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Sexual Side Effects

Wed, 03/29/2006 - 14:24
Why do you suppose that more neurologists and epileptoloists do not mention that a majority of anti-seizure pills do often make "normal" sexual performance for men difficult--if not sometimes impossible when it comes to erections? The first answer will pop up. And that is, even better-informed male patients will say "...to hell with my pills" and choose to live their sexual life "normally". Mind you, that last word I put in quotes, for who anyway should define "normal"? However, after having tried about as many anti-seizure drugs as the number of years I've had epilepsy (that's 35), I can speak as something of a lab rat. Many pills do affect a man's bedroom performance. And while this shouldn't become our reason for living, it is part of being a human, whether single, married or just evaluating our private parts. As society's attitude toward we handsome, educated humans with epilepsy matures, so does its understanding of "performance" when it comes to sex. Mind you, an honest woman will explain when love-making isn't just the thing for her; that does occur. My point is that this topic shouldn't remain in the proverbial "closet" any longer. Let's talk about it on this fine site, as well as face-to-face. Studies reveal how many men live virtually their entire lives feeling guilty for not performing sexually 24-hours a day, where in fact, there's most likely not one who ever has, other than in movies. And that includes this writer!

Comments

Re: Sexual Side Effects

Submitted by annep on Tue, 2009-02-10 - 07:00
Hello, my partner is an epileptic but has no seizures as he controls his epilepsy by not drinking much (if any) alcohol (and only a beer - not spirits) and going to bed early (anywhere between 8 - 9.30 pm). Even without any medication he has very little in the way of a libido. Is this normal for epileptics? Thank you.

Re: Sexual Side Effects

Submitted by 3Hours2Live on Tue, 2009-02-10 - 19:45

/discussion/962138?page=1  Response to annep on Tue 02/10/2009 - 4:00am  Re: Sexual Side Effects
February 10, 2009 4:43PM PST USA  at end of page 2.   12743 views      78 comments

Hi annep,

Yes, the likelihood for lower than average libido for people having epilepsy is much greater than
general population, especially for people having temporal lobe epilepsy.  People with chronic
temporal lobe epilepsy frequently have decreased libidinous and genital arousal. ("Behavioral Aspects
of Epilepsy" Schachter, Holmes, Trenite 2008 ISBN: 1-933864-04-4, page 212).  The other extreme of
excessive libido for people having epilepsy is fairly rare and occurs more frequently in females
than males in this rare group, and occurences of this after surgery for epilepsy is often labeled
"Kluver-Bucy syndrome."

Anti-Epileptic medication for Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with near zero libido often increases libido
to a higher point that is still way below the general population, but closer to the point where the
medication typically lowers the libido of "average libido" epileptics.  Lower libido and lower
genital arousal often are together, but not always.

The social stigma for zero libido and excessive libido seems about the same in the ages of the
teens to the early thirties in this USA society. For me, my life-time Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
gave me near zero libido, which seems to have resulted in a lot of untoward overtures from other
people (from teachers, ex-priests, and other outstanding moral members of society, and others)
especially since my epilepsy didn't limit genital arousal at all (i.e., I didn't much know or
desire what I was requested to do, but I could do it all night throughout my teens to early thirties,
with the arrogance of Tadzio and mischievousness of Puck, as noted earlier).

/discussion/962138?page=1  Response to annep on Tue 02/10/2009 - 4:00am  Re: Sexual Side Effects
February 10, 2009 4:43PM PST USA  at end of page 2.   12743 views      78 comments

Hi annep,

Yes, the likelihood for lower than average libido for people having epilepsy is much greater than
general population, especially for people having temporal lobe epilepsy.  People with chronic
temporal lobe epilepsy frequently have decreased libidinous and genital arousal. ("Behavioral Aspects
of Epilepsy" Schachter, Holmes, Trenite 2008 ISBN: 1-933864-04-4, page 212).  The other extreme of
excessive libido for people having epilepsy is fairly rare and occurs more frequently in females
than males in this rare group, and occurences of this after surgery for epilepsy is often labeled
"Kluver-Bucy syndrome."

