Everything You Need To Know About PSSD | Interview with David Healy

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Disclaimer: All of the information on this channel is for educational purposes and not intended to be specific/personal medical advice from me to you. Watching the videos or getting answers to comments/question, does not establish a doctor-patient relationship. If you have your own doctor, perhaps these videos can help prepare you for your discussion with your doctor.

[andreasbergem]

Blank mind, aphantasia, loss of inner monologue, depersonalization/derealization, numb skin, numb emotions, numb genitals, erectile dysfunction, chronic fatigue and the list goes on...

[BoostYourBiology]

💎PSSD is terrible. Thanks for giving it more attention.

[Pat-ke]

What an amazing sentence at "I'm sure there's researchers out there that have the answer to the problem they just don't know there's a problem they have the answer to." Thank you!

[andywilson]

I appreciate David Healy for being one of the few doctors who has been speaking about the harms of SSRIs for decades. However, I have a few disagreements with what he said here:

1. Just because multiple drugs can cause sexual dysfunction does not mean the mechanism by which they do so is the same. Sexual dysfunction from finasteride could have a completely different cause from SSRIs. I think this should be the default hypothesis unless we have a good reason to think otherwise.

2. Numb genitals are not a requirement for PSSD. While it is true that numb genitals are a good indicator that a person has PSSD, there are plenty of people who experience some level of sexual dysfunction after stopping an SSRI without any numbness. There are also those who did have numb genitals for a period of time, but it eventually recovered. However, they may still have a lower libido and other sexual problems that persist. Claiming that if you don't have numb genitals, you don't have PSSD, is an oversimplification.

3. David's hypothesis that PSSD is a peripheral problem doesn't match my (and many other peoples) experiences. He seemed to suggest that lower libido in PSSD is a consequences of the numbing causing you to start to lose interest in sex. As someone who has experienced it first hand, I don't think this is true. At it's worst, I would look at a picture of a naked women (as a hetro male) and I would feel nothing, it would be like looking at a picture of a tree or a rock. It very much felt like the part of my brain that interprets the patterns the make a woman attractive was completely shut off. If it was just a peripheral nerve problem it's hard to imagine how this could happen. In addition to this, even when my genital numbness was most severe I would still feel touch on my genitals. It was like I was touching my arm, there was just a complete lack of sexually pleasurable feeling.

PSSD is a misleading name because there is a large group of symptoms that people can experience post-SSRI, and sexual dysfunction is just one of the more common ones. If you look at the entire range of symptoms that people experience during SSRI withdrawal and that can persist for years afterwards, it's difficult to not come to the conclusion that something went wrong in the brain. These symptoms include: brain zaps, brain fog, head pressure, fatigue, poor focus, low energy, lack of motivation, emotional numbness, lack of creativity, inability to connect with others, anger, mood swings, anxiety, depersonalization, insomnia etc.

Of course, it's possible that he is right and it is a sensory problem, but I am sceptical of that idea at the moment.

[fhkazm]

I've suffered with this condition most of my life. I am now 66 years old and after decades of searching for a cause, I'm beginning to understand the problem. Years of SSRI's that were prescribed for me when I was an adolescent for simple anxiety . My life was ruined by these medications. Please keep reporting on this issue and thank you for your attention to this subject !

[LALA-dwez]

Thank you so much for bringing up the topic! My girlfriend and me both used SSRIs. Then we stopped. She was fine, but I developed PSSD.

[afkVahn]

Dr. Healy, dr. Witt, thank you for bringing attention to this! But we urgently need more research and funds. I suffer from PFS myself, similar to PSSD, and it has destroyed my life. I’ve been chemically castrated since my early thirties, suffering for years. Please help us. This existence is inhumane and torture every single day. Tomorrow I’ll have to suffer all over again. And the day after again. I can’t do this much longer.

