Amethyst674 Posted May 31, 2018 Share Posted May 31, 2018 I have been taking this medication since March 2018. I have severe gastritis on it, which has not gone away. I have been to the ER 6 times already with either panic attacks or abdominal pain, distention and bloating. I have tried all the "approved" meds on my insurance. I am currently trying to get Saphris through the patient assistance program because I took that one years ago with minimal side effects. But its going to take about a month. In the meantime I am weighing more than ever (I went from 205 to 219) I am still suffering with the Gastritis and I see a gastro on June 4 to have an endoscopy. CT scan basically just shows that I am full of air. But the worse thing I have going on now is that for the last 2 months I have completely no sex drive. My other meds are Effexor 75, clonopin 1 mg bid, adderal 60 mg and stomach meds protonix and famotidine. I have taken effexor before in my late 20s /early 30s and it never messed with my sex drive. I had a brief stint with Abilify about 2 weeks ago I tried switching and my sex drive magically returned. Unfortunately i had to get off the abilify due to severe anxiety and crying jags and overall depression. So I am stuck with Geodon until I can get the Saphris. I am praying they approve it. My partner has been very patient. But I myself am feeling very frustrated because i was always a very sexual person. I even tried adding Wellbutrin to see if that would help, but I have a paradoxical effect to wellbutrin that it makes me extremely tired. In the meantime we are going to try raising my effexor to 150 ( I am still a bit depressed on the current dose) and see if that helps. Has anyone else had there sex drive disapear on Geodon? I also forgot to mention that I also cannot reach orgasm. This is truly a nightmare for me and I NEED to be on an AAP. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank u. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt07 Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 Have you had your prolactin level checked? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydroCat Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 75mg Effexor is low, I think it is the minimal dose. It may be worth trying to increase Effexor and then maybe reduce some of the AAP, whichever one you are on at the moment. Depression is also bad for sex drive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRedhead Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 (edited) 12 hours ago, Amethyst674 said: Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank u. I agree with increasing the Effexor to at least 150mg, and even at that dose, you would still have room to increase it, if your doc thinks it would help. Which antipsychotics have you tried so far, besides Geodon and Abilify? Also, I agree with @jt07 that you should get your prolactin levels checked......High prolactin levels can affect your sex drive. Edited June 1, 2018 by CrazyRedhead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst674 Posted June 1, 2018 Author Share Posted June 1, 2018 Yes thank you. I will check my prolactin levels. And I am in the process of increasing the effexor. I started today at 112.5 and that will be for a week. Then I go up to 150. I have tried all AAP. The ones I was longest on was Saphris (till I stopped getting samples)and Vraylar. I had to get off Vraylar due to developing TD in my mouth and also it made me develop a fear of driving. The other AAP I have tried all give me one side effect or another. Zyprexa made me gain and eat like a horse. Seroquel made me weird and wiry the next day. Rexulti gave me depression and the list goes on. Risperdal made me panicky at night and hear voices (and i am not schizo) Saphris made me a bit flat and unmotivated but I was on a very low dose of AD at the time and I was not taking adderal. Most importantly it did not give me sexual side effects. So that is the one I am trying to get now but I have about a 4 week wait for the PAP to go through. In the meantime I feel fat and unsexy with no drive at all. But hey I am stable at least so I guess I just have to be patient. I see a Gastro on Monday and am going to have an endoscopy but I am already on Famotidine 40 and Protonix 40. I don't see what he can possibly give me or do for me but anyway...I was popping alka seltzer and Pepto like crazy till I discovered something in Walgreens called Comfort Gel. Its supposed to be like Mylanta. It helps with Acid and Gas and it also makes me go to the Bathroom alot in the AM. I have felt better since I found this and its only 5 bucks. The ER Dr. had put me on Carafate tid before meals , but I read that it interferes with your meds and since Geodon is taken with meals I cannot take the Carafate. ( I basically take meds at all hours) Thank you for all your help. My hope for now is that the Effexor increase will help till I can get the Saphris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyRedhead Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 23 minutes ago, Amethyst674 said: My hope for now is that the Effexor increase will help till I can get the Saphris. Please keep posting and let us know how you're doing......I hope the Saphris works out for you, once you start taking it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst674 Posted June 1, 2018 Author Share Posted June 1, 2018 Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearhead Posted June 1, 2018 Share Posted June 1, 2018 Geodon utterly killed my sex drive. Totally gone for the entire time I was on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cerberus Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 Your current dose of Effexor is indeed the lowest therapeutic dose, and you may get some greater relief from depression through a dosage increase. Be aware, however, that for some people, one side effect of Effexor is that it can delay or impede orgasm. Given that you're already reporting a problem in that department, the Effexor may not help you there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HydroCat Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 (edited) 6 hours ago, Cerberus said: Your current dose of Effexor is indeed the lowest therapeutic dose, and you may get some greater relief from depression through a dosage increase. Be aware, however, that for some people, one side effect of Effexor is that it can delay or impede orgasm. Given that you're already reporting a problem in that department, the Effexor may not help you there. I can only speak from my experience etc. When I had this problem on Cymbalta+Abilify, my pdoc thought it was the Cymbalta, because SNRIs are known to cause SD. That sent me on a journey theough Milnacipran->Wellbutrin->Trintellix->back to Cymbalta->Effexor. And the culprit turned out to be the Abilify being too high. Decreased abilify and SD was gone. Who knew Now I'm on 225 Effexor and better than ever Edited June 2, 2018 by HydroCat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikl_pls Posted June 2, 2018 Share Posted June 2, 2018 You know I think I remember that my sexual function disappeared when I was on Geodon the first time. The second time though, I don't seem to remember it being affected... weird... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst674 Posted June 2, 2018 Author Share Posted June 2, 2018 Lol. Michael, I am glad you made your cameo appearance on this post 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst674 Posted June 5, 2018 Author Share Posted June 5, 2018 My attempt at increasing the Effexor was an Epic Failure.Except my sex drive did make an appearance. But, I got into a mixed episode. So now I am back on 75. (I am very sensitive to AD's, I used to take Lexapro 5) So now just waiting for the PAP to deliver my Saphris and until then I imagine there won't be much sex going on in June for me lol. I am going to move this topic to the Saphris section. Because I have some questions about it (It has been years since I took it. Thank you all for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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