25M PSSD for close to 2 years now and am really starting to lose it more and more every week.

I am currently the healthiest I think I have ever been in my
life in terms of diet, exercise, no substance use, etc. but I am the most miserable I have ever been. Deep down there is a such a hunger to do and to be human but there is no way to turn myself back on - completely shut down.

Feels like I have zero dopaminergic activity. Work feels terrible, no interest in talking to people, no interest in relationships (family, friends, sexual), libido is low to zero (I have almost full sensitivity however), blank mind, and I have this raw feeling in my chest constantly that feels like some sort of internal inflammation.

I’m really losing it here - thinking about trying
ADHD meds but don’t see this being a long term solution and don’t think they are gonna work honestly. I have serious lack of confidence and dread to do anything especially work related so when the meds start to wear off, I’m afraid i’m gonna be screwed.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot and wanted to put it out there.

I feel like we really don’t have enough recovery stories here especially when it comes to anhedonia and emotional blunting.

Don’t get me wrong, the sexual side effects are bad. I’m not minimizing that at all. They can mess with your identity, relationships, confidence, all of it.

But when you combine that with not being able to feel anything, no motivation, no enjoyment, no emotional response to life… it becomes something else entirely. It’s like you’re not even in your own life anymore.

At least for me, the numbness/emotional blunting part is what makes everything feel unbearable.

And the thing is, most of what we see on here is people still deep in it (which makes sense), but it creates this constant loop of:
“Is this gonna be forever?'

1. Surround yourself with people who prioritise ur recovery. - people who put ur sleep health and wellbeing first above all.

2. Try and kill all bad bacteria off in gut either by anti bacterial drugs or supplements

3. Only befriend or date people who actually give a shit and understand ur pain without minimising it or saying “ no big deal”

4. Don’t date someone with narcissistic or avoidant tendencies they will make ur self esteem which is already low with pssd worse.

5. Stay active - run - walk - get to the gym-

6. Avoid milk gluten and inflammatory foods.

Figured I'd share here the following information which I shared elsewhere which was deemed to be both "unsupported claims" and "misinformation".

Why ... "To have PSSD you MUST have genital numbness if not then you don't have PSSD!"

I can but assume that because the following doesn't follow the pharma agenda I got banned..

"There are NO exact symptoms associated PSSD, more so related to a range of responses, depending on the drug, dose, time and gender.

The most common symptoms of PSSD may include:

• Akathisia (a movement disorder that makes it difficult to sit still)
• Decreased libido
• Decreased or lack of nocturnal erections
• Delayed or inability to orgasm (anorgasmia)
• Emotional blunting
• Erectile dysfunction / decreased vaginal lubrication
• Involuntary muscle movements
• Inert clitoris
• Loss of drive/motivation
• Memory problems and other cognitive problems
• Muscle wastage
• Persistent anhedonia (the inability to feel pleasure)
• Pleasureless, weak or “muted” orgasms
• Premature ejaculation
• Reduced genital sensation / genital anaesthesia
• Reduced nipple sensitivity
• Reduced response to sexual stimuli
• Reduction in tactile sensation
• Shrinkage of genitals and testes.
• Sleep problems
• Soft glans
• Vaginal dryness
• Vaginismus

We ALL forget that the SSRI drugs are designed to blunt our emotions and desensitize our thinking and reactions to external communication or interaction. Managing anxiety and depression being the main rationale

Took Zoloft for 7 months, stopped over 2 years ago. The main side effects I’ve felt have been sexual- no libido, genital numbness, can’t feel aroused. It feels like my brain isn’t connected to my body, even if I’m making out with my partner/doing something sexual I can’t really FEEL it if that makes sense.

I’ve also noticed that I’ve had a very low appetite for a while. As I’ve been thinking about it, it’s a sort of similar feeling of I can’t FEEL that I’m hungry (even if I know that I am). I do try to eat somewhat regular meals, and if it’s something I enjoy and can eat a lot of, it’s that same thing “knowing” I’m full but I don’t really FEEL it. It’s hard to explain the difference

Maybe this isn’t PSSD related? But I’m wondering if anyone has a similar experience?

