Editorial Note: This extraordinary post from Spiros might help explain the very similar problems that follow SSRIs, Finasteride, and Isotretinoin. There have been several other reports to RxISK of comparable problems on rivaroxaban – Xarelto. This drug causes many more problems than the sexual one described here. We would be interested to hear from anyone else suffering from this or other problems. The main source of information on the sexual problems is Spiros’s website listed below.
Injury and Insult
I was prescribed Xarelto (rivaroxaban) for deep vein thrombosis (DVT) following a treatment with heparin injections.
DVT was caused by immobility after a fibula fracture. The fracture was the injury.
At the time, the doctors did not warn me about the risk of DVT, not even following a visit to the emergency department 2 weeks after the fracture with an extremely swollen lower extremity. The result was that my residual oedema and discomfort was misdiagnosed later as lymphoedema by a physical therapist and I had physiotherapy, and only after 1 year following the fracture, when the oedema was still unresolved and I visited ortho Dr No 6, was I instructed to have a vein ultrasound which revealed extensive femoral and popliteal DVT. The failure to alert me about the risk of DVT, the ensuing non-diagnoses and the misdiagnosis, was the insult to injury No 1.
Insult and Injury 2
Three weeks following the heparin injections I switched to Xarelto, as the doctor upped the heparin dosage to a very high level for my weight (I was 65 kgs and I was prescribed a dosage for someone who is 100 kgs) which resulted in lightheadedness, listlessness and inability to concentrate.
About two weeks into Xarelto, and in a matter of 2-5 days, everything about my sexuality changed drastically. Spontaneous erections disappeared and nocturnal/morning erections became extremely feeble and shortlived (when, previously, morning erections were so strong so that often I would have to spend time waiting them out in order to urinate despite the strong need for urination). Reaching and holding a half-baked erection required great effort and it would go down immediately after discontinuing stimulation.
Takers of SSRIs describe genital numbness. In my case there is no genital numbness—If I pinch myself I do feel pain—but lack of sexual sensation and sensitivity. Another strange symptom I have been having, which is especially noticeable when sitting or lying down, is a “trembling” sensation, as if a low-intensity electric current is running through my penis. Moreover, sometimes, following an orgasm there is a lasting feeling of discomfort in the genital area, bordering on mild pain.
Interest in the opposite sex disappeared completely. Seeing a woman was like seeing a painting or a landscape; the aesthetic value was completely dissociated from triggering any sort of desire. Sexual stimulation resulted in very feeble erections with premature ejaculation and pleasureless orgasm. The hedonic aspect of the orgasm was not much different to urination—no pleasure at all. In short, serious erectile dysfunction of abrupt onset accompanied by a complete loss of libido and muted orgasms. For me, it could be summed up as chemical castration and it was experienced as some sort of weird altered state of consciousness, that of a totally desexualized being. This was the insult to injury No 2.
The Problem Deepens
I did not like it one bit, but I was convinced that my deep vein thrombosis was a very serious issue and the only way to fight it was to continue taking the blood thinners (little did I know then that, most likely, the blood thinners I was prescribed to take could have little to no effect due to my extremely delayed diagnosis of a year after the acute DVT phase).
Initially I thought that, since there was no such side effect listed in the patient information leaflet, and I could not find any related information or similar experience by someone else on the Internet, then it must be a temporary issue, which would resolve after discontinuing the drug.
Unfortunately, as it transpired later, that was not the case. The symptoms persist until now 2 years after discontinuing Xarelto in very much the same way as they originally appeared. There were no periods or instances where the symptoms subsided (and this is one more counter-argument to the fatuous suggestions by some ignorant health professionals of a “psychological” problem).
I even tried abstaining from orgasm for two weeks as an experiment. Before Xarelto, when I had done something similar, it required a great deal of effort and self-discipline in order to maintain the abstention. Now, it was as if I was not abstaining from anything. In fact, it was the opposite, sexual stimulation was a like a chore, which I carried out in order to confirm that, at least on a “technical” level, an orgasm was feasible, no matter the quality and pleasure that may or may not be derived from it. And when I broke the two-week “fast”, the results were bathetic. It was equally difficult, if not even more so, to reach some sort of half-baked erection which resulted in a quick pleasureless orgasm. This, coming as a sharp contrast to what it would have been like before Xarelto.
Consulting Doctors – More Insults
I mentioned the sexual side-effects to 5 different vascular surgeons (including the well-known British physician Stephen Black); they did not have a clue. One told me that I could switch to a different drug and others said I should see a urologist/andrologist.
I visited 5 urologists and 1 endocrinologist. The urologists saw my hormone and blood works and they concluded that there was nothing wrong there; hence, for them, the issue is “psychological”. The endocrinologist concurred and declined to see the data I had from pharmacovigilance databases where similar issues were reported. He persisted that since the hormone tests did not show anything, then it must be psychological. As if hormone tests and the current state of medical science can detect everything that could go wrong in one’s body. Another urologist I visited said that science does not know all the chemical paths relating to sexuality, so it is possible that the medication affected one of those. Good luck to me with discovering it. At that point, it dawned on me that no doctor would bother with something that was not or could not be documented with current diagnostic tools, let alone research it.
To quote from another post regarding encountering doctors, “the drug has damaged you in a way that is evident only to you who live it on your skin, and not because you are an imaginary madman, but because there are not, to date, diagnostic tools capable of highlighting the damage that you are suffering.”
