Paxil and Sexual Side Effects

Sexual Dysfunction is a Lesser Known Side Effect

I had been feeling overly anxious and having difficulty sleeping. Since I have had anxiety issues in the past, my doctor suggested trying Paxil to alleviate my anxiety symptoms. He briefly went over the more serious side effects of Paxil, those being suicidal ideations, changes in mood and irritability and asked me to come back right away if I experienced any of these serious side effects or if I felt that I was not improving with treatment. Over time, I began to feel better so I didn't give a second thought to side effects. After all, my anxiety was improving and I was sleeping better. From my standpoint, Paxil was working great.

However, after I had been taking Paxil for a period of time, I noticed that intimacy was no longer fulfilling. I just figured I was under stress and that was the reason why there didn't seem to be much, if any, sensation during intimacy. This was incredibly frustrating for me and my spouse. My mind was willing, but my body just would not cooperate and nothing we tried could light the fire, so to speak.

At first, I didn't make the connection. I had no problems with Paxil when I first started taking it, but the doctor had increased the dose a few weeks prior to my problem. The only thing that had changed in recent memory was an increase in my Paxil dose. After a little research, I found that one of the lesser known side effects of taking Paxil is sexual dysfunction. At first, I thought that this side effect had to be for male patients and not female ones. After all, the side effects sheet also cautioned against breast feeding and men do not breast feed! Could the Paxil really be causing this side effect? I was beginning to think that it was a strong possibility, so I made an appointment with my doctor to ask for a dosage reduction back to where I was before he increased my dose.