[chaddunning]

I am so grateful that there are good people out there like you two that are willing to fight for those of us that are not able to do much to fight for ourselves after being so damaged by a system that we trusted to help us. This condition is devastating and I hold onto hope that we will find answers someday! To all my fellow brothers and sisters suffering from this unique hell I say hang in there!! We are worth saving!

[SuperCody]

Thank you for another amazing interview spreading awareness about PSSD

[jeremyellis]

I could listen to Dr Healy all day! And you too Dr josef!

[horstspreu]

I'm thankful for the work of you Dr Healy

[mindnatic]

Thank you both. We are abandoned and ridiculed for almost everyone. People like you give us some hope!

[alexthegreatestmusic]

Ive been destroyed by finasteride though I took SSRIS for a time before that. All I can say is I hope our suffering will come to an end soon, save us from this living death. I mean who can understand what its like to have your humanity taken away and still be alive? Its just so over.

[loelclements]

I just learned of this PSSD and it seems that I fit these experiences and examples. At least now after 15 years something makes some sense about these problems.

[tomburns]

Thank you so much for this video. At around 23:57, Dr. Healy hits upon something that rings true with me. I've had PSSD for well over 15 years and I've applied for MAiD (Medical Assistance in Dying). For myself, there is just no point in carrying on.

Once again, thank you for this video and I hope more awareness leads to a cure very soon.

[Smattyy]

Doctors gave me sertraline at 11(!) years of age. I took it through my entire puberty. They even gave me risperidone at 18 for anxiety. I've had PSSD my entire life. Been drug free for 10 years now. (I'm 36 now).
No libido, genital numbness, no orgasms, low volume semen.
My testosterone is within range (17 nmol/L) and everything is in check just Slightly high prolactin.
I have brain fog, dry skin and all kinds of symptoms. Symptoms are related to low testosterone. My theory is that PSSD is a damage on androgen receptors mostly. But also something going on with the serotonergic and dopaminergic system. I don't believe that it is nerve damage in the genitalias. Althougt it probably leads to this eventually because of lack of blood flow from not working.
Mirtazapine/buspirone and some dopaminergic meds can lessen the PSSD symptoms.
Testosterone treatment usuallt don't work but some have healed using high dose TRT followed by PCT.

Just sharing my knowledge after suffering from this my entire life. I will probably end my life soon because of this.

[SneezingPanda]

Thanks for helping us when we were failed so badly by the medical system. One question that might be worth asking is how might you explain the windows phenomenon where some people have periods of some symptom relief before worsening to baseline again?

[christopherp.]

Dr. Witt I hope you see this. This is tricky to talk about. I don't have genital numbness but I do experience persistent sexual dysfunction that I have not recovered from "9months" after discontinuation of SSRIs. I also have other symptoms that resemble pssd/PFS and I think a lot of people in this community experience the same. It's more nuanced. I think it's strange David put this in another unknown category...and says these symptoms go away over time. It sounds like he's trying to push the nerve ending issue/small fiber neuropathy. But I'm not going to disregard that theory...it may still be plausible. While on SSRIs I experienced complete numbness and impotence. Now that I'm off medication, the numbness went away but the sexual dysfunction endured...even after 4 years. I also experience emotional bluntness, some brain fog, and muscle fatigue. This is a big issue and I worry it might be brushed aside because it's not in the category of PSSD like he said. It makes me and others confused and not sure what to do then...if we can't even identify what we are experiencing.

[ralfj.]

I used to take Citalopram for a year, I'm so glad I didn't get PSSD. Thereafter I was prescribed Mirtazapin (which is no SSRI), been taking it for years (7.5 mg) to sleep more, fortunately it doesn't cause me any sexual disorders, I still very much want and enjoy sex, I just have a somewhat increased appetite.

[TheDavveponken]

I think it's the reversible vascular restriction syndrome that causes an impaired blood flow to various areas of brain and body, including the nervous system. Its been linked to ssri treatment.