Sexual Abuse; Depression; Impotence; Viagra

[a_crazed_hobo]

I'll try to make this as short as possible, so please excuse me, but I have a lot to say.

I was repeatedly sexually abused by my grandfather when I was at a very young age and then again by older male cousins when I was around 10-years-old.

For nearly my entire life, I've suffered from depression. Recently, I started seeing a psychiatrist, and I was prescribed 150 mg of Effexor to be taken once a day. I've been on the medication for a little over two months now and I feel better physically and emotionally than ever before, but there's still one major downfall: I've always found it difficult to achieve a full erection. I'm only 25, and it's really quite embarrassing, to tell the truth.

My questions are these: Could my impotence be because of sexual abuse? Could it be due to anorexia brought on by years of apathy and depression? I'm 6 feet, 2 inches tall and weigh just under 130 pounds. I have a rather large penis (or so I've been told), so could it be that my body can't support the blood requirement to achieve a full erection? Am I just too unhealthy?

Also, does anyone think Viagra would be appropriate for my case? What is required or what would I have to tell a physician to be prescribed Viagra or other similar medications? Is it as simple as, "Listen, Doc, I can't get a boner!" or would I have to explain my situation?

Just to say, this is a very touchy subject for me. It's been difficult typing this, and it's even more so when talking about it. Though my boyfriend of 7 years says there's nothing wrong with me, and that he loves me with or without a raging hard-on, I still can't seem to come to terms with my inadequacies.

 

[KaraBulut]

Just to clarify something that gets confused in all the hype about ED drugs like Viagra: these drugs don't help a guy get an erection, they just help keep an erection longer. They're not very effective for guys who can't get hard- they're really most effective for guys who can get hard but can't stay hard.

In any case like this, your first stop if your primary care doctor for a physical to rule out common causes of erectile difficulties. And you should mention the problems to your psychiatrist.

It's surprising that you haven't seen an improvement since you've been on Effexor though. Anti-depressants have some unfortunate sexual side effects in men but they often help with erectile difficulties.

 

[evanrick]

i would say yes it could definitely be psychological.

with that said - it would be easy to test this theory - to see if you do have some kind of circulatory problem, and try and correct that with diet, exercise, heart/bp tests, etc.

the abuse you suffered may be manifesting subconsciously, as you were abuse physically, but the psychological damage cant be seen, only observed.

you body, more specifically your brain, may be attempting to tell you that an erection is dangerous since you attribute it to traumatic experiences. i know that is oversimplification, but it might be an idea worth considering.

one reason i think this is because i developed an obsession with hand washing at one point in my life - due to having allergies and always needing clean hands. sometimes our experiences will train our brain in maladaptive ways. (ways that we dont want & have a negative impact on us). your experiences may have done that here.

psychiatrists are primarily for prescriptions, so it may be a good idea to see a therapist to help unravel the erectile problem. then again it might not, im only talking from my own experiences.

like kara said, taking viagra might not be a good idea, its never a good idea to force your body to do something it doesn't want to do.

im sorta surprised its taken this long for you to see anyone about your depression, there are a few areas of discussion with your post, but is there a reason you couldn't seek out help sooner?

 

[evanrick]

sorry to be so superfluous and harp on drugs, but there can be a placebo effect. humans can psychologically associate with anything. seeing a doctor about your depression may have been more helpful than the drug itself. humans have suffered from depressive symptoms forever, but its only until very recently that people have been essentially treated for "serotonin deficiencies".

i am not dismissing the attributes of anti-depressants at all, as i have taken one. im just pointing out that something as simple as a pill shouldn't be looked at as a fix-all.

 

[cynicus]

Effexor had the same effect on me. I told my MD and he took me off it and prescribed something else. That solved the problem. Yes, some meds can cause impotence.

 

[a_crazed_hobo]

Thank you all for your replies.

To KaraBulunt and cynicus: The Effexor did have a short term sexual side effect. I wasn't able to ejaculate for a while, but the side effect was temporary, and I barely even noticed it.

To evanrick: The reason I didn't seek help sooner was a combination of many things. No health insurance, plus a life of poverty, amongst many other reasons, is why I wasn't able to seek help sooner. I'm finally in a stable environment, though, and can afford a little treatment.

I really appreciate everyone's thoughts. I'm still kind of antsy about mentioning this to a MD, especially because I think it's psychological. I'll need to follow up with my psychiatrist on this, as well. I can achieve erections normally, for the most part, but when getting intimate with my boyfriend I find that I can't hold it up for quite as long.

 

[Seasoned]

Talk to the psychiatrist and he may switch anti-depressants. Some have higher ED affects than others.