I know this is long, but I really need some advice from you mature married people.
I have been married for 2 1/2 years. About 7 months ago my husband started having escalated problems with anxiety (something he has struggled with for a long time). This went on for about 3-4 months until it got so bad he was not able to function for about a week. He had to take a lot of time off work and his general practitioner doctor diagnosed him with severe anxiety. He took alprazolam (a lower dose version of Xanax) for a few months and then was weaned off that and onto the anti-depressant Lexapro. When he's off the drug it's very hard to have sex because the anxiety makes his sex drive minimal. Now the drug has taken away ALL sexual desire for him.
His doctor told him after a few months his body would become used to the drug and his desire would return, but it's been two months and nothing. He tried to go off it for four days (because he was frustrated that he couldn't make love to his wife) and his anxiety came back to where he couldn't deal with it.
As long as I thought it would eventually come back I was okay with waiting as long as it takes!! I will be with him forever, I know that. I can deal with any problem that comes our way. The only thing is that I have researching Lexapro and found out that the sexual side effects do not necessarily ever go away!
The thing is, I would rather not have sex than to see him suffering from this terrible anxiety disorder! It's horrible to have to seem him not be able to control his mind like that. I would never want him to stop the drug. I just need some advice from those of you who have had a spouse on antidepressants before and how we can deal with it. Thanks for listening and thank you for your advice.
Oh, and we are both still very young. I'm in my late twenties and he's in his early thirties. No children. Fun-loving couple living in a big city and loving our lives.
You people are so insensitive.
After the first three answers everyone else has been SO helpful!!!! THANK YOU!!! :D I am very hopefull. I really appreciate it!
Seriously, I am SO grateful for all the heartfelt advice. I can't talk to anyone in my life about this and having people online who actually take the time to help me extremely touching. I am gonna cry. Thank you!!
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I'm a seventeen year old male, and I'm currently suffering from a variety of mental health problems, including ADD, OCD, anxiety, and depression. I'm on a variety of medications, including Adderall, Lexapro, and Risperdal. I think the latter two medications have a severe impact on my sexual life, and I just researched them and confirmed it. I've never ejaculated or had an orgasm on the rare occasion that I masturbate (I used to do it on a more frequent basis, but because there have never been results I've lost my urges). I've tried to masturbate in many ways, which I will not describe in detail because this question is embarrassing enough, even considering that I'll remain anonymous.
My parents just took me to a new psychologist this Thursday (because my last one was ineffective and far away), and I told him about my sexual issues. He recommended that I cut my Risperdal dosage in half to see if that would help. I've been on the half dose for several days now, but so far I haven't been getting results (I've only tried a few times, but those were only out of desperation, not out of sexual urges).
I think I may need to reduce my medication intake further, but he insists that I need to stay on my Lexapro. I want a second opinion, but I don't want to ask my parents because they've gone through a lot of trouble to get me to see a new psychologist, and I don't want them to be disappointed in me or think that I'm being selfish and spoiled.
Especially after reading the side effects of the medications I'm currently on, I'm feeling more depressed and hopeless than ever. There's virtually nobody I can go to about this, and I know that keeping my opinions bottled up inside me isn't the best solution, but there's nobody to go to that won't judge me or who hasn't already shared their advice with me. I just want to ejaculate and orgasm; I've never done it before at seventeen years old (eighteen in less than a week) and I'm feeling worse than ever because of it. There's no outlet for my stress, and it feels like there never will be. Can somebody please give me advice? I also appreciate those who have read the entire question; I know it was far too long.
P.S. I've posed many similar questions to this and on several occasions been accused of being a doctor trying to help a patient with the symptoms described above. There is nobody asking this question but me (the person who needs help). This is also a legitimate question; I wouldn't be asking this if I didn't already know the answer.
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