Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 350362

Shown: posts 1 to 18 of 18. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Abilify anorgasmia (brief question).

Posted by Questionmark on May 25, 2004, at 7:54:45

Would very low dose Abilify (3.75mg or less) have any ability to alleviate anorgasmia do you think? (Particularly from Nardil?)

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question).

Posted by upsndowns on May 25, 2004, at 9:01:06

In reply to Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by Questionmark on May 25, 2004, at 7:54:45

Doesn't seem to matter with me, anorgasmia started on that low dose and now I am still only on 5mg. My pdoc has tried giving me Viagra (I am female) and yohimbine, both failures. He also feels that perhaps the Concerta I take will balance the effect and as I have come to the 36mg dose, things have gotten slightly better but still not what they should be, which means almost, but not quite. If you get any better answers, I will be reading this to get some hints because this is truly ruining for me the positive mood response I am having with Abilify.

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question).

Posted by Racer on May 25, 2004, at 11:02:12

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by upsndowns on May 25, 2004, at 9:01:06

Periactin worked pretty well to alleviate this particular effect for me. It's a very old antihistimine, and is usually used for off label uses now -- like counteracting side effects from other medications. One of the best things about it is that you take it as needed, and it takes about 20 minutes to kick in.

The potential downside, of course, is that it's an anti-histimine. Afterwards, you just roll over and go to sleep. (Sometimes this is a good thing, of course...)

I can't say that it was perfect, but it really helped increase my ability to experience pleasure.

Hope that helps.

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question).

Posted by Tony P on May 25, 2004, at 12:05:54

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by upsndowns on May 25, 2004, at 9:01:06

> Doesn't seem to matter with me, anorgasmia started on that low dose and now I am still only on 5mg. My pdoc has tried giving me Viagra (I am female) and yohimbine, both failures. He also feels that perhaps the Concerta I take will balance the effect and as I have come to the 36mg dose, things have gotten slightly better but still not what they should be, which means almost, but not quite. If you get any better answers, I will be reading this to get some hints because this is truly ruining for me the positive mood response I am having with Abilify.

Not familiar with Abilify, and my anorgasmia came from other drugs (and "natural" aging??? ), but I also have tried Viagra and yohimbine - Viagra actually made my anorgasmia worse, and yohimbine did the same and had too many side effects (principally extreme anxiety). I am male, and of course we're all different, but the similarities between the sexes in this area seem to be much greater than the differences.

My doctor prescribes DHEA to many patients for all kinds of sexual dysfunction, and it has worked well for me for both anorgasmia and lack of desire. It is only available by special Rx in Canada, but is readily available in U.S. My MD does not consider it "alternative" medicine, as some do, but just another hormone supplement with low side-effects that hasn't yet received proper medical attention - it is part of the body's suite of hormones, just as estrogen and testosterone are. It may need balancing with other hormones or other meds, especially for a woman. If you want to try it, I hope you can find an MD like mine with experience with it, as it really needs to be individually tailored.

Tony P

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question).

Posted by cybercafe on May 26, 2004, at 1:44:07

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by upsndowns on May 25, 2004, at 9:01:06

> Doesn't seem to matter with me, anorgasmia started on that low dose and now I am still only on 5mg. My pdoc has tried giving me Viagra (I am female) and yohimbine, both failures. He also feels that perhaps the Concerta I take will balance the effect and as I have come to the 36mg dose, things have gotten slightly better but still not what they should be, which means almost, but not quite. If you get any better answers, I will be reading this to get some hints because this is truly ruining for me the positive mood response I am having with Abilify.

so you're saying you get sexual side effects from abilify? arrrgg

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question).

Posted by upsndowns on May 26, 2004, at 9:39:44

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by cybercafe on May 26, 2004, at 1:44:07

you got it! Terrible trade-off, never thought it would get to me like this.

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question).

Posted by cybercafe on May 26, 2004, at 15:42:02

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by upsndowns on May 26, 2004, at 9:39:44

> you got it! Terrible trade-off, never thought it would get to me like this.

yeah..... i think all mood stabilizers kill libido though no?? hmmmm

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question).

