Mental Issues

I was having some hormonal issues a few years after I had my third son. I went back on birth control pills about 6 months ago and have been so much better. I was very short tempered with everyone, depressed, and anxious. It was worse when I was having pms but it was an issue all the time. The bcp really helped and did not really affect my sex drive. Hope you get some help.

Hello my dear - I can relate to no sex drive - after second baby arrived mine was gone- mostly from emotional and physical exhaustion, plus disrupted sleep, breastfeeding, grief, hormonal imbalances.....lack of contact with friends and I didn't take much time out to do thing I enjoy - and I need alone time to recharge. My suggestions are 1) have a saliva hormone test done, plus cortisol to assess your chronic stress level and any hormonal imbalances, 2) get away from the house at least one night a week - stay overnight somewhere else if you can and recharge with enjoyable people and activities - even if just reading or watching tv, 3) exercise a little every day - some days for me its simply vacumming and dusting, washing windows, walking a few blocks, dancing to some lively music - no gym required! 4) of course diet is key and more fresh and simple foods, simply prepared are best. If you can afford buying pre-packed frozen meals, they are a simple way to eat well. I do better when I recuce my carb intake and focus on lean meats, veges and fruits. AND 5) I have found a feel much better in the winter months when I get 5-10 minutes of tanning bed exposure weekly - it has to do with Vit D production - oh yes and take your daily vitamins. 6) delegate house work and delete certain low priority tasks from your to-do list. my husband almost can't understand how my daily to-do list can be so packed - share the work load and use incentives as needed- a chart on the wall is great to track who is doing what each week. Good - luck!

Ask your doctor to check your thyroid!!! If it is overactive- it will send you into a tizzie before you can say "Bob's your uncle"!!! I pray that it isn't that- perhaps you just need a little xanax, or something to go w/ your welbutrin... Give yourself a break!!! You're not wonderwoman; no one is!!!
Best of Luck, and God Bless!!!

Sorry things are hard right now. What I would suggest is to not rely on meds to fix your situation. I think you should talk with someone in addition to the medication. You need to learn the coping skills to decrease the anxiety and if nothing else just to vent so stuff doesn't build. You don't want to be on meds forever.
Best Wishes

Hi S.. I was on Wellbutrin, but it did not help at all, so I switched to Cymbalta. This was great. I had some stomach pains with it, which eventually went away. After a year or so, the Cymbalta seemed not to work as well, so now I am taking a lower dose of Cymbalta plus Zoloft. This is working fairly well.

It seems as though these medications work differently for everyone and do tend not to work as well over time.

I was told Wellbutrin was known not to have sexual side effects, but obviously, this is not the case for you. I had no sex drive with Cymbalta, but it is better now with Zoloft. I know, it is frustrating.

I think your stress is definitely a contributor, but sounds like regardless, a new medication (or adding something to the Wellbutrin) could help.

My goal is to get off these medications this spring/summer; I believe I am ready for this step (I know I was not ready a year ago). I need to start consistently exercising first, which I know should help overall.

I'm not sure if any of this helped, but you are not alone. Hopefully seeing your doctor should help. -A.

Hi S.! I've got some serious anxiety issues myself and take zoloft. After being on it for five years, I started having random rage side effects. Anything would set me off and it was awful. I'd scream and yell and couldn't stop even though I knew it was ridiculous to react that way to things. I talked with my doc and we upped my dose. She explained that as our hormones change in life, so does our medications. The increase has helped. I know making changes in our meds is a slow process and a guessing game, but that's my two cents. Glad you are going to see your doctor, hopefully he or she will help. The sex drive - I can't seem to get that back no matter what. So my husband and I made a pact that we would go no longer than five days without. Day 5 you just gotta do it. Even if I don't have the desire, it's all good once we get started. (Is that TMI?) Also, unfortunately I have found that regular exercise and a decent diet helps immensely with my anxiety. I say unfortunately because I hate exercise and eating right - even though I NEED to do both!

Good luck to you and hang in there!

Hello, S..

I'm sorry to hear about your problems.

I've been under a lot of stress recently, too, and one of my friends is a homeopath, so she asked if I had certain symptoms: was I cranky? Did little things set me off? Was I frustrated with myself but couldn't stop what made me angry? She gave me something called Hepar Sulphur, and that really did the trick for me.

Obviously, you will need to check with your doctors and pharmacists, but it might be worth it to check into homeopathic medicine as well.

Dear S.,

As a Health and Wellness advisor - I would recommend that if you decide to stay with the drugs that you understand how it works (what it is going to do for your body, that your body should be doing for itself?) AND...all of the side effects that come with it.

