Not aware of any relationship between the two. But you didn't mention anything about testosterone.
Do you know of any correlation between low testosterone and use of SSRI in men? My friend takes clexa 20Mg and seems to have lower fatigue when on the SSRI. Yet on the other hand when he gets off of clexa for a month he has more engery, but his OCD behavior starts acting rogue again. Mind you he isnt a big lifter like I am and only does upper body movments and can press 185 for a single and bench 295 for a single. His body weight is 205 at 5,7.
Not aware of any relationship between the two. But you didn't mention anything about testosterone.
I was pretty much wondering if you was aware of any connection between the two? Since when he stops taking the med he has more engery and drive. I'm guessing this is somthing that we would need a case study to find out. Being that was live in a pro anti-masculine society I feel we may never see that. I don't understand why testosterone isn't apart of a basic metabolic panel?
I guess I don't understand your point.
My point or question is, if he has more engery being off the drug, could it be it affects testosterone when on it; which is why he has less libido and energy when taking the drug?
Could be. SSRIs are a really bad idea, as we know.
Libido issues are a known possible side effect of SSRIs. The counter argument is that anxiety disorders can also affect libido (as well as sleep, which affects hormone levels), so sometimes it’s a reasonable risk to take. There’s an SSC on here with personal experience: Depression and Training | Andrew Lewis
Your friend might try Exposure and Response Prevention therapy for his OCD. I imagine that his anxiety has a “theme.” Germs/contamination is the most stereotypical OCD type, but there are many others. He would be tasked with facing the obsessions without it performing his accompanying compulsion rituals. Usually this creates short term spikes in anxiety, but relief in the long term as his obsessions begin to appear like less legitimate threats.
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Disclaimer: I am not Andrew, and am not attempting to speak for him at all. This is just my take I'm chiming in with, though I, too look forward to his response.
I've fought with depression most of my life. In my experience, it doesn't seem to be caused by low T per se. There's symptomatic overlap, to be sure, but I'd say it seems less direct to me. Sort of along the lines of how depression used to be treated with uppers - depression isn't simply a lack of energy, though having more energy can help, especially by enabling some coping mechanisms.
By the same token, my experiences with TRT have been a marked increase in ability to take agency - I think Rip has characterized in terms of aggression. This directly addresses a large portion of the impact of depression for me, and it definitely enables other good abilities and strategies to deal with it.
Does this mean that low T causes depression? Not necessarily. Maybe it's the other way around. Maybe there's some other factor involved. Or just maybe, we're complex beings, with any number of feedback loops, such that there are multiple inputs that can steer the ship one way or another.
Other examples include: I started strength training years before TRT, and that helps. Cleaning up diet helps - for me that follows training. Having duties and responsibilities help me immensely, as well. Men need hills to take and dragons to slay - it's how we're built.
You can tweak one variable at a time, but that doesn't mean that it's the only variable at play.