PSSD-almost a year

Member Stories
#1

Hi,

I’m 18 years old and from the UK. I’m here to fill out the survey to help myself and the others from the PSSD Forum. I took Sertraline daily (50mg) for 1 month between October and November 2018. I was 17 at the start and 18 at the end. This was for anxiety and the death of my best friend.

I had side effects while taking the drug such as anorgasmia and no libido. This happened almost instantly. Since stopping I regained the ability to orgasm but it is weak and pleasureless with a smalller volume of sperm. I also have no libido, genital numbness and struggle to get and maintain an erection.

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
:white_check_mark:Loss of Libido / Sex Drive
:white_check_mark:Erectile Dysfunction
[ ] Complete Impotence
[ ] Loss of Morning Erections
[ ] Loss of Spontaneous Erections
:white_check_mark: Loss of Nocturnal Erections
:white_check_mark: Watery Ejaculate
:white_check_mark: Reduced Ejaculate
[ ] Inability or Difficulty to Ejaculate / Orgasm
:white_check_mark: 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
:white_check_mark: (occasionally) Suicidal Thoughts

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

Misc
[ ] Prostate pain
:white_check_mark: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?

Ginseng gave a general improvement but nowhere near complete.

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)?

Hormones normal. Testosterone on lower end of range, currently being retested as initial test was December 2018.

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

This condition has lead to extreme worries about my future. I fear I’ll be alone forever and never have kids and constantly worry that my condition will get worse. I shy away from supplements as I currently only have sexual dysfunction and the idea of losing emotions and cognitive ability terrifies me.

#2

Welcome frog!

Good to see you here and thank you for participating in the survey! You should get an automatic invite within 24 hours or could try the bar chart icon on the upper right of the forum. Please let us know here in case you experience any problem.

I think many here can relate to your fears of the future. Hence, we are very motivated to create more awareness of and initiate research into this condition, so hopefully one day we will have a much better outlook. Many projects are ongoing, particularly the survey and the 23andme project. And more is going to come. So, stay around!

Thank you and good luck!

#3

Hopefully the sides will deminish you’re young so you should heal up over time. I had really bad reactions to all antidepressants and I’ve literally tried them all and the worst advice ever by the doctor was to “carry on” taking them as the sides lower over time I had brain fog for about a year.

Just keep positive my man and don’t put another drug near your mouth again. I think these drugs all cause hypertoxicity with people who have sensitive immune systems or have low immunity that put our systems wirey a bit like when a computer gets a virus it comprimises the whole system so like I said keep your head up son.