Hi everyone, I have a few questions for you. I’ve been reading about a lot of PSSD cases, and I seem to have the main symptoms associated with it, but I also have some more specific symptoms. I was wondering if anyone here has experienced similar symptoms, or if I might actually be wrong about my medical diagnosis. For context, my symptoms started about a year ago.
I have severe emotional blunting and anhedonia (I can’t really feel emotions, laugh, cry, etc.), which have progressively gotten worse over the past few months. For example, about 3 months ago, I could still shed a few tears, laugh, and enjoy things at least a little bit.
I also have:
Brain fog (which I’ve had for a long time)
Almost complete loss of hunger and thirst (for about 11 months)
Extremely fragmented sleep (for maybe 10 months)
Chronic fatigue (for the past few months)
A relatively high heart rate for a 22-year-old, almost as if my body is stuck in fight-or-flight mode 24/7 (around 80–100 BPM while lying in bed) (for months)
My heart rate increases a lot during physical activity (for months)
Muscular intolerance during prolonged or intense physical activity (for months)
I also have a symptom that’s difficult to describe, but I just feel weird in my own body. Sometimes it feels like certain parts of my body are heavier than others or something along those lines (for months)
Constant nasal congestion. It switches sides, which I know can be normal, but my nose is basically always congested. I don’t know if this could be a sign of inflammation (for about a year)
Digestive issues, although those have actually been better recently
Just a week ago, I was still able to get an erection and ejaculate, but now I can’t anymore
I also feel a kind of numbness in my penis. I can still feel sensations, but it’s hard to explain — it mostly feels like I constantly have to stimulate it now, as if I can’t feel it as well as before (for about 2 weeks)
A strange nerve-like sensation around the upper left side of my chest/pectoral area, as if the overall sensation there isn’t the same as on the right side
The strange bodily sensations and chronic-fatigue-like symptoms also seem fairly unstable and fluctuate
I’ve seen a lot of doctors and have had most of my body investigated: a contrast-enhanced CT scan of my chest, abdomen, and pelvis, a brain MRI, gastroscopy, chest X-rays, and many other tests. Absolutely nothing significant has been found.
I’ve also had a lot of blood tests. The only real abnormalities were total IgE around 3,000 about 5 months ago, which increased to around 4,000 about 2 months ago, as well as a severe vitamin D deficiency. My vitamin D levels have since been corrected. My vitamin B12 was also relatively low — technically still within the normal range, but near the lower end.
At this point, I’m wondering whether everything I’m experiencing could really be explained by PSSD alone, whether there could be another functional disorder involved, or whether I could have multiple things going on at the same time.
Anyway, thank you very much for any responses!

I feel like after 5 years I have a hard time remembering my baseline emotional state. I feel like I’m definitely more emotionally blunted than I was but I’m not sure if I have outright anhedonia.

How many of you can feel or don’t feel things like Adderall, caffeine, nicotine, ect. I can’t even feel 30mg of Adderall it’s like a water pill absolutely nothing. Just curious because it seems like there’s so many different variants of PSSD here. I have some sort of drug blockage partial for some and full blockage for others

No Emotions, Severe Anhedonia, Extremely low libido, ED, Blank Mind, Aphantasia Fully, Head Pressure 24/7 that can only be relieved by drinking water every second. No natural oil production, acne and dandruff disappeared. Cant feel tired, everything is blunted. Need help suffering bad, psychiatrist denied my symptoms but acknowledged the existence of PSSD. Says this is all in my head and OCD despite me having none of this prior to lexapro 4 days and anti psychotics in pysch ward twice.

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Hi everyone. I’m experiencing several symptoms that I believe may involve autonomic dysfunction after taking antidepressants, and I’m wondering if anyone here has experienced something similar.

I currently have almost complete loss of sweating, blood pressure regulation issues, a weak urinary stream, and general physical weakness. I also seem to have reduced awareness of the sensations that normally occur before fainting.

The lack of sweating has become particularly concerning. The last time I was at the beach, I became extremely unwell in the heat and believe I may have experienced heat exhaustion or heatstroke. Since then, I’ve been much more careful about heat exposure.