Anti-Epileptic medication for Temporal Lobe Epilepsy with near zero libido often increases libido
to a higher point that is still way below the general population, but closer to the point where the
medication typically lowers the libido of "average libido" epileptics.  Lower libido and lower
genital arousal often are together, but not always.

The social stigma for zero libido and excessive libido seems about the same in the ages of the
teens to the early thirties in this USA society. For me, my life-time Temporal Lobe Epilepsy
gave me near zero libido, which seems to have resulted in a lot of untoward overtures from other
people (from teachers, ex-priests, and other outstanding moral members of society, and others)
especially since my epilepsy didn't limit genital arousal at all (i.e., I didn't much know or
desire what I was requested to do, but I could do it all night throughout my teens to early thirties,
with the arrogance of Tadzio and mischievousness of Puck, as noted earlier).

Re: Sexual Side Effects

Submitted by Michael Igoe on Wed, 2009-02-18 - 08:57

Michael

Women are beautiful and it is amazing to be able to see that again.  (Quotation from above.)

If you say so, and I accept it's true.  I can't see it, even when it's pointed out to me.  With other males, it's the same: I can't see attractiveness, and never could.  It's almost like being colour-blind.  If I were colour-blind, and were asked to compare shades of green, say, I'd have to say it was impossible.   I actually ask people close to me, family etc, to point out people who are attractive and try to see what they're talking about.  No, I can't tell any difference.  It's not easy to get them to understand this, or even believe it.  There are some people, I know, who think I'm just being hyper-modest

An interesting book I came across a week or two ago is Irrationality, by Stuart Sutherland.  Early in this (p.8, I think), he refers to this lack of interest as sometimes a consequence of a type of disturbance in the right temporal lobe.  Guess where my TLE is - and it flared up at puberty.  It's possible that surgical removal of the disturbed area could change that (mentioned in the same book), but no thanks.  I've refused this nine times.  A possible side-effect, in my case: damage to speech and/or sight.  I'm a trained and experienced translator and interpreter, with two books to my name and a number of printed magazine articles, and have been all my life, since I was brought up to be bilingual.  So, the possibility of losing language: I dread it.  It's more important than sex (and I was married long ago, for six years, so know what I'm talking about.)  What I can't say is whether my ex-wife, or someone else since, was conventionally attractive.  Believe it or not, I've no idea.  That is the honest truth.  Yet I can see attractiveness in things or places, so I love photography.  But with people, I just don't see it.

Medication: Lamotrigine, Mysolin, Keppra.  These have probably nothing to do with it, or I can't tell if they do.  These didn't exist when I was 14, and I've never been any different on a whole range of substances.

Michael

Women are beautiful and it is amazing to be able to see that again.  (Quotation from above.)

If you say so, and I accept it's true.  I can't see it, even when it's pointed out to me.  With other males, it's the same: I can't see attractiveness, and never could.  It's almost like being colour-blind.  If I were colour-blind, and were asked to compare shades of green, say, I'd have to say it was impossible.   I actually ask people close to me, family etc, to point out people who are attractive and try to see what they're talking about.  No, I can't tell any difference.  It's not easy to get them to understand this, or even believe it.  There are some people, I know, who think I'm just being hyper-modest

An interesting book I came across a week or two ago is Irrationality, by Stuart Sutherland.  Early in this (p.8, I think), he refers to this lack of interest as sometimes a consequence of a type of disturbance in the right temporal lobe.  Guess where my TLE is - and it flared up at puberty.  It's possible that surgical removal of the disturbed area could change that (mentioned in the same book), but no thanks.  I've refused this nine times.  A possible side-effect, in my case: damage to speech and/or sight.  I'm a trained and experienced translator and interpreter, with two books to my name and a number of printed magazine articles, and have been all my life, since I was brought up to be bilingual.  So, the possibility of losing language: I dread it.  It's more important than sex (and I was married long ago, for six years, so know what I'm talking about.)  What I can't say is whether my ex-wife, or someone else since, was conventionally attractive.  Believe it or not, I've no idea.  That is the honest truth.  Yet I can see attractiveness in things or places, so I love photography.  But with people, I just don't see it.

Medication: Lamotrigine, Mysolin, Keppra.  These have probably nothing to do with it, or I can't tell if they do.  These didn't exist when I was 14, and I've never been any different on a whole range of substances.

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