PFS-like symptoms after trazodone, need help

Member Stories
#1

Welcome to our community. Please fill in the following template as a way of introducing yourself, and helping others to understand your background and situation.

Where are you from (country)? Croatia

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?) Trazodone PSSD

What is your current age, height, weight?
28, 175, 80
What specific drug did you use (finasteride, dutasteride, saw palmetto, isotretinoin/Accutane, fluoxetine, sertraline, citalopram, leuprorelin, etc…)?
Trazodone
What dose did you take (eg. 1 mg/day, 1 mg every other day etc.)?
50 mg/day (for 8 days), 100 mg/day (for 8 days), 150 mg/day (for 9-10 days)
What condition was being treated with the drug?
Anxiety and related insomnia
For how long did you take the drug (weeks/months/years)?
~25 days
How old were you, and WHEN (date) did you start the drug?
28, march 22th 2019
How old were you when you quit, and WHEN (date) did you quit?
28, 6 days ago
How did you quit (cold turkey or taper off)?
Cold turkey
How long into your usage did you notice the onset of side effects?
After I increased dose to 150 mg/day, so it was after little more than 2 weeks
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
[X] Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
[X] Erectile Dysfunction
[X] Complete Impotence
[X] Loss of Morning Erections
[X] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
[X] Loss of Nocturnal Erections
[X] Watery Ejaculate
[ ] Reduced Ejaculate
[X] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
[ ] Reduced Sperm Count / Motility

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

Physical
[ ] Penile Tissue Changes (narrowing, shrinkage, wrinkled)
[ ] Penis curvature / rotation on axis
[ ] Testicular Pain
[X] 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?
Nothing yet, I need help
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)?

Anything not listed in the above questions you’d like to share about your experience?

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

Hello everyone,

I have a really big problems so I’m seeking help on this forum in a hope that someone might identify with this and help me out.

I’m 28 year old male who was prescribed trazodone for anxiety and related insomnia which started occuring after my friend’s death due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. For the first 8 days I took 50 mg before sleep, then increased the dose to 100 mg for the following 8 days. During all this time I had very mild side effects and the drug appeared to have very good effect on my anxiety and sleep. Eventually I increased the dose to 150 mg as suggested by my doctor and that’s when the sexual problems started kicking in.

At first I noticed that it took me a very long time to reach an orgasm (up to 30 mins sometimes) but I wasn’t bothered much as I thought it would soon go away. However, in the next 2-3 days came a total crush. I couldn’t get an erection, my libido was essentially non-existent. So I decided to taper off cold turkey after a total of approx. 20-25 days on trazodone.

Now, 6th day since discontinuation there is no improvement in my symptoms. My main symptoms are:

  • erectile dysfunction: occasionally I can get mechanical erections but they are semi-rigid and very rarely hard like before. I can’t get an erection solely by thinking about sex or by visual stimulation only

  • very low libido or sexual desire which seems to have been improving a little bit over the past few days

  • delayed orgasm: at first it took me eternity to ejaculate, however, now after five days it did improve by at least 50%

  • semen appears to be a little bit waterier than usual (especially those first few drops), although difference is not significant

  • it appears that my left testicle has shrunk a little bit which might indicate low testosterone?

Symptoms which I do not have:

  • genital numbness: although commonly reported by PSSD sufferers, I don’t have this problem. My genitals are as sensitive as before which I guess is a good sign

  • pleasurless orgasm: to the contrary my orgasm are indeed very pleasurable

What’s your take on this? Has anyone else had similar symptoms while on trazodone? Please help with some advices. Im really terrified, even suicidal over this matter.

#2

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I do think this is a VERY good sign, as this symptom is almost ubiquitous to everyone with this condition.

Also, being that you are only 6 days from cessation, there is a very good chance that you are simply still experiencing an effect typical of the drug during treatment and not necessarily a post-drug syndrome. For instance, I had severe anorgasmia from taking an SSRI wronfully prescribed to me to treat sexual dysfunction and anhedonia that resulted from using Accutane, and this eventually subsided back to baseline after stopping the SSRI.

For the time being, try to remain calm and give this some more time to sort itself out. Most likely, you will be back to normal or near back to normal in a couple months. No %100 guarantees though.

#3

Thank you for your insight. What’s the usual time frime during which side effects usually go back to normal when it’s not a post drug syndrome?

#4

The best informed guestimate I can provide, going by the number of people who have posted here a couple days up to a couple weeks after stopping a medication thinking they have a post-drug syndrome and then never returning, would be a month.

There are quite a few people though who seem to begin experiencing significant recovery up to the 6-month mark and rarely, within the first year after stopping. I believe these are afflictees of a post-drug syndrome who are able to recover naturally somehow. The remainder of us, not so lucky.

What I am saying is that it is very likely that you will simply need to wait a few weeks for the immediate effects of the drug to wear off.

#5

So even if you took the drug for less than a month symptoms can last for several weeks, even months?

#6

Not meaning to scare you, but there are people who have taken the drugs mentioned on this site for less than a week who have never recovered, even decades later.

Refer to the web pages discussing this matter under the “SYNDROMES” drop-down list on the main page:

Technically, you shouldn’t be a member here since you are so fresh from stopping the medication that caused these symptoms to develop. If you do recover, please stop once more by to simply state as much.

Like really, I can’t stress this enough. You should try your best to not panic at this point in time and wait this out before jumping to the conclusion that you have a PFS-like condition, because that implies a stubborn persistence of symptoms.