Posted by Chairman_MAO on May 27, 2004, at 10:03:24

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by upsndowns on May 25, 2004, at 9:01:06

I too thought that maybe a low dose of Abilify would help Effexor sexual problems. It makes them worse, and I am discontinuing Abilify. Abilify decreases dopamine release, as its an presynaptic DA agonist. DA release is critical for orgasm.

For anaorgasmia, if you have yet to try amantadine, try it (100mg bid). Also may work well on top of Abilify for Abilify side effects, if you so desire.

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question).

Posted by upsndowns on May 27, 2004, at 11:45:20

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by Chairman_MAO on May 27, 2004, at 10:03:24

I had seen a prior discussion of Amantadine for sexual dysfunction and thank you for bringing it up again. I will ask my pdoc about it next week when I see him. Meanwhile, I do not have the luxury nor the desire to quit Abilify because it is working very well for me in all other ways. This side effect is known, I think it is just not paid enough attention to and we are helping to bring it to the attention of all our various prescribers. How much of an issue are side effects with Amantadine? And, can you take it if you are also taking stimulants such as Concerta or Adderall?

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question). » upsndowns

Posted by Chairman_MAO on May 28, 2004, at 5:12:09

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by upsndowns on May 27, 2004, at 11:45:20

Yes, there is no reason why you couldn't take it with stimulants. One of the possible effects of amantadine is worsening of psychosis, however, so if you are predisposed to that, exercise caution. If you have any extrapyramidal side effects from the Abilify, the amantadine may help that as well.

 

Re: Anorgasmia (-cyproheptadine for) » Racer

Posted by Questionmark on May 29, 2004, at 20:32:44

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by Racer on May 25, 2004, at 11:02:12

> Periactin worked pretty well to alleviate this particular effect for me. It's a very old antihistimine, and is usually used for off label uses now -- like counteracting side effects from other medications. One of the best things about it is that you take it as needed, and it takes about 20 minutes to kick in.
>
> The potential downside, of course, is that it's an anti-histimine. Afterwards, you just roll over and go to sleep. (Sometimes this is a good thing, of course...)
>
> I can't say that it was perfect, but it really helped increase my ability to experience pleasure.
>
> Hope that helps.


Racer, thanks for your reply.
i have a prescription for Periactin (cyproheptadine) that i got a few months ago, but i have only used it a few times, and i don't exactly know how it affects me yet. From my few experiences with it, however, i thINk that the antihistamine effects are too much to benefit from it enough-- i just get too tired and blahhed out (i think). And the one time i took it i felt like crap for most of the next day (i.e., i had that antihistamine hangover that i always get w/ H1 blocking drugs, but i felt even more depressed than i usually do, too)-- which surprised me since i read that cyproheptadine only has a half-life of 4 hours. And because of how crappy i felt, i'm also wondering if the 5-HT2 antagonistic effects have a negative effect on me overall (besides the possible relief of anorgasmia). Oh and i didn't really get much relief from my anorgasmia with it at the doses i used.
i really need to experiment with it some more. Thank you for the post though. It gives me hope that it might actually work better than i realize so far, and it gives me more motivation to experiment with it some more again.

 

Re: Anorgasmia.

Posted by Questionmark on May 29, 2004, at 20:58:55

In reply to Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question). » upsndowns, posted by Chairman_MAO on May 28, 2004, at 5:12:09

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Tony P, i have used DHEA on rare occasion (more for curiosity's sake than any specific thing), but it has helped that noticeably with anorgasmia. Your post makes me interested in trying it daily, especially as it is OTC and very cheap here in the States. But unfortunately i would be very reluctant since it is an androgen or androgen-like steroid. Also, i don't know how much it could really help me since i am 23 and they say that it is generally only beneficial for those who are older and lack sufficient levels of the hormone.
But thank you, that's certainly something to think about.

