Sertraline - Hypersexuality and poor judgement

i’m just wondering if symptoms such as hyper sexuality, manic/hyperactive episodes and poor judgement/memory is associated with taking this medication. I have a long history with this medication and I had stopped it because I blamed it on an episode I had for almost two months - I started meeting two different guys that I hardly knew for sex. I would dress extremely promiscuous and I flirted with almost everyone. It’s so embarrassing to look back on but I felt on top of the world at the time and I didn’t think anything of it at the time (linked to poor judgement??). Could these side affects be related to an underlying illness perhaps?? Anyone experienced these side affects before??

I think if you posted this in Bipolar, some people be nodding their heads... this sounds kinda like a manic or hypomanic thing. Just a quick Google and found a link saying that taking something like Sertraline without a mood stabilizer can kick someone with Bipolar into manic/hypermanic. And I know one or two folks with Bipolar that get hypersexuality.

I think some of the bipolar, you just need to have had one episode to have that Dx- so even if you haven't had a history of it, this might be a bipolar thing? Best thing would be to ask in that forum. I don't know a whole lot about bipolar other than I might be type two, but I haven't studied into it.

Blondie18 wrote:i’m just wondering if symptoms such as hyper sexuality, manic/hyperactive episodes and poor judgement/memory is associated with taking this medication. I have a long history with this medication and I had stopped it because I blamed it on an episode I had for almost two months - I started meeting two different guys that I hardly knew for sex. I would dress extremely promiscuous and I flirted with almost everyone. It’s so embarrassing to look back on but I felt on top of the world at the time and I didn’t think anything of it at the time (linked to poor judgement??). Could these side affects be related to an underlying illness perhaps?? Anyone experienced these side affects before??

Sounds exactly like me when I was on a moderate dose of Prozac, an SSRI like Sertraline. The issue with having a hypomanic episode [or a manic episode] on an SSRI is that you can either just be sensitive to SSRIs and experience mania as a side effect, or have underlying bipolar disorder. In my personal opinion, I believe the former is more common -- there have been various studies conducted on SSRI-induced mania and it's not as rare as doctors say it is. For an example, read this study: https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/jnp.23.3.jnpe23
[I even spoke to my last therapist about this, and she agreed that just because you have mania from an SSRI doesn't necessarily equal 'bipolar'].

When I was hypomanic on Prozac, my worst symptom was hypersexuality, too, and generally being impulsive -- talking way too much, oversharing, and thinking I was smarter and cooler than I actually am [LOL...]. Which, you could argue, is also a sign of poor judgment. Now that you're off of the Sertaline, do you feel more like your old self? It took me a few weeks after I tapered off SSRIs to feel 'normal' again.

stormsandsea wrote:

Blondie18 wrote:i’m just wondering if symptoms such as hyper sexuality, manic/hyperactive episodes and poor judgement/memory is associated with taking this medication. I have a long history with this medication and I had stopped it because I blamed it on an episode I had for almost two months - I started meeting two different guys that I hardly knew for sex. I would dress extremely promiscuous and I flirted with almost everyone. It’s so embarrassing to look back on but I felt on top of the world at the time and I didn’t think anything of it at the time (linked to poor judgement??). Could these side affects be related to an underlying illness perhaps?? Anyone experienced these side affects before??

Sounds exactly like me when I was on a moderate dose of Prozac, an SSRI like Sertraline. The issue with having a hypomanic episode [or a manic episode] on an SSRI is that you can either just be sensitive to SSRIs and experience mania as a side effect, or have underlying bipolar disorder. In my personal opinion, I believe the former is more common -- there have been various studies conducted on SSRI-induced mania and it's not as rare as doctors say it is. For an example, read this study: https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/pdf/10.1176/jnp.23.3.jnpe23
[I even spoke to my last therapist about this, and she agreed that just because you have mania from an SSRI doesn't necessarily equal 'bipolar'].

When I was hypomanic on Prozac, my worst symptom was hypersexuality, too, and generally being impulsive -- talking way too much, oversharing, and thinking I was smarter and cooler than I actually am [LOL...]. Which, you could argue, is also a sign of poor judgment. Now that you're off of the Sertaline, do you feel more like your old self? It took me a few weeks after I tapered off SSRIs to feel 'normal' again.

Not exactly!! I had been on Sertraline for so long that it has made my recovery longer than expected and I am still suffering the consequences of my actions after taking this medication.