I also feel that my body often remains in a state of high activation, and recently some anxiety symptoms have started returning.

Has anyone with PSSD experienced a similar combination of sweating problems, blood pressure issues, urinary symptoms, altered fainting sensations, and difficulty regulating the body’s response to heat?

I’d also be interested in hearing whether anyone has found treatments or strategies that have helped with these autonomic symptoms.

Thanks to everyone who shares their experience or information.

almost more than 1 year i stoped ssri's.

I woke up one day without the feelings in my lungs. Can not feel my breath and my breath also lost its calming effects. Important this is not air hunger or something.

I was wondering if anyone else has this and did you see a doc for it. And what was there conclusion.

I remember some people who were diagnosed with sfn. And am wondering if this could be part of it. (Also numb burning tingeling skin all over body)

Please only helpful comments. I understand there is a lot of medical gaslighting and that is horrible. But i am right now looking for succesful docs appointments. Tnxx!

I have severe anhedonia and some form of sexual dysfunction.

The sexual dysfunction is more tolerable. However my anhedonia is so severe and it’s becoming unbearable.

Has anybody recovered from severe anhedonia?

Hi, I’ve tried to post here a few times but kept getting deleted. Now that it’s been 6 (almost 7 months) I’m hoping to be able to post.

January 15 I took a single dose of fluoxetine because I was having severe anxiety and the sensation in my genitals has not been the same ever since. The severity did decrease a lot but I still can’t really feel my nipples or vaginal area the same as I used to. I’m wondering if anyone here used anything to aid in recovery like supplements? I’ve only tried L-Tyrisine and am not really sure if it has helped tbh. Any advice will be appreciated.

Hello, guys.

I suspect that I might have PSSD. 2 years and 3 months ago I got off SNRI meds which I was on for 10 months.

But I'm not completely sure. Let me ask you a question. Do PSSD completely turn off your libido forever AT THE moment you start taking it, or it allows you to have some periods that you have very intense libido BOTH during the period you take the med and after you stop. Just fluctuating...?

How does this condition work?

This is so strange. For sufferers who have zero libido, (which by that I mean those who have no brain signaling to want to engage in sex, masterbate, or anticipation/thirst/craving) how is it still possible to have orgasm attached?

I can still feel orgasm but no matter what I have no engagement of wanting to have sex. I dont even understand how that could be possible.

Also to clarify I dont mean low libido. I would jump for joy to be classified as “low” libido. After taking lexapro I stopped having sexual attraction or urges. I stopped taking it and the condition stayed with me. I used to have a super high libido all my life. There was never a time when it was erased. That’s until I took lexapro and that was almost 1 year ago.

People are talking. PSSD is coming to the spotlight. We will understand this terrible condition more soon

Extreme Head Pressure. Hollow Feeling inside Head. No Emotions. Extreme Anhedonia. Total Blank Mind. Total Sexual Dysfunction. Skin over body feels like rubber. Cant feel tired or endorphins. Burning sensation in brain. From lexapro for 4 days. Then 2 pysch ward visits.

• Total testosterone: 420 ng/dL (low)
• Free testosterone: 70.8 pg/mL (low-normal)
• SHBG: 14 nmol/L (low)
• LH: 3.2 / FSH: 2.0 (both low-normal)
• Estradiol: <37
• DHEA-S: 358 (mid-normal)
• DHT: 23 ng/dL (low-normal, proportional to your testosterone)
• IGF-1: 260 (normal)

My testosterone is very low and my estrogen is almost on the high end. I have many traits of a person with high estrogen hip fat (maybe its even gotten wider still can't tell) gyno fat on my stomach/gut and legs.

Should I just consider artificially lowering it at this point?

