A man who was robbed of his libido by a condition brought on by taking an SSRI pill says he feels like he’s been “chemically castrated.”
The man, who gave his name as Hamish, is adjusting to life with post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) after taking an anti-anxiety medication in May.
The 33-year-old from London says she no longer feels the need for sex and suffers from suicidal thoughts and brain fog.
But concerned that this could happen to other people, Hamish speaks out in an effort to prevent others from having a similar experience.
SSRIS, SNRIs, and tricyclics have been found to be the most common antidepressants that cause sexual side effects
He told DailyMail.com that PSSD has transformed him into a “heterosexual living in an asexual body.”
He had taken the anti-anxiety drugs only once before he was overcome by a wave of panic attacks. Worried about the bizarre reaction, he stopped immediately.
Two weeks later, he noticed that his genitals felt numb.
“I took the tablets for anxiety, only to come out worse,” he said.
‘I used to be hypersexual. I have lost my entire libido. It feels like I’ve been chemically castrated. It gives me a lot of mental problems, not just sexual ones.’
Hamish says this has given him suicidal thoughts and depression.
“I’d never had that before.”
While trying to deal with the effect it’s having on his love life, he says it’s even harder with brain fog and not being able to sleep.
“Since there’s no cure, it’s like we’re holding on to some sort of hope that things will get better, even though some people haven’t seen improvement in decades.
“Even if there is a recovery, it may not be complete. When I go to the bathroom, I get angry because I’m reminded that my genital numbness is still there.”
Prescription antidepressants can be transformative for some people, but are linked to side effects in both sexes.
Since they became widespread in the 1980s, scripts for mood-enhancing drugs have skyrocketed, with a record of nearly one in five adults using them in 2020, compared to about one in 50 at the turn of the century.
While sexual dysfunction is experienced by 73 percent of antidepressant users, for some people it doesn’t go away even after they stop taking the pills.
Ruben Dewitte, co-founder of the support platform PSSD networktold DailyMail.com that one of the biggest problems is the lack of informed consent.
“Even if PSSD is more or less uncommon, people are not informed about it,” he said.
A man living with PSSD says the condition is like ‘getting chemically castrated’
The 33-year-old from London says he’s been robbed of his libido and his sex drive has gone (stock photo)
“Patients often say they would never have taken the medication if they had been informed that this was a potential risk, even though the risk was low.”
He said medication labels don’t explain side effects very well, and that if people knew there was a chance of suffering like PSSD patients, they would think twice.
“There is also no mention of one of the main symptoms of PSSD, which is genital numbness.
“In the US, the possibility of persistent sexual side effects is not mentioned on the labels,” he said.
Some antidepressants are known to cause more sexual side effects than others, with SSRIS, SNRIs, and tricyclic antidepressants appearing to be the most common triggers.
There are alternatives such as atypical antidepressants that can increase levels of dopamine and norepinephrine or serotonin.
Some people report that they no longer experience sexual or romantic attraction at all and are left with an emotional numbness.
Both men and women experience a condition known as anorgasmia – a difficulty reaching orgasm, and when they do come, it is weak or without pleasure.
Most have seen relationships collapse as a result, while others have missed the opportunity to have children. Some have never experienced pleasure during sex — called anhedonia — and worry they never will.
While what these patients experience is acknowledged in the medical literature, there is little evidence or research showing a definitive link to the drugs.