Then ask yourself would you rather go with a pill that is supposed to make you feel better OR would you really like to feel better and do it naturally?

I could help you learn how to feed your body what it needs, starting with a clinically tested program that is gauranteed to work or your money back...AND there are NO side effects - ONLY side benefits!!

Please reply with your thoughts, S. Rutledge

Stress does crazy things to our bodies and mind, so it could very well be that. Do you see a regular therapist? If not maybe schedule a visit with a true therapist, just talking with someone may help. Do you write in a journal, it's a great way to release the build up of thoughts and worries.

It also could be the medication and need to adjust it. It's my understanding anxiety/depression medication seem cause the have the lack of sex drive.

Sometimes you just need to give yourself a break and give yourself a "you" day. As well as do a small daytrip with just your husband and you, a day were you can just reconnect and enjoy your marriage.

Best of Luck.

I see two of these answers have hormonal issues in their replies. I'm going farther than that saying maybe you need to have your hormone's tested and see if you can balance your hormones to a optimal level. I've been to a seminar about balancing your hormones and this can help at any age. I found a book that maps this out very clearly-here is a link: http://www.naturalhormoneclinic.com/ it lists 37 different symptoms you can have with hormone imbalance. I'm sorry to say this wasn't an option for me (after Breast Cancer they won't prescribe this type of regimen) I might have treated my cancer differently if I had of known this.
This is not to say that you are going into menopause or anything like that, but your hormone levels can fluctuate with all kinds of stimulus, having a baby, taking birth control pills, stress. I wish I would have heard of this earlier, I'm somewhat convinced that I might have not had the cancer since it is linked to estrogen, if I were balanced who knows. Hope this helps, I think it could if you let it.

i know this sounds really stupid, but hear me out! lol.
surprisingly enough, a lot of disorders (like anxiety, depression, ad/adhd, etc) can actually be caused by a persons inability to process chemicals. Cleaning products, hygiene products, you name it are FILLED with caustic chemicals that can cause problems like that. I can speak from experience on this one! i have anxiety also, as well as fibromyalgia and some other health issues. So i know all about the medicine game. it is awful. I switched over all of our cleaning and hygiene stuff to natural based ones that dont have caustic chemicals about 5 months ago and it has made a HUGE difference for us. I have all of my stuff delivered straight to my house. my pain is a quarter of what it used to be and they actually have vitamins that you can take that are natural and can replace anxiety and depression medications and your body doesnt "adjust" to them, because it just gives you what your body needs to stable out. go to www.HealthySafeAndClean.com and there is a list there of products that have caustic chemicals in them that might be making you feel that way. you can even request more information and say that you are looking for alternatives for mental issues and someone will call and help explain all your options. just a thought!

I would go to your pharmacy and ask for information sheets on the meds that you take...all of them..not just the psych meds. Some of the other meds you might be on could have an effect on each other, I would also talk to your pharmacist about the side effects of various meds. I know that some psych meds can effect libedo...so that is possibly the issue with you. I also agree with the other Mom's about seeking some counseling for yourself and your husband...so you are learning coping techniques and not just relying on chemical treatment.
Good luck to you
R. Ann

Hi S.!
I have also suffered from anxiety and took Zoloft for many years, until I found a man named David Kohlhagen. He is a hypnotherapist here in the STL area. My husband and I have both seen David over the last year or so and he has been a marriage saver!! He is not your typical "therapist", he helps you find the root of the anxiety, or any other problem, and then helps you "unleash" it so it no longer troubles you. I know for me, the Zoloft took my sex drive completely away and now I feel better than I have in a very long time. Here is a link to his web site www.tranceformation.us. If you are able to see him, please do so. Like I said, he has changed my life, my husband's life, and many other lives. Good luck to you in whatever road you choose!!

Well I felt like that a lot when I had an IUD. I've never taken meds for anxiety but have for depression a long time ago. the meds never really worked for me at the time but that was when I was a teenager.

I recommend talking to the doctor and it maybe that you have a little bit of depression going on. Also if you are on birthcontrol it can affect how well your meds work. also it can be your body building up an immunity to the meds.

S.,

My son (an adult) has been diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder. He has tried many medications that either didn't help or had side effects which made him feel worse. His therapist had him take a urine test which exposed things in the brain that he might be lacking. His results showed he was low in everything and especially low in seratonin. He has started taking natural supplements to replenish these things and said he is noticing an improvement. You may want to ask your Dr. about this test. I have been taking Prosac for many years and my sex drive is "nil." With supplements instead of pharmacuticals that problem may go away.

Good luck to you!
S.