25 and little to no sex drive.

I turned 25 last month and I should have a high sex drive, should I not? I feel like I have the Sex drive of a 80 year old. I never wake up with morning erections nothing really turns me on, I used to go 24 hours without ejaculation then I’d feel so pent up I’d have to or I feel like id go crazy. Now I can go days and nothing I don’t feel like I have to. Not to mention if I decide to watch porn it’s not cause my body needs release I can get it up but it takes forever to cum. I am on meds and I have been for 6? Years I take paxil for anxiety I was on 40mg but went up to 50mg this whole low sex drive was before the increase. I don’t really exercise. I’m in the IT field and I’m still in the middle of studying and doing exams. I also feel like nothing can make me happy maybe its depression. But I just don’t care for much and even when I think of the future it don’t get excited. Even tho I should be I finished college and I have passed many IT exams many fail at. Any thoughts. I don’t really have anyone to talk to about this I have no GF and its not something id talk to friends about but my few friends no longer live in my area. Also I don’t have suicidal thoughts, so relax :D

I’m not a doctor or an expert by any means but I would say that the issues with your sex drive are related to anxiety and depression. It’s most likely a two fold issue. The medications and your current mental state are most likely taking their toll on you physically. I wouldn’t worry about something being physically wrong with your ability to get an erection and I would try my best to go back to the drawing board and beat the depression. This is going to vary person to person and most likely will be a life long battle with some highs and lows. Talking to a professional councillor may be one option. Or changing something else in your life like physical excercise could also help. You are the only one that will know for sure what the best course of action is to beat it, but it can be done and you can do it with small steps each day.

Get your testosterone levels checked.

Hi Ilovetacos

I made a check on Paxil (active ingredient: Paroxetil) on drugs.com and then on the identical site in Switzerland and for the 40mg variante I can report what follows (source compendium.ch ),
using the detailed information for medical staff called "Fachinformation" and not the more generic text for consumers called "Patienteninformation":

I made a rough translation to English using Google translate and checked it afterwards for major errors

***
…
Adverse effects (commonly called side effects, comment added byRichard65)

…
The adverse effects of paroxetine may decrease in intensity and frequency as a result of therapy.
The following convention was chosen for the classification of adverse effects: Very common (≥1 / 10), often (≥1 / 100, <1/10), occasionally (≥1 / 1000, <1/100), rare (≥1 / 10,000, <1/1000), very rare (<1 / 10,000).

…
Functional disorders of the reproductive system and breast
Very common: sexual dysfunction (13-28% vs placebo 0-1%), libido (3-12% vs. placebo 0-1%), female sexual dysfunction (1-9% vs. placebo 0 -1%).
Rare: hyperprolactinemia / galactorrhea, menstrual disorders including menorrhagia, metrorrhagia, menometrrorhia, delayed menstruation and amenorrhea.
Very rare: priapism.

***

compare the above translation to https://www.dru gs.com/sfx/paxi … de-effects.html and you will see it looks quite different!
A very common side effect like sexual dysfunction is called a MINOR side effect (probably just a terminology convention in the US as this does not affect vital functions).

But in my eyes, this is misguidance of the consumer, because this side effect with that high incidence is not minor but major!
So, in short, my guess is that your missing libido is with high probability a side effect of the year-long usage of Paxil.

It is something to discuss with your MD - looking for functional alternatives for Paxil which do not have this heavy side effect as this is, for a 25 year old man, a very high impact on mental health and self-confidence.
That is the exact wording your MD should hear from you. I well know it is hard to find anti-anxiety drugs that do not have that side effect, but maybe there is one where at least the incidence of this side effect is lower.

Hope this helps you!

Richard65

I have tried other meds in the past but none seem to help my anxiety like paxil does I even stop taking paxil after slowly decrease dosage and the feelings were so intense I guess the withdrawal type faze that I had to start using it again. I kinda figured it was paxil and my none physical life having the impact. Maybe I’ll go back to 40mg then maybe 30mg I don’t wanna go much lower. Also I need to start exercising, and I know anxiety and probably depression is going to be with me for the rest of my life but its just hard to except depression for life. Anyways thanks for the answers and comments, its always nice to let it all out and have someone respond. Thanks

You change your does without or with checking with your doctor?

With the last time I seen her she wanted to up it to 50mg and as I was going to see her this week I decided to go to 50mg myself last monday? But doesnt seem to help much so I will ask if I should continue or go back to 40. I wouldn’t change my does if I knew the Dr didnt want it

It’s the anti-depressants. Legal addictive drugs pushed by big pharma. They fix your anxiety by turning you into an emotionless zombie and killing your sex drive. Withdrawal takes months, some of the symptoms are terrible.

Yes pills are horrible, a Dr wanted to put my brother who was 16 at the time on anti-depressants cause he was depressed he lost his first GF. I laughed and changed his mind on starting the stupid pills. They do more harm then good.

no one has suggested he add dick pills yet, for shame for shame

sarcasm is hard to detect through the Internet

seriously though you just listed like 5 reasons why it’s not in order I would start there

I don’t use marijuana, but lots of people say Indica-heavy strains like Bubble Gum Kush are great for anxiety. I’d sure try that if I was you.

I don’t smoke but would be willing to try pot, specially with it becoming legal in canada.

50 milligrams is a huge dose for paxil. Most people can’t orgasm in the 20 milligram range. BD is right. It’s the antidepressant. Sexual dysfunction is a very common side effect of these meds, so much so that Paxil is frequently prescribed for premature ejaculation at 10 and 20 milligram dosages.

One thing you can do to help overcome this, is to titrate the paxil down (with your dr.’s supervision of course) and possibly add wellbutrin to your medications. Wellbutrin is a NDRI or norepinephrine/dopamine reuptake inhibitor. Many people have this medication added to their regimen to combat the sexual side effects of SSRI. Good luck.

-BD

You need stop taking pills, really (I don’t say that it’s easy) but for sure that’s the reason why you have no sex drive.
Also, for your life you cannot continue to live like that, no only for you sex drive but for your life.

You’re now livid and emotionless, really reduce your pills intake, it will be difficult but be patient.

Again thanks for the continuing stream of comments. I will be going back to 40mg for now and lower after that maybe gotta see the Dr in a few days.