I'm 43 and never had any issues with testosterone until recently as I've posted here. Perhaps not coincidentally, about 2 yrs ago I started to take Paxil, which I took for about 1 1/4 yrs and stopped when I gained a bit a weight despite a healthy diet and gym routine. This was replaced by Wellbutrin for all of 4 weeks, which in that short time made my erections disappear. I dropped that ASAP.

Why did I take this crap despite my distaste for drugs and the like? I felt unexplained anxiety and decided to try it out of consideration for my wife and kids.

In any event, I've researched the issue and remain puzzled. There appears to be a line of thought for the proposition that SSRI drugs can have long lasting effects on sexual response. Also possible, of course, is that I had earlier low-T than I thought which manifested as anxiety.

In short, is anyone here aware of this and what can you share? This whole topic has become rather consuming for me to say the least.

Thanks to all in advance.

I'm not sure of the exact mechanism of action, but sexual dysfunction is the single, biggest side effect of SSRI's. I think I read somewhere that it causes sexual dysfunction in up to 40% of people who take them. I also read that the effects can last long after the medication is discontinued. I'm talking years.

I'm not sure of the exact mechanism of action, but sexual dysfunction is the single, biggest side effect of SSRI's. I think I read somewhere that it causes sexual dysfunction in up to 40% of people who take them. I also read that the effects can last long after the medication is discontinued. I'm talking years.


If the issues can or may resolve, even if it takes "years" I'd rather give things a chance to work out naturally before starting the life altering and permanent regimen of testosterone replacement.

Can anyone else shed any light on this? Can SSRIs cause hypogonadism? Any chance it can reverse with time or other therapies?

Have you actually had a testosterone test done to verify you are actually low on testosterone or are you just trying to make a connection with the loss of erections? Other symptoms of low testosterone are fatigue, loss of energy, and loss of muscle mass. Do you have any of these other things? If not, like I said, its probably the AD medication. It's a WELL KNOWN side effect and is probably by far the biggest complaint in people who use them. SSRI's do not act on or effect testosterone. They act on serotonin in the brain and as a side effect by some other mechanism of action cause sexual dysfunction. I'm pretty sure you'll get it back. It just may take some time.

I don't know for sure if the SSRI's can be the cause of low T. There have been a number of people who have been on SSRI's and now have low T. But you also have to realize one of the symptoms of low T is depression and axiety so they may have already had low T when they were put on SSRI's and just didn't know it yet. The previous posters seemed to know their action in the body better than me but the coincidence is striking. It is true their big side effect is ED related.

I wonder if there is a connection. I too have also been on different SSRI's from Paxil, Lexapro, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin, and Zoloft and now I have the low-T. I see if there is reserach on this. I typed "low testosterone SSRI" and came up with alot of studies!

Very intriguing.

Have you actually had a testosterone test done to verify you are actually low on testosterone or are you just trying to make a connection with the loss of erections? Other symptoms of low testosterone are fatigue, loss of energy, and loss of muscle mass. Do you have any of these other things? If not, like I said, its probably the AD medication. It's a WELL KNOWN side effect and is probably by far the biggest complaint in people who use them. SSRI's do not act on or effect testosterone. They act on serotonin in the brain and as a side effect by some other mechanism of action cause sexual dysfunction. I'm pretty sure you'll get it back. It just may take some time.


See my thread on this board here: http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=476687

I am VERY concerned and fear that my efforts to alleviate minor anxiety may may caused life altering problems. I have no proof---yet. What concerns me is that I've been off all the meds for a good 3 months and still have T levels in the basement.

As I say elsewhere here, I am not starting any kind of test. replacement therapy until ALL other causes and possibilities are ruled out and then some. I've already printed out much material both from here and my own research and will be discussing this at length with the endo.

jws3, ****** "Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction".

I've already spend many hours doing just that. There is a plethora of info regarding ED issues and hints, rumours and more about low T levels.

Temporary and reversible effects are one thing. Permanent, life destroying hormonal changes are quite another.......

Testosterone doesn't suddenly drop to low levels. Usually there is a time period of several years as the levels decrease and the symptoms slowly become apparent. It is clear that one result of decreasing testosterone is depression, mood swings, social isolation and self image problems.

Naturally you start to notice the lower moods first and the result is often a trial of several types of anti-depressants which mostly don't work very well because all you are doing is trying to mask the real problem. Eventually the low testosterone leads to other problems like muscle loss and low libideo.

In addition other hormone problems like low thyroid can make taking supplementary testosterone ineffective. When one hormone doesn't work it has an effect on the whole system that can result in mutiple hormone deficiencies.

It is known that some anti-depressants can change the hormone prolactin levels and so it is possible that other hormone systems are also affected. It would be hard to see how the change could be permanent because the prolactin levels return to normal fairly quickly after stopping the anti-depressants.