ChairmanMAO, it is so great to see you posting here again. Where have you been? (That could be rhetorical if you don't feel like answering). Your posts are seriously so freaking helpful and insightful. i'm a huge fan of the Chairman.
Anyhow, i have a prescription for amantadine (100mg/day then 100mg 2x/day) for my Nardil anorgasmia, but i have only taken it several times so far since i wanted to stabilize my Nardil dose to 60mg (from 45) first (/adapt to it first). i can't really say if it helped or not yet, but it did not really increase my libido or have any significantly noticeable effects-- nothing like even a low dose of a psychostimulant would do, as i had originally expected. (It's strange how i am so sensitive to many different drugs and yet very insensitive to others). But hopefully it will help once i start taking it on a daily basis.
Also, i am somewhat concerned about the anticholinergic effects, to which i am very sensitive. i already have them fairly badly on Nardil. Obviously i am conerned about the whole spectrum of anticholinergic problems, but do you think that the extent of anticholinergic effects might be so high with the addition of amantadine so as to cause me problems with ED, even if it does help with the anorgasmia? (i don't really have problems with this but on Nardil sometimes "it" is not quite as, um... "strong" as it could be-- i hope that makes sense).

Anyone can feel free to answer these questions, of course-- not just who they are directed to.
Thanks so much for anyone who does.

 

Re: Anorgasmia.

Posted by cybercafe on May 30, 2004, at 3:20:45

In reply to Re: Anorgasmia., posted by Questionmark on May 29, 2004, at 20:58:55

Hmmm... I don't actually suffer from anorgasmia, but rather decreased libido. Is this a common side effect as well?

 

Re: Anorgasmia (-cyproheptadine for) » Questionmark

Posted by Sad Panda on May 30, 2004, at 3:47:41

In reply to Re: Anorgasmia (-cyproheptadine for) » Racer, posted by Questionmark on May 29, 2004, at 20:32:44

> > Periactin worked pretty well to alleviate this particular effect for me. It's a very old antihistimine, and is usually used for off label uses now -- like counteracting side effects from other medications. One of the best things about it is that you take it as needed, and it takes about 20 minutes to kick in.
> >
> > The potential downside, of course, is that it's an anti-histimine. Afterwards, you just roll over and go to sleep. (Sometimes this is a good thing, of course...)
> >
> > I can't say that it was perfect, but it really helped increase my ability to experience pleasure.
> >
> > Hope that helps.
>
>
> Racer, thanks for your reply.
> i have a prescription for Periactin (cyproheptadine) that i got a few months ago, but i have only used it a few times, and i don't exactly know how it affects me yet. From my few experiences with it, however, i thINk that the antihistamine effects are too much to benefit from it enough-- i just get too tired and blahhed out (i think). And the one time i took it i felt like crap for most of the next day (i.e., i had that antihistamine hangover that i always get w/ H1 blocking drugs, but i felt even more depressed than i usually do, too)-- which surprised me since i read that cyproheptadine only has a half-life of 4 hours. And because of how crappy i felt, i'm also wondering if the 5-HT2 antagonistic effects have a negative effect on me overall (besides the possible relief of anorgasmia). Oh and i didn't really get much relief from my anorgasmia with it at the doses i used.
> i really need to experiment with it some more. Thank you for the post though. It gives me hope that it might actually work better than i realize so far, and it gives me more motivation to experiment with it some more again.
>

Cyproheptadine is a H1, 5-HT1 & 5-HT2A antagonist. 5-HT2A blockade relieves anorgasmia, 5-HT1 blockade temporarily stops the antidepressant effect SRI's & MAOI's give which hopefully will increase libido. If your libido is OK or not really a problem, then I would have a look for a 5-HT2A blocker that isn't a 5-HT1 blocker.

Cheers,
Panda.

 

Re: Abilify anorgasmia (brief question). » Questionmark

Posted by Sad Panda on May 30, 2004, at 3:55:42

In reply to Abilify anorgasmia (brief question)., posted by Questionmark on May 25, 2004, at 7:54:45

>(i don't really have problems with this but on Nardil sometimes "it" is not quite as, um... "strong" as it could be-- i hope that makes sense).
>
>

Are you trying to say that it's like trying to stuff a marshmallow into a letterbox? :P

Cheers,
Panda.

