My Fibromyalgia Medication and Its Side Effects on My Libido

This subject is one I haven’t seen written about. It’s sad because it’s a reality that affects many. It doesn’t only affect those living with fibromyalgia, it can affect anyone taking medication for a chronic illness. The medication may differ, but it seems most of these medications, if not all of them, have an adverse effect on one’s libido.

• What is Fibromyalgia?
• What Are Common Fibromyalgia Symptoms?

The medication we take isn’t really a choice. It’s prescribed by our doctors in order to treat our relevant conditions. Some of these medications work quite well, while others may not work at all. Whenever I’m prescribed a medication that doesn’t work for me, I’ll make sure to stop the medication immediately. Hence all the medications I’m currently on are necessary in order to treat my fibromyalgia, restless legs syndrome, depression and insomnia.

That being said, most medication has unwanted side effects. The side effect I’d like to talk about is how these medications affect our libido (sex drive).

To provide you with some perspective, I’ve done my research into the medications I’m taking and have listed the relevant side effect on the libido:

• loss of interest in sex
• loss in sexual ability, desire, drive or performance
• decreased sexual interest and/or function
• sexual dysfunction
• decreased sex drive, impotence or difficulty having an orgasm
• decrease in sex hormone levels which may affect sperm production in men or the menstrual cycle in women

I’m shocked at how many medications affect your libido!

Did my doctor discuss this with me? No. Did my pain specialist discuss this with me? Again, no!

I’m married to a wonderful man. We’ve been together for almost 18 years. We never had any problems in our sex life … that is until I was put on all these medications. I couldn’t understand what was wrong with me. My husband couldn’t understand either. He started to feel like there was something wrong with him and I couldn’t help but think that I was the problem. It is truly an awful experience to go through.

Now after doing this research, I fully understand exactly what the problem is!

I’m annoyed! I’m frustrated! I’m cross with these doctors as not one of them bothered to mention that these side effects could be caused by the medications I’m on. If they had told me upfront, then I would have known what to look out for and most definitely would have sought help sooner.

Now I sit wondering if this is going to permanently affect me? I wonder if there’s a medication out there that can counteract these side effects? What exactly is going to happen? Surely one cannot be expected to live like this!

Which doctor do I discuss this with? I think I’m going to discuss it with all of them. One of them is bound to have a solution to this… one would think!

I am speaking out about this as no one else does. The doctors don’t tell you and I haven’t seen any articles written about it. I want people who are suffering in silence to know that what they are experiencing is medication related.

You are not alone. By knowing this, you are able to seek out a solution to the problem. There has to be something that can be done. I will certainly follow up with everybody once I have discussed this with my doctor. Discuss it with your doctor too; it will be interesting to hear the solutions provided by these doctors.

Do you experience medication-related low libido? If so, have you found a solution to the problem? Please comment below as I’m really interested in hearing about your experiences and any solutions you have to the problem.