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Medical Forum / General / Pharmacy / February 2005Risperdal and orgasm
Nine days ago I went on 1 mg Risperdal to top up my 1500 mg lithium carbonate and since then I have found my orgasm intensity has been a fair bit lower than average for me. Does anyone on here know if that drug, also known as risperidone, causes that problem? The side effect sheet said that with prolonged use it can cause diminished sexual function and breast enlargement in men, but this is very early use, not prolonged use, and it is not a very high dosage. So anyway at this early stage I am inclined to attribute the reduction in orgasm to other factors but if if continues while I am on Risperdal I will have to consider that Risperdal is contributing to the reduction. David David, first of all - congradulations on the sex. Anyone healthy enough, phsyically cable enough, and has a willing partner to have some intimacy - is a lucky - & blessed individual. This may cause a decrease in libido or other forms of sexual dysfunction. However, the numbers mostly stayed the same as patients on a antipsychotic treatment. They found a small difference between patients taking risperidone and olanzapine and that olanzapine patients had a slightly better outcome. One might hypothesize that a reason that risperidone and some of the first generation antipsychotics might have a worse effect on sexual functioning could be related to the sometimes seen side effect of an increased prolactin level. Prolactin is a hormone in the blood that helps to produce milk and is involved in breast development. However, increased prolactin can lead to a decrease in libido when it is not needed. The difference was very small and there were several methodological compromises made in this study that make the result even less impressive. First, the study was sponsored by the manufacturer of olanzapine and the raters generally worked for the company. Additionally, there was no randomization, control group for comparison and the raters were not blinded to treatment condition as they were the primary psychiatrists for the patients. This further leads to possible bias in the ratings. Just be glad your having sex. >David, first of all - congradulations on the sex. Anyone healthy >enough, phsyically cable enough, and has a willing partner to have some >intimacy - is a lucky - & blessed individual. <snip> >Just be glad your having sex. What makes you think I have a partner? I mentioned orgasm intensity but not that I have a partner and in fact currently I don't, but I hope for one, and part of that is masturbation about three times a week, which at the age of 41 is not too little and is maybe half my frequency when I was 21. My peak orgasms have been so good that they count as mystic experiences and indeed they are part of my individual religion and I am not about to give them up whether I have a partner or not, though I hope to have a partner soon. So if the downturn continues in the next ten days I will have to discuss alternatives with my psychiatrist on March 1 and one of them may be going back on olanzapine instead and another may be just sticking to lithium alone. But thanks for the good wishes and I wish I did have a partner right now and hope to soon. David >Could Risperdal be reducing my orgasm? From http://www.nmhct.nhs.uk/pharmacy/risperidone.htm : " Will risperidone affect my sex life? Drugs can affect desire (libido), arousal (erection) and orgasmic ability. Risperidone has been reported to have minor adverse effect on the three stages. If this happens, you should discuss this with your doctor, as a change in dose may help minimise the problem" It is too early to say yet if the drug is causing my prpblem, but if it is is it is not minor, it is a factor of five or maybe as high as ten reduction in orgasm intensity. I should know by March 1 if it is causing the problem and if so will discuss it on that day with my psychiatrist. David Risperdal does cause sexual dysfunction with some who take it. In the acute phases of illness thats probably not such a big issue, however, long when used as a maintainance medication as it frequently is it is a very significant problem. Talk to your physician or if you have other community services involved then discuss it with them, it may not be the risperidone and even if it is it may need to be phased out gradually and a new medication introduced. Don't change anything without talking it through first and agreeing a plan of action. Its not worth rushing into this and risking a relapse. http://www.psychiatricnursing.co.uk >>Could Risperdal be reducing my orgasm? > [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > > David >Risperdal does cause sexual dysfunction with some who take it. In the acute >phases of illness thats probably not such a big issue, however, long when [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >change anything without talking it through first and agreeing a plan of >action. Its not worth rushing into this and risking a relapse. I am not schizophrenic but bipolar and my main drug is lithium, and Risperdal is a secondary, topup medication. My psychiatrist will probably agree on March 1 to my trying being just on lithium for a month with a backup supply of 2 mg haloperidol. If I end up using a fair bit of that haloperidol in March then I may try going on a topup of 5 mg olanzapine in addition to my main drug lithium. David was olanzapine not working, or were you experiencing side effects.? I just wonder the motivation for moving from olanzapine to risperidal. Weight gain? Glucose out of control? ineffectiveness, loss of appetitie supression? |
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