 

Re: Anorgasmia (-cyproheptadine for) » Sad Panda

Posted by Questionmark on May 30, 2004, at 18:48:07

In reply to Re: Anorgasmia (-cyproheptadine for) » Questionmark, posted by Sad Panda on May 30, 2004, at 3:47:41

> > > Periactin worked pretty well to alleviate this particular effect for me. It's a very old antihistimine, and is usually used for off label uses now -- like counteracting side effects from other medications. One of the best things about it is that you take it as needed, and it takes about 20 minutes to kick in.
> > >
> > > The potential downside, of course, is that it's an anti-histimine. Afterwards, you just roll over and go to sleep. (Sometimes this is a good thing, of course...)
> > >
> > > I can't say that it was perfect, but it really helped increase my ability to experience pleasure.
> > >
> > > Hope that helps.
> >
> >
> > Racer, thanks for your reply.
> > i have a prescription for Periactin (cyproheptadine) that i got a few months ago, but i have only used it a few times, and i don't exactly know how it affects me yet. From my few experiences with it, however, i thINk that the antihistamine effects are too much to benefit from it enough-- i just get too tired and blahhed out (i think). And the one time i took it i felt like crap for most of the next day (i.e., i had that antihistamine hangover that i always get w/ H1 blocking drugs, but i felt even more depressed than i usually do, too)-- which surprised me since i read that cyproheptadine only has a half-life of 4 hours. And because of how crappy i felt, i'm also wondering if the 5-HT2 antagonistic effects have a negative effect on me overall (besides the possible relief of anorgasmia). Oh and i didn't really get much relief from my anorgasmia with it at the doses i used.
> > i really need to experiment with it some more. Thank you for the post though. It gives me hope that it might actually work better than i realize so far, and it gives me more motivation to experiment with it some more again.
> >
>
> Cyproheptadine is a H1, 5-HT1 & 5-HT2A antagonist. 5-HT2A blockade relieves anorgasmia, 5-HT1 blockade temporarily stops the antidepressant effect SRI's & MAOI's give which hopefully will increase libido. If your libido is OK or not really a problem, then I would have a look for a 5-HT2A blocker that isn't a 5-HT1 blocker.
>
> Cheers,
> Panda.

Thanks Panda. But are you sure that cyproheptadine is a 5-HT1 antagonist? i've never seen/read that before. But that is a very helpful and important piece of information to me if it's true, so thank you if it is (& for responding, regardless). Also...

> > (i don't really have problems with this but on Nardil sometimes "it" is not quite as, um... "strong" as it could be-- i hope that makes sense).
> >
>
> Are you trying to say that it's like trying to stuff a marshmallow into a letterbox? :P

Hah, yes. (Good analogy).

 

Re: Anorgasmia (-cyproheptadine for) » Questionmark

Posted by Sad Panda on May 31, 2004, at 13:37:18

In reply to Re: Anorgasmia (-cyproheptadine for) » Sad Panda, posted by Questionmark on May 30, 2004, at 18:48:07

>But are you sure that cyproheptadine is a 5-HT1 antagonist? i've never seen/read that before. But that is a very helpful and important piece of information to me if it's true, so thank you if it is (& for responding, regardless).
>
>

I'm 90% sure, I have read it a few times, it more often called a non-specific 5-HT antagonist. Here's a page I found which says "Other agents, such as methysergide and cyproheptadine, both nonspecific 5-HT1 and 5-HT2 receptor antagonists, are useful adjuncts in treating the serotonin syndrome." http://www.acnp.org/g4/GN401000046/CH046.html

Cheers,
Panda.

 

Thanks. (nm) » Sad Panda

Posted by Questionmark on June 1, 2004, at 4:41:57

In reply to Re: Anorgasmia (-cyproheptadine for) » Questionmark, posted by Sad Panda on May 31, 2004, at 13:37:18


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