I have been on anti depressants since the age of 14 (almost 6 years), barring when I was pregnant and breastfeeding. I have a very high libido and I was just wondering if anyone has any information. I have read somewhere that they can decrease your sex drive but I wonder if it's possible that they can increase it, as depression itself can have a great impact on libido.
Yes, they can have quite an effect.
It is really complex, as you know. So the best thing is to have a long chat with a good doctor about it.
Other people's experiences will be great, but everyone is different. :)
Some links that might help a bit...
http://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/about-anxiety/
http://www.rethink.org/living_with_mental_illness/treatment_and_therapy/index.html
Of course, almost any drug can affect it, doesnt mean all do with everyone.
I'm on a low dose of amytriptiline for IBS and they certain had an effect of me. For the first few days I was Rampant, then it disspeared for about a month before it steadily settled out.
Pixieking wrote:
I'm on a low dose of amytriptiline for IBS and they certain had an effect of me. For the first few days I was Rampant, then it disspeared for about a month before it steadily settled out.
I'm on the same drug for headaches and even at a low dose my libido has dramatically reduced 
I have just come off fluoxetine and yes it has had an effect on my sex drive, the depression supressed it, the drugs helped to raise it again. Coming off the drug has dropped it again but it is coming back.
xGGx
I've tried St John wort.
allegedly theres not side effects of sex drive, but I can tell you there is!! once I stopped them afew weeks later I was very high wanting a shag! 
But the other side effects I had was psychosis!!
I get a higher sex drive, mainly because mine is naturally high, but lowered because of the depression. The anti depressants seem to simply liberate what is already there for me. Incidentally I also have a lot more orgasms when on anti depressants. It does scare me that they might stop again when I come off them.
It can do, for a lot of people. I seem to have some kind of forcefield protecting my sex drive though, so not for me... what my ADs did do though, for the first few weeks (Escitalopram) was to make it very challenging indeed to achieve orgasm. I found things like arosal gel / stimulating balms really helped for that though.
lilac_vix wrote:
I get a higher sex drive, mainly because mine is naturally high, but lowered because of the depression. The anti depressants seem to simply liberate what is already there for me. Incidentally I also have a lot more orgasms when on anti depressants. It does scare me that they might stop again when I come off them.
I have wondered this too.. I am wanting to come off them anyway but i'm too scared about withdrawal symptoms
x
I would say that most side affects of anti depressants are usually only evident in the first month or two. I've recently started back having been on fluoxetine before and citilopram now. I noticed it with fluoxetine but not citilopram.
Yes they can, however the picture is complicated.
As others have said depression can lower libido and effective treatment therefore can help solve that problem. On the whole though sexual side effects of antidepressants are very common. The most common problem is anorgasmia, or being unable to achieve orgasm. This was not realised by the medical community initially due to people being reticent about mentioning that sort of thing to their doctors, however it is now recognised as widespread.
The physiological reason behind this effect is that orgasm is thought to be prevented under normal conditions by nerves containing serotonin. The centre that actually produces orgasm is in the lumbar spine, but there are nerves that decend from the brain and interact with it and prevent it "going off" except when appropriate. The neurotransmitter in these nerves is serotonin. Many AD drugs work by boosting serotonin levels, so they can have the effect of increasing the strength of this inhibitory pathway, preventing orgasm even in appropriate situations.
SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) cause this problem commonly, but other drug classes can also effect serotonin levels. There are antidepressants that do not work on serotonin and seem to avoid this problem (in some cases actually being prescribed for treating naturally occuring anorgasmia). They do not tend to be as widely prescribed though, as the evidence for their effectiveness is generally even more mixed than for SSRIs.
Personally, when I was on Seroxat I found that I had this side effect. Later I was on Venlafaxine and still had the problem but not as badly. This fits with the pharmacology of those drugs.
Remember that not everyone reacts the same way to these drugs though, and increased libido has certainly been reported, as a quick google will show.
