Infertility?

Hi,

I (male 26) have been suffering with anxiety and panic attacks for about a year and a half and started receiving counselling for CBT in December. I was discharged a few weeks ago as my counsellor thought I was showing signs of improvement and I was starting to feel better but still knew I had a long way to go.

Since then, for various reasons my anxiety started to get a lot worse than it was before and I've been getting very depressed from it as well. I went back to my doctor on monday and she's referred me for counselling again and prescribed me citalopram.

However, I'm now very anxious about taking citalopram as I read on the label that it has been shown to reduce the quality of sperm in animals and read a lot of articles and forums online about SSRIs causing infertility in men. Some say that fertility comes back a month after stopping but even the scientist say there have been very few studies on very few men and it needs to be researched further.

Now I'm not necessarily wanting kids right now but I would like the option in the future and I'm terrified that taking these will make me permanently infertile. I've even started looking in to sperm freezing. Doing it privately looks way too expensive and looking online I can only find info about the NHS doing it for cancer treatment patients but it does say it does it for other medicial treatments where men might become infertile.

Does anyone know if I might be able to get my sperm frozen on the NHS or have any experience with Citalopram and male fertility?

Thanks in advance.

In the six years since starting the Citalopram Guide, I've never once heard of SSRIs reducing fertility. That's not saying it can't, just that nobody has ever mentioned it in the thread, and I've never seen it on any websites.

It can cause a type of sexual dysfunction called anorgasmia, where it's difficult to reach climax, but I've always wondered if anxiety plays a part in that. It's something I had personal experience with. However, the upside is, it massively increases your staying power, so you'll be a sexual hero to women. Recovering from anxiety means snatching victory from defeat.

Gingko biloba is commonly taken as a supplement to ensure normal sexual function (but check you can take it before using any supplements). Anorgasmia is well known, it isn't permanent and I think it can go away on its own when you get used to the citalopram. It did for me.

Hi NoPoet,

I checked into Ginkgo Biloba recently and it interacts with antidepressants so its one to possible avoid. It's in the moderate category so caution is advised as it interacts with the same liver enzymes that are used.