I am Wondering if Paxil Caused This??

[billythebaxter]

Originally Posted by keaster

If you really want to pick the "study" apart you can

"Studies investigating testosterone levels and mood disorders have shown conflicting results. Levels of testosterone in 12 depressed males were compared to age-matched normal controls by Levitt and Joffe in 1988. No significant differences were noted between the patient and control groups. In 1991, Steiger et al. evaluated nocturnal testosterone secretion in 12 patients with major endogenous depression and found that blunted testosterone and elevated cortisol secretion were markers of acute depression prior to treatment. Testosterone concentration increased after remission from the depression, following drug cessation. Lower testosterone levels were also observed in an evaluation of healthy male internal medicine residents; suggesting that chronic stress and sleep deprivation may play a role in testosterone levels.

He didnt cite the Steiger et al study.

They needed pre treatment baselines. Many persons with psychological issues have altered endocrine systems. Even if it was published-baselines are needed. This is because low t can casue depression and vice versa. Also, to small of a sample size and no control group.



Read-

Schweiger, U et al., Psychosom Med 61 (3): 292-296, 1999.
"Psychiatric inpatients with major depression tend to have higher cortisol and 40% lower T than control subjects with no depression"

i see your point but i can assure u i had no problems at all gaining muscle and having sex all night long before i started the SSRI's...despite suffering from an anxiety disorder for years....
therefore, i conclude that my T levels were not an issue to me pre-ssri treatment.

[keaster]

Originally Posted by billythebaxter

i see your point but i can assure u i had no problems at all gaining muscle and having sex all night long before i started the SSRI's...despite suffering from an anxiety disorder for years....
therefore, i conclude that my T levels were not an issue to me pre-ssri treatment.

The only thing I can say then would be to see a competent doctor on the issue.

[billythebaxter]

Originally Posted by keaster

The only thing I can say then would be to see a competent doctor on the issue.

well im working with an endo...we're currently running tests to rule out other causes...but if all those come back negative then it looks like the paxil was the cause and i will discontinue, he seems to have suspicions about paxil and low t...as soon as he saw what my current medications his face lit up like he had seen this many times b4.

[FYI777]

SSRI's are well known(for a long time) to cause sexual problems and the way I read it the study cited attempts to find out if it's related to testosterone levels, both total levels AND free test levels.

Yes depression by itself definitly lowers libido, BUT the fact that SSRI's lift the depression AND still the high incidence of lowered libido makes this study due and something to consider.


There are so many stories about SSRI's and sexual problems out there (lots of people are too embarrassed to tell the docter about them) how do you explain it?

And if you had low test to begin with, for sure these meds could push you over into ED territory.