I am currently on 100mg monthly injections of Invega Sustenna (due to non-compliance). I am experiencing difficulty getting and sustaining erections and when I can ejaculate it is a very small amount with the consistency of water.
I used to get aroused and have erections that were full and sometimes would get one without any stimulation. Now the only time I can get fully erect is when I wake up from sleeping and happen to have an erection. I cannot achieve a full erection when awake, it is always a softer, less full erection that seems to stop “half way” to a full one. When I want to try and get an erection from genital stimulation nothing happens.
My doctor told me that nobody has complained about this problem, and I need to be visually stimulated in order to get an erection. So I have been watching porn and still have difficulty, but can achieve orgasm in most cases, with a soft erection and a very low volume of ejaculate that has the consistency of water.
In searching on Google I have found others who have sexual dysfunction on Invega Sustenna. It is even listed as one of the side effects on drugs.com www . drugs . com/cdi/invega-sustenna.html (a site recommended by the FDA). On drugs.com it says that it’s due to an increase in prolactin.
I am seeing my doctor today, and I want to try Abilify because I have read that there are less sexual side effects on that drug, and it also treats schizophrenia (which I have been diagnosed with). This abstract states that there was improvement in sexual dysfunction when switching to Aripiprazole/Abilify: www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov /pubmed/18308789 .
I have been on Invega Sustenna for a few years and have lived with the sexual dysfunction thinking it was because I was in my 30’s and this was common.
Hi.i have been using this drug since 2 years.erectile dysfunction is temporary problem in this case.but you will no longer erect when you are alone masturbate.only erection can happen when you touched by woman.i can erect when i need sex but i can no longer erection when i masturbate and as long as i can erect when i sex its not a problem at all.abilify has sexual dysfunction also.it s really hard on abilify to getting orgasm.i think i can choose invega because it has not problem at orgasm.
Well, today my psychiatrist and I decided to stop the Invega Sustenna injections. He started me on Abilify and ordered a prolactin blood test.
I’m starting with 4mg (2mg twice a day) for 5 days.
Then 10mg (5mg twice a day) until my injection date.
In January when my next injection is scheduled it will be a 400mg dose of Abilify, and that is a monthly injection.
I will update this thread to track progress over the next few months.
My prolactin results came back - 51.9 ug/L
The lab says this is high, their reference was 4.0-19.0 ug/L
Online I have found that males should have 3.0-15.0 ug/L
Either way I’m at about 2.5x the upper “normal” bound.
This means that my dysfunction might be caused by increased levels of prolactin caused by Invega Sustenna. Aripiprazole (Abilify) has been found to reduce prolactin levels and return sexual function in cases of elevated prolactin (see: www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov /pubmed/18308789 ).
I hope I have found the root cause.
From drugs.com (a site recommended by the FDA)
www . drugs . com/sfx/invega-sustenna-side-effects.html:
Paliperidone has a prolactin-elevating effect similar to that seen with risperidone. Risperidone is associated with higher levels of prolactin elevation than other antipsychotic drugs. Hyperprolactinemia may suppress hypothalamic gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) resulting in reduced pituitary gonadotropin secretion and in turn inhibit reproductive function by impairing gonadal steroidogenesis. Galactorrhea, amenorrhea, gynecomastia, and impotence have been reported in patients receiving prolactin-elevating compounds.
From wikipedia:
en . wikipedia . org/wiki/Hyperprolactinaemia
Prolactin secretion in the pituitary is normally suppressed by the brain chemical dopamine. Drugs that block the effects of dopamine at the pituitary or deplete dopamine stores in the brain may cause the pituitary to secrete prolactin.
I’ve been on Abilify for about 1.5 months now, and have noticed a very huge improvement. I can get full erections and when I ejaculate something comes out other than the watery fluid I had prior. I guess it might be sperm, but I kind of thought I would never produce that again.
So I’d recommend Abilify/Abilify Maintena for Invega clients who are experiencing sexual dysfunction. I’ll update you all later on my prolactin levels and whether or not the improvement stays.
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