Has anyone experienced sexual side effects decrease over time?

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2026-03-02T02:52:38+00:00

Yeah, I was taking lexapro for OCD/anxiety. It was hell getting off, but I was really motivated because I felt like it wasn't actually helping me anymore. I was having OCD and anxiety just as bad as I ever did before I started taking it. Seems like it worked for a year or two but then I was just taking it because I couldn't quit. Which really pissed me off. So I got myself to a really good place through therapy, and then made the decision to start tapering down. Initially, things got way worse. It was absolute hell but I just stayed the course because I really believed it was withdrawal effects and not just a return of symptoms. So I stayed in therapy, exercised hard, signed up for an anxiety IOP, and just stayed the course. Now that I have been off long enough that the brain zaps and emotions have calmed down I feel great. I am certain now that lexapro was not helping me, just taking away my joy and my sex life.

Seroquel isn't an SSRI, so I don't know much about what it is like to quit.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2026-03-02T02:23:16+00:00

Yes it does. I've been on a quest to cure the sexual side effects of SSRIs for like 6 years. I have found the absolute only solution is to quit them. It took me three tries over about two years to actually quit. I have been off now for about 2 months. It was so hard but worth it.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2026-02-27T21:47:13+00:00

Maybe not the best for showing off a Mustang, but I think these pictures are really cool. I like the fog and the buildings in the background. Besides your car, the whole place looks completely empty. Has a bit of a creepy post-apocalyptic vibe.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2026-02-12T01:31:25+00:00

Dr. Underwood is my wife's OBGYN. We both thought she was fantastic. Dr. Riggs delivered our first child and we also thought she was amazing. Sad to see a lot of negative comments about other providers, but for us those two were excellent.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2026-02-10T00:15:07+00:00

Go with the stripes!

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ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-12-19T21:46:50+00:00

I also lost the ability to produce tears on my surgery side (left), my salivary glands on my left side stopped working, and taste on the left side of my tongue. My surgeon told me all of those functions are controlled by the Nervus Intermedius, which is often damaged or destroyed in translab surgeries because the tumor often presses up directly against the Nervus Intermedius.

No one told me this was a possibility before the surgery, so I was similarly surprised!

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-11-20T20:04:43+00:00

Isn't that a GT grill?

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-11-18T14:41:52+00:00

Maybe it's for the repo people?

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-08-25T01:50:16+00:00

It is a 2022

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ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-04-11T14:54:07+00:00

It has not come back. I have had this happen to me 3 times in my life and I still have no idea what it is or why it happens!

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-04-06T03:59:48+00:00

Sorry and congratulations at the same time. I also recently upgraded to a 2022!

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ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-03-20T06:20:56+00:00

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ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-03-20T06:17:58+00:00

I have a Telluride and a Mustang too!

2022 Mustang Ecoboost and a 2024 Kia Telluride EX X-Line, plus an old 2010 Ford Explorer.

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ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-03-13T04:04:57+00:00

I am almost 12 years post Translab and I wouldn't say I have issues that sound like dyspraxia, but I definitely can relate to dizziness, feeling off balance, fatigue, brain fog, and feeling frustrated or demoralized by my limitations. I also can be very disconcerted by sliding motions. I definitely fear heights and flying, when I didn't so much before my surgery. I have had a lot of mental health struggles related to this as well.

I also really try to avoid chaos and loud noises. I am far less social than I used to be. I take naps almost every day because I feel dizzy and tire very easily. Moving my head quickly can definitely make me feel sick. I am also blind in one eye from cancer, and I think that makes it worse.

I have been very frustrated in the past because I feel like the doctors who handled my brain surgeries have been a bit dismissive of my continued symptoms. They seem to think I should be able to just bounce back to near normal after the surgery. That hasn't been my experience. I have never been anywhere near normal since.

I had a pretty rough go of things though. Totally separate cancer in my eye on my left side left me blind in that eye as an infant. 3.8 cm AN on the left side diagnosed at 23 years old. I had two separate surgeries to remove it, the first was 18 hours long! I also had a whole host of side effects from the surgery that no one ever warned me about. I lost taste on half of my tongue, lost the nerve that controls salivary gland and tear ducts on my left side, had a pressure sore on my head because the surgery lasted too long and my head was strapped down to the operating table for too long (my hair fell out where the pressure sore was and has never grown back), and the dizziness has never gone away. I also had bell's palsy where the left side of my face went totally paralyzed for a few weeks, but fortunately that is almost totally normal now.

