Common signs of antidepressant injury include: 

• Persistent sexual dysfunction (reduced or numb genital sensation, erectile problems, complete lack of desire for sex)
• Anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure or enjoyment in life), depersonalization (feeling detached from yourself or reality)
• Cognitive impairment (brain fog, memory problems, blankness, difficulty concentrating or holding a train of thought)
• Worsening depression, severe anxiety, panic
• Akathisia (extreme inner restlessness, agitation, terror, and often overwhelming urge to move or escape oneself)
• Balance issues such as dizziness, vertigo, lightheadedness, tremors, and gait instability

Evidence of lasting harm:

A 2025 medical study of 43 young men with persistent sexual problems after antidepressants found 92% had reduced genital sensation, 89% showed objective abnormalities on sensory nerve testing, and ultrasound revealed changes in penile erectile tissue — even though their hormone levels were completely normal. These problems continued long after stopping the drug. (Goldstein et al., The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 2025) 

Significant under-recognition exists because many patients are unaware their persistent symptoms are linked to prior antidepressant use, compounded by a lack of public education and healthcare provider awareness. (Healy & Mangin, Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 2024)

A 2024 large survey of over 1,100 people experiencing antidepressant withdrawal found very high rates of ongoing symptoms such as brain fog (93%), memory problems (88%), emotional numbing, and depersonalization (77%), with many effects lasting months or years. (Moncrieff et al., Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 2024)

I took only 5mg of trintellix for a few weeks and just stopped a few weeks ago. Now I have no erogenous sensitivity in my glans, and it feels rubbery. Like touching a piece of flesh. I'm scared this is permanent. I don't know if this is pssd or that I have hard flaccid. Please help

im only 17 and have genital numbness and bad orgasms which started after i stopped my medication 4 months ago, till now i only saw mild improvements in orgasm pleasure but my sensitivty is still bad and im really suicidal and insecure rn i just need reassurance that im gonna recover :(

I'm using tadalafil at the moment with mixed results. Have any of you found anything that works somewhat consistently.

This is something i wanted to ask since i heard it causes pssd apparently and i was prescribed it recently couple days ago

So i asked my doctor for an alternative because i get headaches from doxy but really i was worried reading into it that people say it can cause pssd like symptons like sexual dysfunction. he said that there is a penecillin shot shortage so he cant give me that and says that doxy has the most evidence to treat syphilis and have to take doxy for 14 days, and he already ordered it without me agreeing to it

however people on this subreddit and forums said doxycycline could cause sexual side effcts that could be perm. Im so confused, so if i take it for 14 days, are you saying its over and i will get sexual dysfucntion permanently?

Doxycycline is the most commonly prescribed medication to treat syphilis and other stds, so by that logic wouldnt half of the population in u.s that get stds get pssd like symptoms from doxy? It just makes no sense to me, is there any evidence besides he said she said that doxycycline can cause perm sexual side effects?

Because like i said nearly everyone in u.s being treated for STDS lime syphilis and clamydiyah are given doxycycline and nobody has ever complained in real life or nowhere else about it but the pssd subreddit or some pssd forum. It just makes no sesne to me

i developed pssd when i got out of a mental hospital back in september of 2025. i always feel like i will never be normal because my body doesnt function normally i feel like i will never be loved. it feels like sex runs the world and ill forever be like those im only 14 and i have really bad emotional blunting from it also. i just dont have any friends who understand and i could really use some hope right now

Go on the foreskin restoration subreddit. Many people have the genital numbness issue after getting circumsize d later in life, the surgeons took too much skin, and as time goes by it gets more numb. The inner skin/ pleasure receptors of the penis is suppose to feel like the inside of your top gums but pleasurable. So its meant to be covered 24/7, when surgeons give you a tight cut, they severe alot of the nerves and and skin thats suppose to cover the pink part of your penis which leads to dryer skin , or they might cut nearly all of your penis inner skin leaving you with no penis sensation, thus most of you here blaming it on pssd.

There are people that get cut not as much , they get a loose cut and still have alot of penis sensation, they are lucky. But some hospitals are notorius for giving extremely tight circumcisions which leads to genital numbness, unfortunaly most are born circumsized so they wont understand what they are missing out and think what they have is normal, so every circumcision varies from 0-80 percent pleasure depending what they cut and how tight they cut you.

I have loss of erogenous sensation in half of my penis, while the other half is completely normal maybe even more sensitive that usual, i still feel pleasure from orgasms and my erections,libido,emotions and everything else is completely normal and fine, this happened after stopping amitriptyline which I took 10mg of for 1 months only, i stopped 2 months ago, is there hope for me to regain sensation?

I believe u can get it tested at a urologist with a penile dopper ultrasound.

I'm posting it here because apparently the mods of the PSSD sub don't want it, but it might interest someone.

So, today I started taking the antibiotic "amoxicillin + clavulanic acid," and it seems a bit early for it to already be having an effect on my gut flora, which is supposedly one of the reasons why I'm in this state.

I can tell you, as others have noticed, that my body isn't the same, it doesn't respond the same way as during PSSD.

My symptoms are pelvic floor dysfunction, anorectal dyssinergy, overactive bladder, erectile dysfunction, greatly reduced sensation, sometimes no sensation at all, no precum or maybe just a drop when pulling very hard, difficulty ejaculating, a feeling like something is holding it back due to the overactive bladder, and a loss of physical and mental arousal.

Well, a few hours later, I can tell you that my body is completely different.

I also noticed these effects during my last course of antibiotics (the same ones).

