Sertraline - fatigue and 'bedroom problems' - don't know what to do

[ncfcfan85]

Can anybody please offer some advice because I don't know what to think anymore!!

You will remember I have been here before, and probably remember I suffer with bad fatigue. I have been on 50mg Sertraline since August and had two major operations for cancer treatment in the past year, and the fatigue is at a very bad point.

Basically I've been having problems with my downstairs not working properly in the bedroom - I can't sustain an erection and I don't have the energy to 'perform' either. So I went to my GP about this. Basically I think the Sertraline may be having an impact on this, causing fatigue and side effects with my sex drive. So I went to the GP yesterday with the intention to ask to come off them completely.

I saw the GP yesterday and he wants me to DOUBLE my dosage of Sertraline to 100mg - he says this will give me an ENERGY BOOST?! How??? Basically I received an all-clear with my cancer scans a few weeks ago and in the letter to my GP, apparently my consultant thinks the fatigue is down to depression and anxiety and that going up to 100mg dosage should help.

But could this possibly help or will this just make my side effects worse?

I don't know whether I am coming or going! I don't want to be on these tablets at all but on the other hand I don't know whether doubling them could actually help my energy levels and sex drive??

Thanks

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi ncfcfan,

I'm just logging off but spotted your post and wanted to see how you were doing. It is really great news to hear you have got through the cancer treatment and also had the all clear! :yesyes::yahoo:

I hope everything is going well for you with your GF, and considering what you are asking about, I hope it is?!

Well Sert certainly has side effects in that area:

More common
•Decreased sexual desire or ability
•failure to discharge semen (in men)

Those were in the "contact your doctor section". There is nothing about inability to sustain an erection. It could be because of decreased sexual desire or ability as mentioned above though.

SSRI's are known to cause problems like this in both men & women. It can mean adding something to counteract it or switching usually. However, depression (and anxiety) can cause this too and that's probably where your doctor is coming from.

One test would be to decrease the Sert and see if things improved but if you are struggling this could be a bad move. This would test if it is the Sert. If it depression, increasing the Sert may help with this.

No SSRI is going to help with energy levels in the normal sense, but by increasing levels of Serotonin it is aiming to improve your mood and depression/low mood saps energy levels, hence how this can work to counter it. That's what they are thinking.

If you increase the Sert and this becomes worse, perhaps that answers the question? If it only started when you started the Sert, it's a possibility. However, if it's a side effect issue when you increase, will it go away after so long? If you've been on the current dose over a couple of months and still have a side effect, I think something needs addressing with the med (as long as you can determine it's not the anxiety/depression). If it gets worse as you increase, if you then decreased again and things got easier, that would more likely answer the question about the impact of the med.

Don't you also have CFS? How is that impacting on all this? Or is it?

[ncfcfan85]

Thanks as always for the reply Terry :) much appreciated.

The fatigue is still a massive issue - this is what I went to the docs about yesterday. I went in and said "I have two main issues, and think they are connected - the fatigue I've had for ages and problems in the bedroom department" - the latter started after I started taking Gabapentin (I was only taking it for about a week!) in January and it has never recovered. I've been on the Sertraline since August.

The thing that worries me is I don't think they are doing anything for me, and not even sure I need them - I am concerned that they are just adding unwanted side effects to my body that I just don't need! On the other hand, increasing the dosage may boost my seratonin levels like you say and could increase my energy that way but I am worried that I will go in the other direction and become more exhausted and have even more problems in the bedroom.

She is not actually my girlfriend (as much as I'd like her to be) - we are just seeing each other (very sporadically) and like to enjoy each others company, so to speak - but the problem is she thinks I am not attracted to her when I have these problems with my erections during intercourse. This couldn't be further from the truth! I think she is gorgeous, beautiful and she drives me crazy, but as much as I try to re-assure her and as much as she says sometimes that she believes me, I doubt this, and to be fair I can see how it wouldn't do her confidence much good when I am "going down" during intercourse. I didn't have this problem in December and January, and this was after having major surgery! I am now exhausted and just don't have the energy during sex or the ability to sustain an erection.

Which brings me onto Viagra - I was also prescribed this yesterday. But I am scared to take it!!! Why? Same old story - side effects. Plus you kind of need to know when you are going to be having sex.

Thanks for your advice, and the comment about the all-clear - I still need further tests over the year, but it's all very encouraging news. Another thing that makes me wonder whether I need to be on these anti-depressants. I fear they are holding me back. As I said, I went to the GP yesterday with the intentions to come off them, not double them :( Do you think I should give them a try? And also the Viagra?

Thanks as always

[ncfcfan85]

Just as an extra, I've been feeling much worse since Tuesday when I started taking the 100mg Sertraline instead of 50.

People say to me "Well, it's not that, because it wouldn't have got into your system that quick, you have to give it a chance to work"

Whilst I understand that it will take a while to have any BENEFICIAL impact, surely this is what's causing me to feel so awful? Symptoms are:

Dizziness
Pins and needles
My legs are ridiculously tight and stiff and I just generally ache all over!

As I say, the fatigue was bad enough anyway but is much worse since Tuesday. Surely the body must notice and react to me suddenly doubling my dosage? I hope this is all it is because I feel terrible at the moment :( I remember feeling similar after I started the Duloxetine 2 years ago.

[Phill2]

More common
•Decreased sexual desire or ability
•failure to discharge semen (in men)

Dunno whether it's having a stent put in my heart or the Sert but I'm having the exact opposite