Up to 50% percent of women who take an antidepressant have sexual problems. By age 60, roughly 1 in 4 women are taking an antidepressant.  This episode is all about the science behind WHY SSRIs and other antidepressants can sabotage your sex life, and what you can do about it.  





Why so many mid-life women take anti-depressants
Why perimenopause hormonal changes trigger mood issues. 
Why anti-depressants impact libido and the ability to orgasm. 
Other things that impact on libido and orgasm in mid-life women. 
If all SSRIs are equally problematic


This is not a do-it-yourself project! Please speak with your personal clinician before making any changes in your medication!





Options
 It may be temporary


 Altering the dose


 Switching to a different prescription


 Drug holidays


 Timing of taking your medication


 Switching to hormone therapy


 Oral PDE5 inhibitors


 Topical sildenafil


 


Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors 




citalopram 
dapoxetine 
escitalopram 
fluoxetine 
fluvoxamine 
paroxetine 
sertraline 
vortioxetine 
Amitriptyline 
Amoxapine 
Desipramine 

For more information on this topic: 





Episode 78 Is Menopause Making You Moody?  


Episode 113 Viagra! For Women? 



 Slip Sliding Away: Turning Back the Clock on Your Vagina-A gynecologist’s guide to eliminating post-menopause dryness and pain


Come Again! A Guide to Midlife Libido and Orgasm (available for pre-order) 


Hot Flash Hell: A Gynecologist's Guide to Turning Down the Heat


Dr. Streicher’s Inside Information podcast is not intended to replace medical advice and should be used to supplement, not replace, care by your personal health care clinician. Dr. Streicher disclaims liability for any medical outcomes that may occur because of applying methods suggested or discussed in this podcast.


Lauren Streicher, MD is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and the founding medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause. She is a certified menopause practitioner of the North American Menopause Society. 

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Dr. Streicher is the medical correspondent for Chicago’s top-rated news program, the WGN Morning News, and has been seen on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR, Dr. Radio, Nightline, Fox and Friends, The Steve Harvey Show, CBS This Morning, ABC News Now, NBCNightlyNews,20/20, and World News Tonight. She is an expert source for many magazines and serves on the medical advisory board of The Kinsey Institute, Self Magazine, and Prevention Magazine. She writes a regular column for The Ethel by AARP and Prevention Magazine. 


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Books by Lauren Streicher, MD

Hot Flash Hell: A Gynecologist's Guide to Turning Down the Heat

Sex Rx- Hormones, Health, and Your Best Sex Ever

The Essential Guide to Hysterectomy

Come Again! A Guide to Midlife Libido and Orgasm (available for pre-order)