Another with PSSD from citalopram

Hi I’m from the UK.

I’ve been on the PSSD forum before, and since it is down, I’ve joined this one because I’d like to contribute to the survey so that I help to encourage research to be carried out.

I’m 37, 5’11, I’m not sure what I weigh, but I’m quite a slim guy.

I’ll try my best with the following, but it is a while ago, so not completely specific.

I had roaccutane for very, very bad acne when I was in my very early 20’s followed by citalopram for the resulting deep depression. I don’t recall ED resulting from roaccutane but experienced ED when on citalopram. After tapering off, I now realise I had a level of PSSD (ED) after this without realising it but I eventually fully recovered to enjoy full health sexual and mental health for several years.

Later, after ongoing struggles with depression, I was then on and off citalopram for about 3-4 years. Although I knew it caused ED when I was on it. I’d always been led to believe that things would return to normal when ceasing to take the drug.

The maximum dose I took was 20 mg. There were times when I was able to have sex with my partner at the time when the dose was lowered to 10 mg. After I tapered off the drug, because the ED was too bad (perhaps I did not taper slowly enough?), I developed PSSD.
This was complete loss of libido, disconnect between brain and genitals and ED. I have had the condition for about 7 years.

Recently, after a difficult attempt at a relationship, I attempted to improve my situation by taking inositol for 3 days… 9 grams the first day. 18 grams the second day. 9 grams the third day. My genitals and brain were reconnected for this period and I had some libido. An incredible feeling… However, I noticed that my ED was much worse and my flaccid penis seemed more flaccid. I was afraid, so I stopped taking the inositol. That was 7 weeks ago and my PSSD is far worse now.
I now have numb and sometimes uncomfortable genitals, shrinkage, prominent veins, sometimes bloodshot, worsened ED, and seemingly some strange pre-ejaculation / inability to orgasm hybrid.
I believe the worsened symptoms are sometimes experienced by others with PSSD.

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) Loss of sense of smell

What (if any) treatments have you undertaken to recover from your side effects since discontinuation of the drug?

My hormone levels have always been recorded as normal.
I have also checked SHBG and vitamin B since attempting to improve my situation with inositol, both recorded as normal.

Hard times lately… I’d never imagined things could be worse than they were originally.

Best wishes to everyone here.

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Oh. You say inositol crashed you. Its weird because it actually improved me a bit

Hi @pssd2020, 1st I’m sorry for what your going through . I’m glad you joined the community. Thank you for telling your story, it is important. There are too many of us with similar side effects. We are all here for you, you are certainly not alone.

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Hey guys,

@Escitaloshit
yeah, it’s a weird one… It was definitely reconnecting my brain and genitals, and restoring my libido but at the same time worsening the ED… Perhaps I should have started with a lower dose. It was probably a bit of a spike in vitamin B8 and then nothing…
Our nervous systems are all a bit sensitive at this point having been messed about with. I’m a cautious person by nature, so tried to research as much as possible before engaging in this experiment, but alas, a mistake in my case.
Ah well, I cannot change it now.
Happy to hear it helped you improve a bit.

@Akiyah

That’s very kind of you Akiyah, thanks for taking the time to post that.
By sticking together and helping each other up, we will have the strength to instigate change.

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Welcome @pssd2020 and thank you for taking the survey! It’s important that as many people as possible take it. A bigger data set is always more impressive!

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