Posted by myco on February 6, 2009, at 16:57:15
In reply to Effexor XR and Anorgasmia....inability to orgasm, posted by Soonerbaby on February 6, 2009, at 14:38:28
> I am 31 and female and have been on Effexor XR 37.5 mg for 2 weeks now. I was originally prescribed it for my lack of motivation. I am also on Wellbutrin 150mg, Abilify 5mg once daily and Xanax two 2 mg pills divided over 4 times per day. I recently have had a hard time having an orgasm, whether on my own, or with my husband. It seems the things that used to turn me on are now just "blah" to me! Being intimately touched is about as arousing as if you rubbed your arm. Will this go away? I asked my doctor and he said to give it another week and see if the symptoms go away. I am also scared of the withdrawals, if I get too much of this med in my body. Any suggestions?
Hey, Im a guy but I to have experienced complete inability to orgasm and delayed orgasm on effexor xr. I took effexor xr for over a year and sexual proplems were my number one side effect along with anxiety on it. It's gonna take longer than a week to relieve hun. For me it was dose related...at low doses, 75mg and below, there was a seriously delayed orgasm response then it increased to complete inability at high doses (i spent most of that year at 150mg). It does improve, for me anyway, in that you will be able to orgasm again but it will most likely be delayed. It might take months to come back, for me over 6 months of complete inhibition, then it came back but quite delayed...made sex last a long time (not necessarily a bad thing). This is a typical side effect (very common actually for most people) on almost all SSRI's out there, effexor is no exception. If the med works and you are happy with its efficacy, stick with it through the side effects and they will diminish.
Don't worry about withdrawals for now (seriously)...determine if the med works first...thats the issue. It's like any other psych med...you put something in your body that alters brain chemistry then when you take it away it's going to cause withdrawal to varying degrees...the trick is to just taper off slowly (reduce the dose at a speed that is comfy to you...start fast then if it makes u feel bad stop, add a lil more then go down again slower perhaps cutting the dose down in small increments by week). Doing this minimizes the side effects of coming off the med...it may still be a little bumpy but thats normal...effexor is again similar this way to other ssri's. You can also keep your xanax handy for effexor withdrawal to help you relax in case youre edgy.keep smilin,
poster:myco
thread:878505
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090203/msgs/878527.html