[zenzeno]

Greetings, I'm a 36 year old man suffering from PSSD and SSRI withdrawal. Last August I regretfully decided to try an antidepressant for the first time. I began by taking 10mg of Citalopram (Celexa) for three months. I then stupidly proceeded to binge on 100mg over a two-day span (40mg on the first day and 60mg on the second.) Violently ill, I made the fateful decision to quit cold turkey (my biggest mistake thus far.) After enduring an agonizing month of withdrawal, including ejaculatory anhedonia and anorgasmia, I reinstated 10mg of Citalopram so as to withdraw more cautiously. Having slowly tapered over the past couple of months, it's now been a couple of weeks since I quit the poisonous SSRI for good. Because the doctors surrounding me are of little help, I am compelled to seek feedback from forums such as this one. Here is my biggest question and concern: is my sexual anhedonia permanent? Thanks in advance for any helpful insights.

[Travelinglady]

I would think after it's totally cleared your system, you should be back in business. Alas, a number of anti-depressants cause sexual problems. (As if we didn't have enough to be depressed about anyway.)

If you feel comfortable about it, you could talk to a male pharmacist to see what he says.

[sugahorse1]

I have also binged on Citalopram before, and also stopped cold-turkey. Both were experiences I never want to go through again.

SSRIs commonly cause sexual side-effects, but I have found that your libido will come back after a short while with the meds out of your system. As time goes on, I've found I can be on a low dose of an SSRI and not experience any negative sexual side effects.

[zenzeno]

I really appreciate feedback from forums such as this one; especially considering how maddeningly unhelpful and seemingly clueless all the doctors surrounding me happen to be.

Unsatisfied with the inadequate services rendered to me by supposed healthcare professionals, I've resorted to sleuthing the interwebz. Granted there is no shortage of disinformation online, however, I feel obligated to share this article, the title alone strikes a major chord: "Brain Differences Play Role in Sexual Side Effects to Anti-Depressants". It's a report on a study done addressing sexual dysfunction upon taking antidepressant drugs. This excerpt in particular really hits a nerve:

"Functional MRI (fMRI) scans showed the SSRI, more than the non-serotonin drug, dampened activity in the brain’s “reward circuit”—areas turned on by sexual arousal, orgasm, and cocaine-high. Weakening of this brain-response to pornography predicted sexual dissatisfaction. The finding, published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology in May and extended by recent work, was presented by Birgit Abler at this month’s Society For Neuroscience conference in Washington D.C."

[Odee]

Check the half life, sometimes it can take a long time to leave your system.

Otherwise, are you still depressed or otherwise miserable and unhappy right now? The sexual dysfunction doesn't necessarily have to been from the SSRI. It's easy to obsess over potential items to blame for a personally troubling problem such as sexual dysfunction, but if you are still struggling in other areas of your life you cannot expect to be top functioning in the sex department either. Sorry.