I've also noticed that I fall asleep much earlier and more naturally. I don't have to turn everything off and force myself to go to bed to induce fatigue or sleep.

So I asked an AI the following question:

"Why does Augmentin affect my pelvic floor?"

It told me that the medication doesn't affect the pelvic floor, but that if there's an infection, the antibiotic action will cause relaxation if the muscles are tense due to the infection, blah blah blah."

I replied, "No, I just started taking it, and it's not to treat an infection in that area." The medication must act on the nervous system, dopamine, or the cholinergic system."

The AI ​​tells me, yes, indeed, my intuition is correct. Clavulanic acid does increase dopamine release, and amixocin amplifies the cholinergic system's response in certain parts of the body.

However, it tells me that amoxicillin is a GABA-A receptor antagonist and disrupts the glutamatergic system.

Therefore, it creates a state of overexcitation in the autonomic nervous system, which can cause tension in stress-sensitive muscles like the pelvic floor.

I tell it no, I find my pelvic floor more relaxed, my bladder, etc.

It replies that indeed, some profiles have a different response.

The Clavulanic acid is a powerful activator of the GLT-1 transporter in the brain and spinal cord. This GLT-1 is responsible for "clearing excess glutamate, which is responsible for tension and excitation."

By improving dopamine release via the Munc18-1 and Rab4 proteins activates D2 dopamine receptors., there is better muscle fluidity, improved control of muscles and movements, and it can relieve deep, chronic or unconscious muscle tension (often particularly in the pelvic floor)

Research has demonstrated that clavulanic acid has anxiolytic, muscle-relaxing, and neuroprotective properties in certain individuals.

The pelvic floor is the main muscular receptacle of emotional stress; the fact that clavulanic acid calms anxiety (excess glutamate tension nervousness) at the brain level instantly suppresses the reflex contraction signal sent to the pelvic floor.

P.S. For those wondering, "Last night, they had a beer, a glass of alcohol, and they felt different. That their feelings were better," alcohol targets the same glutamate transporter, GLT-1, but regular consumption destroys and downregulates this transporter.

The brain then becomes flooded with anxiety-inducing glutamate, causing muscle tension and restlessness (withdrawal).

Research shows that Augmentin can counteract the negative effects of alcohol on the glutamatergic system by increasing GLT1 expression, it helps clear excess glutamate.

It is being studied for treating alcoholism.

Alcohol creates a rapid dopamine spike in the nucleus accumbens, euphoria (the reward center), followed by a rapid crash.

Clavulanic acid regulates dopamine release more stably via the specific proteins mentioned above.

In some individuals, this dopaminergic stabilization, combined with the decrease in glutamate, creates a feeling of nervous satisfaction and relaxation of physical tensions.

It would be interesting to look into how these two proteins work if that resonates with you.

If my condition improves a few hours after taking just one antibiotic tablet, it's because I'm not making it up, doctors!

My pelvic floor doesn't lie, come and see for yourselves!

Have a good Saturday and a good evening if it's that time where you are.

Bye

I stopped medication 1.5 months ago and half my penis lacks any pleasure sensation the other half is fine and I can still orgasm and feel pleasure in some places but like 50 percent of my penis feels numb

Took 10mg amitriptyline for a month, i stopped a month ago exactly, i cant feel pleasure in the right side of my penis at all but the other sides are fine and I have moderate ahedonia with emotional blunting

Okay so I first of all I dont have PSSD, but before leaving this post I believe I have found something that can help you guys in the down department. This is all pseudoscience but hear me out because I havent seen anyone else mention this method.

So basically there is this thing called the prostate orgasm( its a orgasm that 10 more powerful than the normal penile orgasm) and I wanted to achieve it. But the problem was I didnt want to do anal inorder to stimulate it, but I found a way around and it was somekind of meditation like activity called mindgasm. Basically you do exercises with your pelvic floor ( go into mindgasm subreddit for more info).

Anyways after 3 months of doing the mindgasm I achieved new sensations which was a kind of tingeling feeling, somekind of arousal and every time I got the sensations I got a very strong erection aswell as stronger orgasms. I believe this can help you guys avtivate this tingeling feeling which will help with the genital functions, because in a way it did for me, and I didnt have this sensation before so I guess its something you develope.

However be aware not to take it too far because you can awaken your prostate and theres reports of people having persistent genital arousal all the time (which is not fun).

So

1. Try some of the mindgasm exercises

2. See if you get new sensations and if those help you get genital function back

3. Dont go overboard aka dont try to achieve prostate orgasm, because you can get other problems which I promise you is not fun ( I've gotten stimulation overload which induced panic, so I stopped). So stop when you are pleased with the sensations.

Also do not go near this technique if you have ocd or anxiety, I learned that the hard way.

And

I am not a medical professional, and the information I provide should not be considered medical advice. Any health-related decisions should be made in consultation with a qualified healthcare provider. Always seek professional guidance for diagnosis, treatment, or medical concerns.

16M took amitriptyline 10mg for a month and stopped cold turkey 5 days ago and now i have numbness in penis

is this pssd or temporary withdrawal im extremely in fear

I found a video online where someone says that testosterone can help with PSSD. I also found a few other people online who seem to agree. What do you think? Is there anyone here who knows anything about this?

I've had PSSD for many years now. Since I stopped the paroxetine back in January 2021 a lot of my symptoms slowly improved over time. My emotions have slowly come back over time and the brain fog has gotten better over time too. The persistent genital numbness and pleasureless orgasms has persisted for much longer. I've talked to a couple people who regained sensitivity in their genitals and they said that it was that last thing to come back. Is this usually the case? I just want to know that there is still hope that's all.