I have been on antidepressant for two years now, first was citalapram and for the past 6 months I have been on mirtazapine. Throughout the two years I had no sex drive what so ever, and It caused me to feel even more depressed! Recently (3weeks ago) my sex drive has come back with a vengeance to the point where my husband is telling me to calm down. Am thrilled to bits that I crave sex again but am worried that I will go back to having no libido at all. Also I need to approach my oh differently as I don't want to scare him to death :-)
To the original question, my answer is an overwhelming "Yes!".
Earlier this year, I spent a couple of months on Prozac for mild depression and anxiety. It's fair to say that my libido was a bit battered anyway at that time, but the Prozac killed it completely. It also caused me erectile dysfunction (a very common side-effect, apparently) which tended to put me off even bothering with sex -- hence my disappearance from this forum over that time.
I've been off Prozac for several weeks now, but I've still not been fully functional over that time as it takes a while for the drug to get out of your system. That was, until a couple of days ago, when my absent libido came roaring back with a vengeance.
Help! I'm finding this really difficult. My wife is an absolute darling and has accommodated my changes of need over this time without complaint, but I feel too ashamed to tell her about some of the things that have been happening to me lately. I've been getting turned on by sights and sounds around me that I connect even slightly with sex (not good when commuting by public transport!), and I've been having what are, by my standards, naughty thoughts. They're not too bad really -- just strong fantasies -- but I'm not sure about sharing them with my wife in case they hurt her feelings as, uncharacteristically for me, they're being triggered by other people.
Can anyone offer advice on how I can get through this period of re-adjustment? Thanks if so.
yyeeess!! iv been in and out the doctors for this till im sick apparently sertraline (a form of antidepressants ) these are the worst ones and prozac for affecting your sex drive and been overweight affects you aswell apparently to my doctor xx
yes but it wont all of a sudden have started affecting your sex drive. have you changed the dosage or?
Cuddly Hubby wrote:
To the original question, my answer is an overwhelming "Yes!".
Earlier this year, I spent a couple of months on Prozac for mild depression and anxiety. It's fair to say that my libido was a bit battered anyway at that time, but the Prozac killed it completely. It also caused me erectile dysfunction (a very common side-effect, apparently) which tended to put me off even bothering with sex -- hence my disappearance from this forum over that time.
I've been off Prozac for several weeks now, but I've still not been fully functional over that time as it takes a while for the drug to get out of your system. That was, until a couple of days ago, when my absent libido came roaring back with a vengeance.
Help! I'm finding this really difficult. My wife is an absolute darling and has accommodated my changes of need over this time without complaint, but I feel too ashamed to tell her about some of the things that have been happening to me lately. I've been getting turned on by sights and sounds around me that I connect even slightly with sex (not good when commuting by public transport!), and I've been having what are, by my standards, naughty thoughts. They're not too bad really -- just strong fantasies -- but I'm not sure about sharing them with my wife in case they hurt her feelings as, uncharacteristically for me, they're being triggered by other people.
Can anyone offer advice on how I can get through this period of re-adjustment? Thanks if so.
Hi CH
Had wondered where you had disappeared to, welcome back.
I was on Prozac for about 10 months been off them for 3 now. My sex drive vanished while taking them but like yours came back with a vengance. It has settled down and we are now back to 'normal' for us.
It might be an idea to talk to your wife about how frequently you are getting turned on but not got into specifics about what is going through your head.
xGGx
ghostgirl wrote:
Had wondered where you had disappeared to, welcome back.
Thanks! It's good to be back, and to be enjoying reading through the threads again, rather than feeling that they relate to an aspect of my life that had gone away.
ghostgirl wrote:
I was on Prozac for about 10 months been off them for 3 now. My sex drive vanished while taking them but like yours came back with a vengance. It has settled down and we are now back to 'normal' for us.
It's reassuring to hear that you understand what I'm going through. It's better than being on a constant downer, but I'm used to having my arousal under my own control rather than seemingly under the remote control of anyone around me! 
ghostgirl wrote:
It might be an idea to talk to your wife about how frequently you are getting turned on but not got into specifics about what is going through your head.
She's certainly aware of how frequently I'm getting turned on! It's great that she's willing to help me out, even if it's in the middle of the night. I think she'd actually be happy to hear about what's going through my mind -- she's not a jealous type at all and might even find it arousing -- but there are barriers to that inside my head.