Antidepressants and Sexual Dysfunction: a History

Commentary Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine; 0(0) 1–3 DOI: 10.1177/0141076819899299 Antidepressants and sexual dysfunction: a history David Healy Department of Psychiatry, Bangor University, Wales LL57 2PW, UK Corresponding author: David Healy. Email: [email protected] Background which include many antibiotics, antihistamines and analgesics in addition to antidepressants.6 The In June 2019, in response to a petition lodged by the women affected have turned to perineal nerve abla- author in 2018,1 the European Medicines Agency tion, clitoridectomy, electroconvulsive therapy and asked pharmaceutical companies to warn that other drastic remedies, without benefit. sexual dysfunction can endure after antidepressant The Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor treatment stops.2 (SSRI) group of antidepressants is derived from clomipramine and was launched in the years around 7 History 1990. SSRIs are relatively ineffective for melancho- lia, a rare disorder compared to the nervous problems The effect of antidepressants on sex was first noted in for which doctors around 1990 were giving benzodi- 1960 by Frank Ayd, a psychiatrist and the discoverer azepines. The marketing need for the SSRIs was to of amitriptyline, who linked amitriptyline treatment transform cases of Valium, rather than cases of clo- to a sexual dysfunction distinct from the loss of libido mipramine, into cases of Prozac. that the melancholic states it was being used to treat Doctors began to hear they could be sued for pre- can cause.3 scribing benzodiazepines which cause dependence. In the 1970s, George Beaumont, working for The real need they were told was to treat the under- Geigy Pharmaceuticals, had the job of finding a lying depression, with antidepressants, which did not niche for clomipramine, now regarded as the most cause dependence, rather than treat the superficial potent antidepressant, but then another molecule in anxiety with dependence-producing drugs.7 a crowded field. He placed articles in newspapers fea- In the 1980s, prior to marketing, healthy volun- turing a minor celebrity, thrilled that her boyfriend’s teers in phase 1 studies of SSRIs, however, had premature ejaculation problem could be managed by become dependent on SSRIs and were left anxious 10 mg of clomipramine taken 30 minutes before inter- and depressed afterwards.8 Within three years of par- course – the standard antidepressant dose is 150 mg.4 oxetine being on the market, there were more reports Beaumont also established clomipramine as the in Britain about dependence on it than there had been premier drug treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive in 20 years from all benzodiazepines combined.8 Disorder.4 As clomipramine use encroached on The initial labels for all SSRIs when these drugs behaviour therapy for Obsessive-Compulsive were launched clinically stated that less than 5% of Disorder in the 1980s, in public lectures, Isaac patients in clinical trials reported sexual dysfunction. Marks, the leading proponent of behaviour therapy, But in some unpublished phase 1 trials, over 50% of drew attention to the persistent orgasms a patient of healthy volunteers had severe sexual dysfunction that his, a nun, experienced after withdrawal from clomi- in some cases lasted after treatment stopped. pramine. This may be a first linkage of what is now Over 50% becomes less than 5% primarily because called persistent genital arousal disorder to within clinical trials investigators have innumerable boxes drawal from a serotonin reuptake inhibitor. to tick, almost entirely devoted to the question of In 2001, Sandra Leiblum formally described per- whether the drug works, and minimal space and sistent genital arousal disorder.5 Although a psycho- time to record adverse events. They may not, there- therapist, she was convinced the persistent arousal fore, record a problem, in particular one that can be four of her patients had was organic rather than psy- passed off as a feature of the illness.9 chological. Persistent genital arousal disorder primar- Phase 1 trials also offer companies a clear view of ily affects women and is now linked to hormonal a drug’s adverse effects making it possible to changes around the menopause as well as discontinu- design trials that will not find the problem. In a ation from serotonin reuptake inhibitor drugs – trial, comparing paroxetine to clomipramine in ! The Royal Society of Medicine 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions 2 Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine 0(0) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (study 29060/136), In 2011, an almost identical problem, post- for instance, the protocol had a Limited Symptoms finasteride syndrome (PFS), was reported. Finasteride Checklist with 8 questions centering on sexual dys- has been marketed since 1997 to young men with thin- function but investigators, like me, were told not to ning hair.14 ask these questions. In 2014, a similar post-retinoid syndrome (PRSD) The resulting 5% clinical