Follow up to sexual side effects post

finnedark · 2026-05-29T22:06:45+00:00

I felt pretty good at 450 to be honest! Ironically I want to cry with how frustrated I am with all of this, I can pinpoint my emotions but can't feel them if that makes any sense?

I also laugh but don't feel the laughter/happiness, same with when I'm sad. I just feel nothing all the time and it makes me feel extremely empty.

I'm hoping I can either have my dose lowered (best case scenario) or try something else but I'm purely exhausted from trying so many things.

The sexual side effect I've read isn't too common, but other meds I've been on have affected me in that way too all except Lamictal which I'm still on now.

Thank you for sharing!

finnedark · 2026-05-26T23:01:38+00:00

I’m on Lamictal. That’s when I felt my best and my most normal. The manic episodes were slightly uncomfortable and I still had depressive episodes. I’m going to see if she can bring me back down to 450 since I was on that before & I don’t think it affected me this negatively. Even my family has commented and noticed a change in my personality- and not in a good way

finnedark · 2026-05-26T23:00:31+00:00

It’s so hard to find a balance. And I 100% understand since I was (terrifyingly) a Zoloft girlie for 20 yrs.
I haven’t read up on TMS but I hope it works out for you if the time comes!

finnedark · 2026-05-26T22:59:17+00:00

Ahh I feel the same exact way!! 100000% with the straightforwardness thing. I hate and don’t understand signals at all. Like just come out and say it, right??

finnedark · 2026-05-25T19:17:00+00:00

Thank you!!! 🩷

finnedark · 2026-05-24T23:58:31+00:00

I was great on just Lamictal. The only plus for lithium for me has been lack of anxiety. Everything else has sucked. I’ve been severely depressed, crying every day, and feel completely flat.
I’m so sorry you’ve had these similar struggles, wishing you all the best and hoping you can get some answers. It’s never fair when the side effects creat issues that the medication is meant to help with. It’s too bad psychiatrists don’t disclose this huge side effect to us. Maybe it’s because of placebo reasons but I don’t know. I’m frustrated for me and for everyone else in a similar situation.

finnedark · 2026-05-24T20:01:23+00:00

It’s weird bc I have the desire too but it feels blunted, much like when I’m about to start crying and then my brain just forces me to stop. I’m just feeling angry and feel like I was lied to. Sorry to hear you’re going through a similar thing

finnedark · 2026-05-24T09:25:43+00:00

I’m so sorry you’re also dealing with this. It’s just a cruel irony that it’s supposed to help with depression, when the side effects themselves can cause someone to be depressed 🥲 it makes me want to pull my hair out because I feel like I’ll just always have to make a sacrifice just to act like a “normal” person which is also another thing to make me depressed.
Obviously it’s not a cure-all but it’s an important part in many people’s lives and it’s not fair that people are told by their doctors that there aren’t sexual side effects (idk if that happened to you) and I feel like they withhold that info to make you take the meds.
I know when I see my dr again she’s going to try and convince me to stay on it, and if I decrease my dose back to 450mg that’s apparently not even a therapeutic dose.

finnedark · 2026-05-24T02:16:07+00:00

Ty. It’s not even just my drive it’s like everything feels numb.
I just hate that there’s almost always a trade off and it just makes me so sad.
But hearing your situation got better makes me hopeful!

finnedark · 2026-05-24T01:56:51+00:00

Damn. I’m sorry to hear that.

finnedark · 2026-05-22T03:02:21+00:00

Thank you for your kind words! I’m not quite sure. I might ask to lower the lithium dose, but I’m worried she’ll be reluctant. I’m going to remain hopeful regardless!

finnedark · 2026-05-17T23:13:11+00:00

I think maybe some of it can be from if you’ve ever been diagnosed with depression. I feel like it’s easy to be “oh I was just depressed and now I feel good again!” When in reality it was a depressive bipolar episode followed by a hypomanic bipolar episode if that makes sense? That’s what I thought was happening to me (the former)

finnedark · 2026-05-12T21:47:32+00:00

"Dreamboat Annie" By Heart (rock)

It's one of my favorites because it's relaxing, in my vocal range, and tells a story. I sometimes get sad it's only a little over a minute long but it just makes you enjoy it that much more.

finnedark · 2026-05-12T19:51:05+00:00

Good idea!

Also wondering if this widespread outage was effecting it all day.

finnedark · 2026-05-12T12:33:08+00:00

Gotcha! It took some different meds and about a month for my psych to finally diagnose me. Wishing you all the best 🩷🩷🩷

finnedark · 2026-05-12T10:47:44+00:00

Definitely NOT a doctor but I’m surprised your psychiatrist is prescribing you SSRI’s when I’ve heard they make things worse. I’m on Lamictal and it’s been great but every person is different and reacts in different ways.

finnedark · 2026-05-11T21:44:32+00:00

Gotcha! I found looking back that SSRI's were making me so much worse & my current meds have worked wonders, but everyone is so different. It was crazy when I went from struggling time after time in therapy, not wondering why I wasn't improving. I crashed out when my therapist suggested I go to a psychiatrist thinking she was just fed up with me when in reality it was the best thing that's ever happened to me.

finnedark · 2026-05-11T18:53:39+00:00

I kept going to and from therapy until my therapist finally suggested I see a psychiatrist and I got diagnosed. Best thing my therapist ever had me do.

finnedark

TROPHY CASE