Antidepressants and ED

[Flavio]

The brain really is your #1 sex organ and altering brain chemistry will have a great impact on your sexual health.

Several centrally acting drugs have been proposed for the treatment of ED but I've had very little luck with these meds: apomorphine, cabergoline, trazodone. Apomorphine on its own improved my erection but side effects were unbearable when I combined it with other treatments (I almost passed out!), so I had to quit.

This is where antidepressants come in. SSRIs may hurt your sex life (remember Tony Soprano!) but not all antidepressants are erection killers and, in theory, some may even improve sexual function.

I've always suffered from OCD and, at least according to this study, mirtazapine may be a God's send:

Mirtazapine is an atypical antidepressant with a2 adrenergic antagonist and serotonin 5‐HT2 and 5‐HT3 receptor‐blocking activity. In theory, it should not worsen and perhaps may improve sexual function.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/(SICI)1520-6394(1999)9:4%3C175::AID-DA5%3E3.0.CO;2-0

Why do some antidepressants worsen sexual function and others improve it?

What is your personal experience with antidepressants? Were there any that you'd like to recommend?

[Flavio]

I am doing some reading on antidepressants and the list of side effects is scary.

Buproprion (Wellbutrin) may not cause ED but it is clearly a dangerous drug:

https://meduza.io/en/news/2020/02/18/ru ... n-the-mail