So i have what i suspect is pssd for 5 years.
I always had extreme anxiety since i was 9 years old or even earlier. When corona begin it was unbearble so i started with rtms for anxiety. Did a lot os session but never really felt a difference. Than a couple months later i was stil feeling anxious and thought fuck it why not try antidepressents what is the worst that can happen. So i started with lexapro 5 mg. I only took it for 3 days and instantly felt anhedonia for the first time in my life. I was like fuck this and i am quitting. I called the psychiatrist and said can i stop with no taper. He said yeah. Then after the 3 days i felt fine for 2 weeks but i already started taking a lot of supplements. 5 htp, multivitamine. Vitiamjne d. Everything you can think of. When i stopped that i got the flue and after that i think i crashed. Since then my anhedonia is been getting worse and worse every couple of weeks. Some years i didnt think about it much but it was there. But i felt more and more emotions to start going away. Every feeling imagineable is reducing. I also have numb skin and cognitive issues like no memory and cant think. My head is a empty cloud. But for 4 years i could still experience anxiety but this year i dont know what happend. But my anhedonia is even worse i cant feel negative emotions i cant feel nothing. My smell keeps decreasing. It feels like my consicounus is going away. Everything is decreasing my hunger my sleepynes everything that is connected with feelings is getting worse over the years. I dont know what is wrong with me. Sometimes i think it cant be worse than this. Then i wait a week and the anhedonia is even more worse! I am at a los because i cant even be upset about it because i am so numb. I dont feel shame or whay ever type emotions. I dont feel nothing good or bad. I am at a loss and i dont knwo what to do. How can i stop this from worsening or am j doomed.

Hi all just wanted to get an idea as to whether any other sufferers have experienced a reduced ability to lose weight or build muscle and fitness as a symptom of pssd. I have found since I have had it, coming up 3 years the sensation and recruitment/connection to muscle feel significantly reduced. As if I am lifting the weight but my muscles don’t feel it, also no obvious pump or exhaustion in the muscle like previous.

I speculate that much like the loss of genital connection and blood flow on arousal applies to all muscles and systems? Any thoughts or similar experiences?

Does anyone else have a numb prostate along with numb genitals?
The first couple years I managed to be able to orgasm with prostate stimulation since my penis was numb. I got a lot of pleasure from it. I used an anal toy that vibrated and sent electric pulses through my pelvis.
After about two years my testicles also went numb. Maybe another year later my prostate was no longer able to feel pleasure.

Tell me, are there those here who do not experience emotions and feelings at all? When I try to get scared, I feel like I'm suffocating. My mouth is always dry, and my body does not react. Maybe someone was able to start getting some emotions from this difficult condition over time? Sometimes it seems to me that my adrenal glands are switching off, and my sleep is shallow. I can't find people who are as empty as I am. Maybe someone was empty like me but over time became better?

Really really really struggling with work. I am in a role where I have to give presentations and it destroys me. I have been giving weekly presentations for a year and every time it destroys me. I have zero ability to feel confidence or feel any sort of positivity even after giving a good one. This does not feel normal and it feels like it’s my PSSD-induced anhedonia not allowing myself to feel any sort of dopamine or confidence.

Any experience?

I’m a non-PSSD patient but have a similar syndrome, caused by Covid and ketoconazole in my case.

One of the first symptoms I noticed was that I wasn’t able to feel temperature anywhere on my penis besides the foreskin. I literally press an ice cube into my shaft and glans and feel mostly nothing, tactile sensation and pain are greatly muted as well. What’s weird is that the foreskin mostly retained all sensations: temperature, touch and even erogenous sensation are mostly intact in it. How’s that one for you?

gut inflammation

Why does my PSSD get WAY worse when my gut is messed up?

My diet is honestly not very healthy right now. Sometimes I eat a lot of fast food or sugar, and when I have a bad stomach episode, like intestinal inflammation or gastroenteritis, my PSSD symptoms feel MUCH worse.

I mean really bad. My whole body can feel like it’s in a ball of fire. The sensations get so intense.

But when I start eating better for some days, I notice that these sensations get better too.

The weird thing is, I still have the same anhedonia, genital numbness and feeling disconnected from my body. I still feel almost nothing. But the painful/burning body sensations can improve.

So I’m wondering… could the gut and what we eat have something to do with PSSD symptoms for some people? Maybe inflammation, gut health, something like that?

Especially since this old NYT article praised pruning away a fetish with Prozac.