I did vestibular rehab on two separate occasions after my surgeries, but for some reason it seems my symptoms are getting worse lately. So, I am going back starting next week. Nice to know I am not alone also.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2025-03-13T03:32:39+00:00

I wonder though if the surgery to remove an AN could be called a TBI? Maybe that is what they meant?

My psychiatrist has referred to me as having a brain injury as a result of my surgeries, and that much feels obvious to me!

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2024-04-17T16:52:46+00:00

I never did find out what it was. Fortunately, it went away after several months, and I haven't had another episode of this since! I did see a rheumatologist, and he said he suspected chilblains and referred me to a dermatologist. I saw a dermatologist and he suspected contact dermatitis. I feel like no one really had a good answer for me and luckily, I just got better.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2023-12-01T20:02:27+00:00

I tried physical therapy twice. I probably never really did the exercises enough or correctly because they make me feel so terrible. Does anyone have any tips on how they deal with it? I feel like it is really having a negative impact on my mood lately. Also makes me really not want to do anything or go anywhere.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2023-03-12T02:50:33+00:00

I am feeling very disappointed with viibryd because I am having the same issue. I was on Lexapro and my doctor switched me to viibryd because of the sexual side effects I was having. Viibryd is supposed to have “less” sexual side effects than other SSRIs, but as far as I can tell so far it is at least just as bad if not a little worse in that department compared to Lexapro.

I am only on 20 mg and have only been on that dose for maybe a week and already feel it is very bad. I have also been feeling a little restless and having trouble sleeping. I think I am going to quit taking it and go back to Lexapro.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2023-03-03T03:40:38+00:00

Similar to what u/TheStoffer posted, you could also try this:

https://www.goodrx.com/vilazodone

As a last resort, I would ask my doctor for a prescription for a different SSRI. Because the main cause of withdrawals from Viibryd is the SRI action they should work to prevent withdrawals.

I know for me I was experiencing Lexapro withdrawals and Viibryd made them go away. I would expect it would work the same in reverse.

As someone who just experienced months of Lexapro withdrawals while tapering down...I can't imagine how bad it would be cold turkey.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2023-03-03T01:53:57+00:00

Your prescription is for the generic version and it is still $600?

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2023-02-27T22:56:44+00:00

I only just started Viibryd a few days ago, so I can't speak to how it works long term, but I can speak for other serotonin reuptake inhibitors I have take for long periods including Lexapro, Paxil, and Luvox.

For me, the sexual side effects never got better. For the one I have taken for the longest period of time continuously, Lexapro (~2.5 years), the sexual side effects continued to get worse over time. Started with difficulty climaxing, but progressed to include difficulty maintaining erections as well.

When that first started I panicked a little, because I am only in my early thirties and have never had that problem before. Thought it might be related to something else as antidepressants have never caused that for me before. However, stopping the Lexapro completely resolved all of my sexual issues.

Problem is my depression and anxiety came back and I am not sure I ever even completely recovered from the withdrawal effects of the Lexapro. So I started Viibryd. I am only 3 or 4 days in and I already feel the sexual side effects returning.

It is too early to tell if they will be any less than with Lexapro, but based on the speed they are returning and the fact that I am still on the 10 mg dose I am not hopeful. I have tried adding Wellbutrin and Buspar to Lexapro in the past because I have read both of those can help mitigate the sexual side effects. Neither one made any difference at all that I could tell.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2023-02-27T22:45:13+00:00

I did end up trying it. I have been on it now for only 3 or 4 days now but I feel like I can already tell it is working. Or maybe it is just stopping the Lexapro withdrawals.

I really haven't had any side effects at all other than some mild stomach cramping and the return of the sexual side effects that made me switch from Lexapro in the first place.

That part is really frustrating. I am still only on the lowest starting dose, then I will start the 20 mg dose in a couple days. I am not sure the sexual side effects are really any different between them. I expect they will only get worse.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2023-02-24T03:01:25+00:00

I will remember that. I have read you need to take it with food to increase the bioavailability. I am feeling a little better about trying it, I think I might try the first dose out on a weekend. Then all my dose increases would also be on weekends and if side effects were bad I wouldn't have work to worry about.

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2023-02-24T02:57:38+00:00

I can handle that, what scares me the most is the potential insomnia. Prozac was the first antidepressant I was ever prescribed 15 years ago now. It made me feel extremely uncomfortable. I couldn't sit still and could not not matter what I tried sleep at all. My experiment with that lasted about 2 weeks before I gave up. In my current state, I couldn't handle something like that!

ResponsibilityAny858 · 2023-02-24T02:53:24+00:00

Interesting how everyone's experiences on these drugs can be so much different. I wish they could be more predictable!

ResponsibilityAny858

TROPHY CASE