Sertraline has really affected my marriage

Sooo I've had ocd for 29 years now. For the most part it's been pretty well controlled with meds. About 3 years ago I was switched to Sertraline as my previous meds had stopped working. The Sertraline works great for OCD but unfortunately I've noticed since I've started that my libido/ desire has basically gone to 0. It already wasn't great but I've also always been on an ssri so I'm not really sure what my norm is. Anyways this is really affecting my husband and I feel awful. He understands that this is most likely a side effect but it still hurts and I get it. So I'm now going to talk to my phychiatrist about either lowering the dose or switching to a non ssri. I've tried augmenting with Wellbutrin and Buspar and neither helped. Just wondering if anyone has experienced this. I know that I most likely will always need meds so it's extremely difficult.

Anonymous

Date posted: 14h

I’m sorry you’re going through this. I take Prozac and it has decreased my libido a bit, but I try to really prioritize communication with my partner and we’ve just had to approach things a bit differently. It takes longer for me to get in the mood for intimacy, but with some patience and trust we’ve been able to sort of recalibrate the expectation and find what works. Maybe you can try to share intimate time without it being necessarily sexual and see if overtime some of your desire comes back with other forms of connection? Sending support. I know how hard it can be to solve one big problem with medication only to find a new problem as a result.

alan87

Date posted: 14h

I’m sorry as well. You’re not alone in this. I take 50mg Paroxetine and had this side effect as well. You got this!

Mylove1518

Date posted: 11h

I am going through this exact same thing!🫩

Cat-Mom

Date posted: 12h

Being on Sertraline since childhood I feel like I’ve never had a sense for how my libido is either, and tapering is not in the cards for me anytime soon. The only advice I have is to communicate!

BeeH16

Date posted: 12h

@Cat-Mom Same here, I worry so much that my sex drive is low bc i’m not attracted to my partner not the meds 😭

Cat-Mom

Date posted: 12h

@BeeH16 Literally that’s why I started trying to wean and then I started getting REALLY anxious so I had to double my dose again🫪 I’ll take whatever baggage Sertraline gives me over SO-OCD taking over, lol

BeeH16

Date posted: 11h

@Cat-Mom I get that, it makes mine worse bc it makes me doubt that i’m attracted to the gender I want 😭 Did you lower them and the sexual feelings came for your feared gender? is that what you mean

Cat-Mom

Date posted: 10h

@BeeH16 Yes! I was already having relationship anxiety and was trying to slowly taper off Sertraline for a WHILE. I used to be at 200 mg and got down to 75. When I got to 50 I felt I was getting more generally anxious with a feeling of disconnect from my boyfriend, then me being around a couple of gay women and an article on comphet had me wondering if I was gay and I spiraled HARD. Couldn’t eat, sleep, do anything but ruminate on it. I questioned my sexuality before and landed on being straight without much further thought, so I feel like my OCD used that as fodder. I’m now back at 100 mg and gonna go up again to 125 likely. I’m feeling much better than I did but I would like the thoughts less frequently

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