Update

[Guest guest]

It's been a few months since stopping the Amisulpride so Ithought I

would give a bit of an update.

I had a blood test a few weeks ago for prolactin, and itseems that it

has returned to a normal level (just over 100). Unfortunately,

Ihaven't noticed any changes in my physical symptoms. I feel my

libido hasimproved slightly, but that's about it. I'm aware that

people have mentionedgenital numbness, but I was wondering if it's

the same as what I'mexperiencing. Does it feel like the penis tissue

is softer? I'm not sure how todescribe it. I ask this because I am

still experiencing morning erectionspretty much every day and even when

I take a nap. I'm just a bit worried thishas damaged the tissue or

something. But if that was the case I probably wouldn'tbe able to

get an erection at all, I'm not sure. What do people think?

So, I'm not sure where to go from here. I'm thinking ofgetting

more blood tests done but not sure what to get tested, any ideas?

I'mstill very stressed out about all this and I think it's the

biggest thingcontributing to my insomnia at the moment which is really

getting me down. Ialways wake up about an hour or so after initially

falling asleep, then a fewmore times throughout the night. Can anyone

relate to this?

Is there any other advice anyone can give? I'm wonderingwhat

supplements I could try. I've read about how people have tried all

kindsof things, seems like Omega3 is often suggested but I stopped

taking it forsome reason. Maybe I should start again.

Thanks for reading and any advice you can provide.

>

>

> Hi everyone. I've been reading the messages in this group for a

> while now, but never actually posted here. Mostly because I've been

> so depressed and lacked the motivation to even write about the

problems

> I'm facing. I'm pretty certain I have PSSD, but I discovered

> something recently that has really got me wondering. I'll just let

> you know about my history a bit.

>

> Early in 2006 I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia due to a

> cannabis induced psychosis. After a couple of month's treatment in

> hospital I was discharged and was doing quite well. I was taking 200mg

> of Amisulpride and 50mg of Sertraline, which seemed to work well for

me.

>

> After about a year and a half of being on these meds I was feeling

great

> and felt I didn't need the Sertraline anymore so discussed with my

> doctor about coming off it. I was not advised to taper off the

> Sertraline, so stopped cold turkey and didn't think anymore of it. I

> didn't really experience any withdrawal symptoms, but a couple

> months later the depression returned and was worse than ever.

>

> I talked to my doctor and we agreed I should go back on the

Sertraline.

> After a month or so I wasn't seeing any improvement in my depressive

> symptoms, so he suggested upping the dose to 100mg. This is when I

> started experiencing the sexual side effects, which was extremely

> delayed orgasm at first. I ignored this as it didn't really concern

> me too much, but after a couple weeks of taking it I noticed I was

> finding it more difficult to get/maintain an erection. This obviously

> concerned me quite a lot, so I decided to stop taking the Sertraline

> without even discussing it with my doctor (probably not a good idea).

> The sexual problems continued, I thought they would go away after a

few

> weeks but they didn't. I noticed a slight improvement a couple

> months after stopping, but it has not been the same since. Of course

my

> doctor strongly denied that the Sertraline could have caused the

> problems, so a couple months ago I went for a blood test. All of the

> levels were within the normal range, except for prolactin which was

> elevated. Here are the results:

>

> Prolactin: 721 mu/L (reference range 45 – 375)

>

> Serum TSH level: 2.04 mu/L (0.35 - 5.50)

>

> Serum free T4 level: 15.6 pmol/L (10.0 - 21.0)

>

> Serum testosterone: 13.2 nmol/L (8.4 – 28.7)

>

> There are a few others but not sure if they're relevant.

>

> I discussed the results with my doctor and he seems to think that the

> high prolactin is due to the Amisulpride I'm still taking. We agreed

> I should taper off it, so I am currently taking 100mg for the next

> couple of months before I stop completely. He believes the Amisulpride

> is the cause of my sexual dysfunction, but I'm not sure. It just

> seems too much of a coincidence that the problems came about at the

time

> I was taking the 100mg of Sertraline. He said it would take a couple

of

> months or so after stopping the Amisulpride to see an improvement, so

I

> guess all I can do is wait.

>

> What are your views on this? Is it likely the raised prolactin is

> causing the problems? I have been going over this in my mind so much

and

> have had suicidal thoughts for months now. I guess I just need some

> reassurance.

>

> I'm not sure if anyone will be able to shed any light on this

> situation, but I thought just writing about it would ease my mind

> somewhat. Thanks in advance for any replies.

>