Symptoms: Emotional blunting, sexual dysfunction, cognitive impairment
I was prescribed the SSRI citalopram/celexa for moderate depression in my late teens. I was on a standard dose, 30mg, for several years. I took it as prescribed and felt it was somewhat effective, but was disturbed by ongoing sexual dysfunction as a side effect. I began to taper off with the supervision of my doctor at the age of 23.
One morning, two weeks into the taper period, I woke up and immediately knew something was wrong. There was a cold, numb sensation in my genitals and my thoughts felt slow. Over the next few days and weeks I realized I’d been stripped of all sexual sensation in my body, my clitoris was numb and I my cognition was negatively impacted. These symptoms have remained static for SEVEN YEARS now despite being off medication since that time. No doctor or specialist has been able to help.
It is not possible to describe how mutilated I still feel every single day. The cognitive impacts reduced my ability to retain information, so much so that I had to drop out of university. The sexual mutilation has prevented me from forming any kind of sexual/romantic partnership.
PSSD can so much more than “sexual dysfunction”. It can be the total elimination of sexuality, along with emotional and cognitive deficits. It can be mild in some people, while for others it destroys their identity, relationships and entire lives.
There are many, many more stories like mine. Read them + current research at pssdnetwork.org and pssdinstitute.org