trial figure trumped later was described following isotretinoin (Accutane). evidence from surveys that gave rates of over 50% These problems have also been happening for dec- consistent with the unpublished phase 1 studies. The ades previously.14 In 2006, a man suffering sexual 5% figure even trumped a marketing of dapoxetine, dysfunction following isotretinoin killed the doctor an SSRI, for premature ejaculation, which depends who prescribed it to him. on the drug impacting on the sexual functioning of With colleagues, in 2018, I reported on 300 cases close to 100% of the men who take it. of enduring sexual dysfunction following antidepres- Clinicians were advised to tell patients taking sants, finasteride or isotretinoin.14 We decided to SSRIs that any sexual problems would remit once petition the European Medicines Agency to have treatment stopped and that they could even take a PSSD recognised on drug labels, hoping recognition break from treatment for a romantic weekend. might lead to research and treatment. The first report to British regulators of a patient with Another reason was because, in addition to the direct post-treatment genital arousal disorder dates to 1987.10 treatment harms, many patients are harmed by the The first report of what is now called Post-SSRI Sexual response of their doctors. They are ridiculed for thinking Dysfunction (PSSD) was filed in 1991.10 It is likely that a drug could cause a problem after it leaves the body. no doctors are aware of this. They are referred for therapy of childhood issues, or I saw my first patient with what was later called told, if they consult Google, they will have problems PSSD in 2000; a 35-year-old lady who told me that for ever, or they may be offered antidepressants.15 three months after stopping treatment, she could rub Why would regulators, who have been sitting on a hard-bristled brush across her genitals and feel thousands of reports from doctors for years, act in nothing. response to us? Reports from doctors to regulators In 2006, Bahrick11 and Csoka12 formally described are anonymised. This transforms them into hearsay. PSSD. They were helped in this by a lot of sufferers, Unless a patient and doctor can be cross-examined, it especially Kevin Bennett who played a key role in is not possible to establish causality. Aware of this, being willing to have his name linked to the condition with the agreement of patients, we sent the European and to be cross-examined at academic meetings. Medicines Agency 84 named patient reports and con- Kevin and other sufferers could reliably date their tact emails and 32 letters from doctors to confirm the condition to the early 1990s, so that by 2006 their patient’s identity, their treatment with an SSRI and problems had persisted for over a decade. the lack of a competing explanation for their difficul- In an effort to find a cure, hundreds of women and ties. The European Medicines Agency were told we men in Internet forums have since exchanged infor- were offering them the possibility to cross-examine mation about the effects of drugs acting on serotonin patients or their doctors to establish causality. or dopamine systems, phosphodiesterase inhibitors, In contrast to regulators, companies are obliged to herbs, metals and operative procedures, all of which follow us up if we report. They seek access to our had some rationale, but many of which were danger- medical records in order to find ways to explain the ous, and none of which work. Some forum partici- problem away. When their drug is the only way to pants appear to have committed suicide. I have been explain the problem, companies include it on their contacted by Dignitas, the assisted dying centre in label under ‘other reports’, which for doctors for Zurich, asking about the nature of this problem the most read as indicating that companies even let because a number of young people have referred us know about reports from ‘Flat-Earthers’. PSSD themselves there.13 has not appeared there because companies have a The core features of the condition are genital get-out – the patients were depressed. numbing, loss or muting of orgasm and loss of In June 2019, the European Medicines Agency libido. But many are just as concerned by additional agreed to ask companies to note a problem described features like emotional numbing or derealisation.14 nearly 30 years previously.2 Both sexes, all ages and every ethnic group can be affected. The problem may begin after only a few Ways forward doses and leave someone affected for life. Or a relatively mild dysfunction can worsen dramatically Sixty years ago, it rarely took more than a few years when the person stops treatment. between the first reporting of problems such as sexual Healy 3 dysfunction on amitriptyline, to wider acceptance. ORCID iD: David Healy https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6340- PSSD, PFS and PRSD now join a growing group 9247 of significant adverse events that have taken over three decades from the point of first description to References a linkage to treatment.

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