Sertraline question for the gents

Hi all,

I'm 5 days into Sertraline, and generally accepting them well - today felt almost normal, after just having headaches and a spaced out feeling for the last four days. Dodged the worst, I think...

Except...

When I have (ahem) tested the plumbing for the last three days, I can't reach climax. Now I know headaches and overthinking may be just putting me off, and it's early days, but it's a rare problem for me, and just wondered that if other gents had this issue in the early days and it subsided, or is this is game over for this side of things if I continue on these particular meds? My anxiety isn't so bad it's worth sacrificing this for.

Update - managed to finish this morning, but ended up with a blinding headache afterwards. Last night on attempting, I had a similar headache just as things were starting to get there.

I think I just need to tell myself it's only six days in and weird stuff is happening up/down there, coupled with my usual chronic overthinking, and to stop my anxiety constantly checking if "things are working". :blush:

I've been dealing with the same ... You're not alone. I suspect its about whether or not its worth the sacrifice for you. I will say, things improved in that department when the dosage was lowered as I'm currently on 125MG now. When I was on 150 ( I was on 200MG at one point ) my libido was practically zero. My advice is basically what you said, don't constantly "check" unless you actually want/need to, and even then, expect it to take longer to reach orgasm and be patient for forgiving of your body.

Thanks Scissel, thanks for the reply. Things seem to be settling down a bit now (no headaches at last!), I'm only on 50g (so far) so hopefully in the long term things even out. It's very hard to know in the early days how much is actually caused by the meds and how much is conjured up by an anxious mind that's hoovered up the side effects leaflet.

I just wanted to follow this up, because I didn't want to leave it hanging as people look to these kind of forums when deciding whether to take things or not (I know I have done in the past).

I'm happy to report the side-effect I was worried about seems to now have largely passed - it took a few weeks but things seem close to normal, if not all the way there. I've had a dose of Covid inbetween, so it's been hard to monitor all side effects and symptoms as some things such as headaches and general yuckiness has probably been down to that. But the thing that was most concerning me in my original post has righted itself - so if the same thing happens to you in the early days don't get too despondent and don't presume it's going to last significantly longer than the other side effects.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anxle

just wondered that if other gents had this issue in the early days and it subsided, or is this is game over for this side of things if I continue on these particular meds?

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It can be a temporary side-effect, as you've discovered, but it persists in about 20-30% of men, not sure about females as data is lacking. :sad:

There are ways of moderating this side-effect, as per an earlier post, however, not all of them may be available as NHS GPS seem reluctant to prescribe some of the potential remedies except for maybe tadalafil (Cialis) or sildenafil (Viagra) - tadalafil may be the better of the two for antidepressant triggered sexual dysfunction - and possibly mirtazapine.

It is a long read, 106 pages, but this Cochrane review might also be of interest: Strategies for managing sexual dysfunction induced by
antidepressant medication (PDF).

I've started Zoloft 9 days ago and experiencing the same symptom (not being able to reach climax). Hopefully it will pass eventually.

It may only be a temporary effect caused by the immediate short-lived increase in serotonin activity. If it isn't then there are ways of minimising the impact as per the links I posted earlier in this thread.