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Sex drive and seizure medications
Tue, 05/24/2005 - 13:49Hello everyone,
I was wondering if ANYONE has advice on what to do about the loss of sex drive from these dammed seizure meds.
I am 44, have had a hysterectomy and on Carbitrol. I have NO sex drive at all. Does anyone have advice????
Please help!
Diana
Comments
Re: Sex drive and seizure medications
Submitted by myles on Sun, 2010-06-06 - 14:46
I have the same problem and have looked into it extensively. Between my epileptologist and my neuroendocrinologist I came up with the following 3 possibilities:
1. Side effects of the medications
2. The result of epilepsy itself
3. Low testosterone. Some doctors will check the level of your total testosterone but not free or bioavailable testosterone.
The total can come back as normal but that doesn’t matter. Total testosterone is broken down into free and bioavailable testosterone when needed. The level of bioavailable is what counts. This is the one that gives you your sex drive and is important in muscle growth
I know that tegretol and dilantin can block the conversion of total testosterone into bioavailable and instead change it into estrogen or estradiol. There are 2 options; the first and easiest is just add more testosterone with a patch or gel. This worked a while for me but stopped after 2 months. The other option is to take a drug that can stop this from happening. Might be worth looking into.
As for me, nothing worked. I still lack sex drive and still have seizures.
I have the same problem and have looked into it extensively. Between my epileptologist and my neuroendocrinologist I came up with the following 3 possibilities:
1. Side effects of the medications
2. The result of epilepsy itself
3. Low testosterone. Some doctors will check the level of your total testosterone but not free or bioavailable testosterone.
The total can come back as normal but that doesn’t matter. Total testosterone is broken down into free and bioavailable testosterone when needed. The level of bioavailable is what counts. This is the one that gives you your sex drive and is important in muscle growth
I know that tegretol and dilantin can block the conversion of total testosterone into bioavailable and instead change it into estrogen or estradiol. There are 2 options; the first and easiest is just add more testosterone with a patch or gel. This worked a while for me but stopped after 2 months. The other option is to take a drug that can stop this from happening. Might be worth looking into.
As for me, nothing worked. I still lack sex drive and still have seizures.
Re: Sex drive and seizure medications
Submitted by scottO on Wed, 2010-06-02 - 08:52
I am a 44 year male and have seizure since age 12. It seems that my sex drive has taken a nose dive in the last couple years. I am on 4 meds at this point and I know that has most to do with it because I have the desire but can't keep it up{if you know what I mean}.