#7

Yeah I know. There are even people who took only 3 pills and developed persistent symptoms.

But my question was: if you took the drug for 2 weeks let’s say, is it common that you recover after a month or so? Or if you took the drug for a short period of time, it should get back to normal within days after cessation, if not then you likely have a post drug syndrome?

Yeah, I’ll try to do my best and not panick

#8

No correlation. Just give it time and see what happens. You will most likely be fine.

#9

Thank you very much

1 Like
#10

I have an update to my condition. Sorry if I’m bothering you but I feel more relieved if I talk to someone who knows more about this stuff. I’ve posted the same update on PSSD forum.

UPDATE:
So I’m 11 days past trazodone cessation and I still have severe sexual dysfunction but I noticed significant improvements which include:
-I was able to get full rock hard erection several times in the past few days though with some difficulty (time delay)
-visual stimuli started occasionally working: I was able to get good erections while reading sexy messages from my GF. Sometimes I’m able to get full erection while watching porn too though it still doesn’t work good. I was not able to get erection by looking at the girls on the street but I noticed slight improvement in arousal: it’s not like I’m looking at the men any more :D
-I’ve had few nocturnal erections
-I was able to get 70-80% strong erection just by thinking about sex with my gf

  • slight improvements in libido (I’d say about 10%) but it’s still far from what it used to be. However, few days ago it was literally zero so it gives me a lot of hope
    -I still have delayed ejaculation. It still takes at least 10-15 mins while I was able to ejaculate in 5 mins before, so there is no improvement here unfortunately

Now I have two questions for you:
1st: Can I drink alcohol? Could it impact healing rate or worsen my symptoms? I’m not talking about hangover, just 1 beer.
2nd: Should I start taking some supplements to help speed up process like ginkgo or st john’s wort or you do not recommend it until I reach 1 month mark since cessation?

Thank you and please take my apologies if I’m taking your time

1 Like
#11

That’s all looking very good tbh. I’m NOT Dubya nor in his class at all, but I’ve heard of “by the book” recoveries taking as long as a couple of months, so I wouldn’t even start sweating until into July. If things keep improving at your current pace though I’d bet my bottom dollar on you being fine.

So, IMHO:

1 - No. Just don’t. Leave that alone. It could impact it, we just don’t know 100%. If I were you I’d play it ultra-safe and tee-total for a good few months.

2 - HELL no. Take nothing. The list of seemingly innocent supps (or hidden ingredients thereof) that have messed up many of us is long and baffling. No no no. MAYBE a good multivitamin once a week, but maybe not even that.

All the above just my 2c, but I think you’re looking good so far.

1 Like
#12

Thank you very much for a quick reply. I’ll do it like you said. I’ll try as much as I can to abstain from alcohol no matter how hard it gets during summer months (I live on the mediterranean coast). So as far as I understood you I should take no supplements until at least july if I don’t recover completely? Also, would abstaining from masturbation for a few days help? I guess forcing myself to frequent masturbation might create a false impression of lower libido than it actually is. What’s your take on this?. Thanks again.

#13

You should consider taking your own advice perhaps.

1 Like
#14

Yes indeed this. Have taken some daft things, and tbh been luckier than I deserve.

1 Like
#15

Hello. It’s me again. I promised that I will return to the forum even if I heal. Unfortunately, now ~70 days after withdrawal I haven’t healed completely yet, but I’ve started getting those good days (what PSSD sufferers call “windows”) more frequently now. They happen 2-3 times a week now and they consist of: moderately to very high libido, easier arousal and somewhat improved erectile function. I would estimate the functionality of those windows at about 80% of my pre-PSSD functionality, however the window I had a week ago was the first one when my function completely (100%) returned.

Moreover, I don’t have brainfog any more and fatigue is almost 100% gone. I don’t take any supplements, medications, whatsoever. Occasionally I take one beer per week (I know, I know, but I’m a beer lover) and I noticed that beer even further improves my windows but it’s not the cause of those windows because 90% of them were not preceded by any beer intake.

Is this a path of recovery? Since trazodone has a very short half-life I can’t understand why it is taking so long… any insight into this? Are there any other stories similar to mine?

Best regards,
Dalmatian

#16

Anyone else on this forum getting windows like this? Nobody? I’d love to know if they ever become constant…

#17

I have had a few “windows” of greatly improved mood, energy, and sexual function, (but never fully 100%), during the first ten years post-Accutane that came about spontaneously.

You are most likely having good luck with a natural recovery, and hopefully, it continues for you.

Half-life of the drug is irrelevant. These are “post-drug” syndromes being discussed on
this site after all.

#18

My windows have increased in frequency… I get them every 3rd day on average now. Ejaculation sometimes causes crash and it takes 2 days to recover. Hormonal problem? These windows are usually 70-80% of functionality, but few times I did get almost 100% windows. It’s kinda frustrating because it always crashes to baseline. But I guess, overall situation is much better now than it was in May and June.

2 Likes
#19

That’s just awesome and it sounds as if you are on the path to a better life. I’ll admit I’m a bit jealous, but good for you. If you are doing this well without any sort of treatment, I would wait it out instead of undertaking any risky treatments.

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#20

Hello, how can I update my list of symptoms ie. uncheck the boxes? Some symptoms permanently resolved so I want to update it and edit my story a little bit if that’s possible. Thank you

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