, I can pull my hair and feel nothing.

*** I took survey.

3 Likes
90% recovered from PSSD after 4 years
#2

Hang in there mate

1 Like
#3

Get tested for sibo. I feel like people overlook there ibs because of the ED and other stuff but i feel like probably one of the only ways we get sudden digestive issues is that when your mmc shuts down too you get sibo or the estrogen causes some other type of dysbiosis. And i’ve also noticed that birth control is linked to sibo and low thyroid hormone so it would seem we’re prone to developing sibo which will cause intestinal permeability and worsen our condition. I’ve been trying to get other guys to go get breath tested cuz i dont know of anyone else who has been. Hopefully someone else can confirm this poison gave them sibo and maybe treating that would help a lot of us who otherwise would have recovered naturally finally recover. And you said you took probiotics? If your problem is sibo and you dont take antibiotics first it could get a lot worse like it did for me but i almost have it beat.

2 Likes
#4

Hi,

I’m a female but otherwise I have the exact same symptoms as you. Have you found anything that has helped you?

#5

Hey guys. Haven’t been here for a while. Just want to tell you that I’m about 90% recovered from PSSD. I am not fake - you can check my old posts (from 2019.) or ask some other PSSD sufferers from WApp group who know me as Louis.

What’s better - everything. Mentally I’m 100% pre pssd - no anhedonia. Sexually I’m 90% pre PSSD. I’ve had so many ups and downs since 2018. For the last 6 months I’m stable.

I’ve tried many things, and can’t tell you what helped. The recovery process was so weird and ustable. E.G. SJW helped me, but also crashed me few times. Same thing for inositol, I’m not sure, but overall I think it helped… I think my recovery was mostly natural - I went vegetarian for 2 years (now I eat everything without any problems) and stopped taking alcohol for 2 years (now I’m drinking again).

I’ve never took any illegal drugs, nor weed.

There is hope guys, I probably have so many things to tell you but that’s it for this post.

Feel free to ask me anything.

God bless you all.
Louis.

6 Likes
#6

Hi, I’m a PSSD sufferer as well, been 25 months. But my case resembles much more PFS.
Did you practice any kind of exercise or other body health practices like sleep schedule, sun, etc?
And what do still lingers when you say you’re 90% recovered?

#7

Hi. Yeah, I do practice exercises but only few stretching exercises. I’m not sure if it helped, I tried so many things for these 4 years so I can’t recommend anything specific. BTW I’m finding helpful these stretching exercises, especially if you have penis shrinkage or penis discomfort (I used to have both) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J6tueuGlo1Q&t=1028s
(I don’t do every exercise from this video because I’m too lazy).

For the sleeping, I sleep for 8hours, no special schedule. Establishing a nice sleeping is very important, I hope you pass that panic stage of PSSD when you can’t sleep at all or have bad sleeping schedule. I remember how It was, my God, it was a living hell.
For the sun - nothing special, but one thing I do remember is having a photosensitivitya and eye floaters, thank God it’s gone.

When I say I’m 90% I’m thinking of sensitivity and erection quality. Sexually, I recovered the following things:

  • no more pleasureless orgasms
  • I have morning wood every morning
  • I’m horny every day
  • I can easily ejaculate - no more premature ejaculation, no more inability to ejaculate, no more delayed ejaculation
  • no more penis discomfort
  • no more rubber filling on my penile skin

I’m so sorry I can’t tell you a magic cure for this, but at least I’m note some crazy guy pushing you to take hormones, pills and other dangerous stuff.

You have to find your own way to solve some problems, one by one. For example, I remember having a really bad feeling after every every meal (heavy feeling in my stomach, vision problems, being braidead and tired after meal), and avoiding meat gradually solved that.

I can’t remember everything so feel free to ask me what you want so I can recall more details.

God bless you, Louis.

2 Likes
#8

Man that gives me lots of hope. And congrats, as I forgot to say before. I am really happy for you.

I have a couple of questions (sorry for being annoying, I’m kinda desperate and I relate to you cuz you are a PSSD case and also got it at 23). Gonna make it into topics so it might be easier for you.

  • Premature ejaculation: I have this shit. Did you have it at any moment? Was it like you couldn’t stand any amount of pleasure and go instantly, like no build up?

  • Anhedonia: did you also have complete void of emotions (all the range), or things like anticipatory anhedonia?

  • Physical: only your penis skin felt rubbery or also your whole body’s skin? Any muscle wastage or rapid weight loss? Thinning of hair over body, less oil production etc.

Sorry again for bombarding you.

#9

I had premature ejaculation for few months after going off antidepressants cold turkey. While on antidepressants I was having inability to ejaculate. When I overcome premature ejaculation I used to have pleasureless orgasms now and then for about 2 years, also delayed ejaculation - not having the physical ejaculation and felling of ejaculation at the same time. I’m sorry for being confusing but I’m not sure what is what, some people are using terms “delayed ejaculation” and “inability to ejaculate” interchangeably. And yeah, for the first few months I had the feeling of not being able to take sexual activity for more than one minute, but I wouldn’t say it was pleasure, it was more like urge.

For anhedonia, I was fluctuating for years - some days I was fully emotionally dead and not able to enjoy music, videos, wasn’t able to connect with friends, pet, etc.

For the numb skin, I used to have it on my face (especially forehead), and whole body, not only penis. It’s hard to explain, I had the feeling on my skin but it was dull - e.g. I used not to feel the water temperature the right way (I burnt my inner cheeks with tea few times while not feeling the burning).

1 Like
#10

Did you lose erection size? And if so did that recover?

#11

Not sure but I think that I haven’t lost erection size. Penile tissue is super stretchy and I think noone should worry about losing the size. I used to have shrunken penis while flaccid and that thing recovered.
Best regards.

#12

It’s reaaly inspiring to read your posts, as I’ve been dealing with similar problems for auite a while already. I’m really glad you’re experiencing this recovery and really thankful for sharing your experience with us.

Could you tell, please, if you’ve fully recovered from the genital numbness?
For me it’s one of the main sings that I’m not actually recovering no matter the fluctuations.
And also, what is still missing for you? Why 90%, not 100% recovery?

#13

Hi again fella. Do you think your vegan diet (increased amount of veggies consequently) helped?

#14

I haven’t fully recovered from numbness, but it’s way more better. For example, I used not to feel the shower on my glans and now I do. No more rubbery feeling dow there, I enjoy sexual stimulation, there’s more connection between my brain and my penis. I partially answered your question, so please read all my recent posts and conversation.

Best regards.

1 Like
#15

I think It helped me with brain fog and mood, I felt more energetic going off meat. I’m not sure if it contributes to my sexual recovery, it’s hard to say. But generally speaking eating more healthy is helpful.

Best regards.