Libido treatment

Yohimbine is an indole alkaloid produced in the bark of yohimbe trees. It selectively inhibits a2-adrenergic receptors in the brain that are associated with libido and penile erection. Since there is only limited data supporting its efficacy, yohimbine is not a recommended treatment for any form of ED.22 Adverse effects of the drug include nausea, irritability, headaches, anxiety, tachycardia, and hypertension. 

Androgens are important for general sexual function and libido, but testosterone supplementation is only effective in patients with documented low serum testosterone levels. In patients with hypogonadism, testosterone replacement is the initial treatment of choice, as it corrects decreased libido, fatigue, muscle loss, sleep disturbances, and depressed mood. Improvements in ED may occur, but they should not be expected to occur in all patients.23 The initial trial should be for 3 months. At that time, re-evaluation and the addition of another ED therapy is warranted. Routes of administration include oral, intramuscular, topical patches or gel, and a buccal tablet. 

Adverse reactions include nausea, nervousness, headache, insomnia, anxiety. Sexual dysfunction with loss of libido is a common complaint. Insomnia can be a problem. Urticaria and rashes have been described. Venlafaxine may significantly increase the risk of suicide and is therefore not recommended as a first line treatment of depression. The view that also fluoxetine and other SSRIs can lead to suicide is under debate for quite some time now. In most countries SSRIs are not approved for use in pediatric populations. In the UK and in the USA only fluoxetine can be prescribed for children. 

At high doses, ketoconazole causes a clinically significant reduction in testosterone synthesis and blocks the adrenal response to corticotropin. Gynecomastia, impotence, reduced sperm counts, and dimiiushed libido can occur in men, and prolonged drug use can result in irregular menses in women. These hormonal effects have led to the use of ketoconazole as a potential adjunctive treatment for prostatic carcinoma. 

St. John s wort has been used to treat a wide range of ailments for more than 2000 years, and is said to have been prescribed by Hippocrates himself. Apart from depression, St. John s wort is being promoted or used as a treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety, stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder, sleep problems, nocturnal enuresis, bacterial and viral infections such as HIV-AIDS, respiratory conditions, peptic ulceration, inflammatory arthritis, cancer, and skin wounds (Rey and Walter, 1998 Walter et ah, 2000). It is also said to increase libido, an application dating from the Middle Ages (Fletcher, 1996). No empirical evidence is currently available to support any of these uses. 

SSRIs and venlafaxine, males who received duloxetine experienced more difficulty with ability to reach orgasm than did males who received placebo. However, females did not experience more sexual dysfunction while taking duloxetine than did those taking placebo. The reason for fewer sexual side effects in females is not clear, and some females will experience treatment-emergent anorgasmia or decreased libido. 

MAOIs are commonly associated with treatment-emergent sexual dysfunction, including decreased libido, delayed ejaculation, anor-gasmia, and impotence. Some patients become tolerant to this side effect over time, but more often the problem persists unless the dose is reduced or another medication is used to counter the sexual side effects. The treatment of sexual side effects is discussed in the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors section earlier in this chapter. 

Antiandrogens such as cyproterone acetate (5.54) or the nonsteroidal flutamide (5.55, a substituted anilide) are competitive antagonists on the cytosol receptor. They do not prevent DHT formation rather, they inhibit the nuclear retention of DHT in the prostate. They cause feminization in male fetuses and decrease libido in males. Cyproterone is also an active progestogen. In men, antiandrogens are used commonly in the treatment of prostatic cancer and uncommonly to inhibit sex drive in hypersexuality in women, antiandrogens are used to treat virilization. Bicalutamide (5.56) and nilutamide (5.57) are potent, orally active antiandrogens that may be used in the treatment of metastatic prostate carcinoma. 

In contrast to decreased libido seen with SSRIs and venlafaxine, concerns about priapism invariably arise when trazodone is discussed. This adverse effect is rare, occurring in only 1 of 6,000 treated male patients (456, 457). If the patient is informed of this possibility and discontinues the drug promptly, priapism usually resolves without further intervention. Although earlier persistent cases were treated surgically, this approach carries a 50% chance of permanent impotence pharmacological intervention via direct injections into the cavernous bulbosa is preferable ( 458, 459). Using this approach, the chance of permanent impotence is low and depends on the duration of symptoms before treatment (460). This latter fact is another reason to fully inform the male patient on trazodone, so that early detection and intervention can be implemented. 

Treatment for at least 3-6 months is necessary to see increased hair growth or prevent further hair loss. Continued treatment with finasteride is necessary to sustain benefit. Reported adverse effects include decreased libido, ejaculation disorders, and erectile dysfunction, which resolve in most men who remain on therapy and in all men who discontinue finasteride. 

Other bad news in the treatment of depression is that many responders never remit (Table 5 — 17). In feet, some studies suggest that up to half of patients who respond nevertheless fail to attain remission, including those with either apathetic responses" or anxious responses (Table 5 — 18). The apathetic responder is one who experiences improved mood with treatment, but has continuing lack of pleasure (anhedonia), decreased libido, lack of energy, and no zest. The anxious responder, on the other hand, is one who had anxiety mixed with depression and who experiences improved mood with treatment but has continuing anxiety, especially generalized anxiety characterized by excessive worry, plus insomnia and somatic symptoms. Both types of responders are better, but neither is well. 

In men, the (often desired) effects can include an increase in libido. After some time, androgenic treatment in men will lead to a reduction in the volume of the testes and azoospermia or oligospermia because of suppression of gonadotropins. Severe priapism occasionally occurs. 

Topical application of testosterone, as a gel or from transdermal patches, can lead to absorption and systemic effects (SEDA-16, 158). Transdermal absorption of testosterone (usually from treatment of vulvar lichen scler-osus et atrophicus) can lead to increased libido, clitoral hypertrophy, pubic hirsutism, thinning of the scalp hair, facial acne, voice change, hirsutism, and even virilization (111). 

In an open comparative study of androgenetic alopecia in 90 men oral finasteride (1 mg/day for 12 months n = 65) was compared with 5% topical minoxidil solution twice daily (n = 25) (22). The cure rates were 80% for oral finasteride and 52% for topical minoxidil. The adverse effects were all mild, and did not lead to withdrawal of treatment. Of the 65 men given oral finasteride, six had loss of libido, and one had an increase in body hair at other sites irritation of the scalp was seen in one of those who used minoxidil. These adverse events disappeared as soon as the treatment was withdrawn. The laboratory data did not show any statistically or clinically significant changes from baseline values to the endpoint, except for the serum total testosterone concentration, which was increased, and free testosterone and serum prostate-specific antigen in the finasteride group which were reduced from baseline values. 

The notion that an oral contraceptive closely similar to that used in women might be developed for men has been discussed for about 45 years, but the concept has not yet found wide acceptance. Delays in putting the concept into practice have related variously to difficulties in finding an effective combination, complaints of reduced libido or potency, and the long delay between the start of treatment and the attainment of azoospermia. 

In a condition such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, common complications are reduced libido, a reduced volume of ejaculate, and impotence within 3 days of starting treatment, serum testosterone can reach castration concentrations. 

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