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"  Jenna, a petite and pretty 29-year-old, always considered herself charmed when it came to sex. Whereas many women find it challenging to orgasm even once through penetration, Jenna was racking up two\u2014sometimes even three\u2014orgasms a session. Damn, Gina! She had a healthy libido, confidence to spare, and very few hangups. When it came to coming, she was killing it. All of that changed, however, when she started taking the antidepressant Celexa two years ago.  Suddenly she found herself barely able to climax. And if she did by some miracle, it would be weak. Although thrilled that the medication took away her symptoms of depression, she was devastated to realize her orgasms went along with them. Stuck between a rock and a dry place, Jenna had to make a choice: mental health or sexual health? The most popular antidepressants prescribed now are known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI&amp;#039;s) and are well-documented for having potential sexual side effects including lower sex drive and absent or delayed orgasm. The irony is that pills that make you happier can also crush your sex drive. What gives? With one in ten Americans over the age of 12 now taking antidepressants, according to the Centers for Disease Control, the issue of compromised sexual response is more relevant than ever. And yet, since it&amp;#039;s so deeply personal, people rarely talk about it. &amp;quot;At least half of the patients that I treat with SSRIs complain of sexual side effects. That&amp;#039;s a lot,&amp;quot; Dr. Jennifer Markus, a licensed psychiatrist in New York, tells Cosmopolitan.com. &amp;quot;Part of the illness of depression is that your sex drive is low anyway. It&amp;#039;s part of what you&amp;#039;ve already been suffering from, and here you give them a med that either makes it worse or is neutral. It&amp;#039;s very frustrating.&amp;quot;  On the flip side, because antidepressants are so well-known for delaying orgasms, Dr. Markus says that &amp;quot;sometimes if a man has a problem with premature ejaculation, urologists will put them on SSRIs to help with it.&amp;quot; (Ladies, if you are dating a minute man, this could be the best news you&amp;#039;ve read all day.) Katy, 31, was on Lexapro for five years and in that time she says, &amp;quot;orgasming with anything other than a power tool during masturbation was impossible. The only time I would climax quickly was when I missed a dose. Sure, upon missing a dose, I cried all day and hated my life, but man did I have amazing orgasms.&amp;quot;  Eventually, Katy decided to switch to a different drug and now enjoys a much more balanced sex life.  Jenna also decided to get off of her SSRI seven months ago.  &amp;quot;The insane burst of crazy orgasms that I had after I went off Celexa, and the subsequent recovery of my sexual response have contributed to my desire to stay off SSRIs,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;This may sound silly, but when I&amp;#039;m really low and considering taking them again, I think about giving up my orgasms and somehow that seems worse than dealing with my extreme emotional highs and lows.&amp;quot; Obviously the decision to get off or switch medication is not right for everyone. For many people, it is much healthier and safer to stay on medications and find other ways of coping with the sexual piece. There are countless ways to counteract lower levels of libido from natural remedies like exercise to bringing more eroticism into your life.  &amp;quot;Even if you take a little bit longer, you can still get really excited and really turned on and enjoy yourself. I try and educate patients to the importance of the erotic turn-ons which are more about your mind,&amp;quot; certified sex therapist Sari Cooper, who works with patients on SSRIs, tells us. &amp;quot;An erotic turn-on would be if your lover plans a special surprise date and takes you somewhere you&amp;#039;ve never been before and it has a little anxiety, maybe a little danger, built into it.&amp;quot;  Other things patients have done to jazz up their sex life is to take a &amp;quot;drug holiday.&amp;quot; If you know you are going to have sex on the weekend, for example, you can skip your pill on Saturday.  &amp;quot;Missing Pristiq (an SSRI) doses sends my clitoris into a tailspin of desire, where my office swivel chair becomes Jon Hamm,&amp;quot; Katy quipped. &amp;quot;But really, I don&amp;#039;t think I need to be this horny all the time.&amp;quot; The point is that there is a middle ground, and you shouldn&amp;#039;t have to choose between feeling happy or feeling horny. You can be your totally randy, sex-crazed self and still find joy in life. Who would want anything less? Photo Credit: Getty Images Want more musings from Rose? Follow her on Twitter. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/sex-love/news/a12620/antidepressants-sex-drive/>