The above fact, and the attitude of doctors to dismiss the issues as purely psychological, was the insult to injury No 3.
Research
As a result, I had to do the research myself. To start with, I wrote an article on my thrombosis site about the sexuality-related issues with Xarelto which I kept updating as new findings presented themselves.
Some of my first findings were similar issues reported in pharmacovigilance databases as well as the fact that Xarelto is facing numerous law suits for “failing to provide adequate warnings about its serious side effects to patients and doctors”. On March 25th, 2019, they settled for $775 million to get paid out to victims.
It came as a surprise to discover that similar issues (especially muted orgasms) were reported by sufferers of post-finasteride syndrome (PFS), post-retinoid sexual dysfunction (PRSD) and post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD). And there are some papers on Endocrine Journal and the International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine making the connection:
- Post-finasteride syndrome and post-SSRI sexual dysfunction: two sides of the same coin?
- Enduring sexual dysfunction after treatment with antidepressants, 5α-reductase inhibitors and isotretinoin: 300 cases
Healy make the suggestion on RxISK of nerve damage, and specifically of c-fibers and repeats this in a presentation regarding sexual problems caused by post-SSRI sexual dysfunction. I was particularly touched by a comment to that video which pretty much echoed my own feelings:
…not only do they destroy ability to experience physical affection. They also stop ability to feel love, empathy, compassion, regret, human connection. They make you a shell of a human being. In fact they take away the essential essence of being human. Beyond unconscionable.
To put all this into context, such sexuality-related issues affect the individual on a scale that goes far beyond the sexual plane:
Brain mechanisms involved in fundamental pleasures (food and sexual pleasures) overlap with those for higher-order pleasures (for example, monetary, artistic, musical, altruistic, and transcendent pleasures).
And this is what I can confirm from my experience. For example, I have lost any inspiration in meditating, playing the piano and composing as I used to do, as well as meeting new people and socializing. It is as if the annihilation of the sex-drive—on the level of desire and the physical level—resulted in depriving life of all its sparkle, enthusiasm and motivation, as if I had been transformed into an empty “shell of a human being”—a flat tire if you will. Existence had become a blunt, tasteless, odourless and colourless experience. A highly-pixellated, low-resolution, black-and-white jpeg in a world of 3-D, augmented reality, high-resolution, fast-streaming phantasmagoria.
Perhaps the grand irony of my case is that a legal drug was the cause of major sexual dysfunction without as much as a warning to this effect in the patient information leaflet, despite leading a healthy lifestyle, eating organic, being a non-smoker and non-drinker; whereas, on the other hand, other individuals, who may have been eating junk, smoking, drinking and abusing illegal drugs throughout their lives, had none such issues. The conclusion: legal drugs, although presented as “cures” are potentially much more dangerous than illegal ones and often, much more expensive. In the words of Karl Kraus: “medicine: your money and your life”.
If you too are facing issues with Xarelto, there is a Xarelto Side Effect Support Group on Facebook but there is no group or forum worth mentioning that deals specifically with sexually-related Xarelto side-effects.
So far, 5 people have contacted me through the article on my site who had sexuality-related issues (erectile dysfunction, loss of libido). So, for all intents and purposes, that is the main point of reference and up-to-date information for anyone suffering from similar issues. And now, it is this post too.
Spruce says
This poor mans experience of persisting sexual side effects post Xarelto and all of the other effects such as emotional anaesthesia, loss of romantic feelings and a loss of a string of other human emotions and pleasures, is very similar to suffering from PSSD.
These long lasting and persisting sexual dysfunctions take a lot more than just your ability to enjoy sex (Which for me it has completely taken away).
You can no longer enjoy music because of the emotional anaesthesia, so the emotional affect of music does little to nothing anymore. You can no longer have the emotional response and joy when watching a film you want to watch for the first time. You can no longer look forward and have anticipatory excitement to go on holiday like you used to. You can no longer get a buzz or feel excited when participating in a hobby like you used to. You can no longer feel romantic feelings towards anyone like you used to. You can no longer feel sad when something bad happens like you used to (I felt very little when my father died because of the emotional anaesthesia component of PSSD).
Then there is all the stigma, and resulting secrecy, and embarrassing sexual incidents and nasty responses from doctors that can lead to feelings of humiliation and emasculation because of the PSSD. Also often estrangement from family members because of fear of awkward questions about why you haven’t had a girlfriend in years etc (I know a lot of people who have become estranged from their families because of PSSD).
Living with these enduring sexual problems takes so much more than your ability to enjoy sex. It is like living in an emotional black and white world, with all the colour, enjoyment, and fun sucked out. In effect people with these enduring conditions live in a state of emotional and sexual poverty.
I genuinely feel like after taking citalopram it felt like all of the good feelings I had were sucked out and they have never returned. Sometimes I get fleeting glimpses of what they used to feel like, but then they are gone again. And Citalopram caused this damage with the first tablet I took.
I could write all day about all the things PSSD has taken from my life. The harm has been so extensive, but unfortunately my time on the library computer is about to run out.
Andtew says
Hi, my name is Andrew, and I came across your text last night, and after reading it I cried my eyes out, after years of thinking I was on my own with this, I could not believe it, please if you get this message is there any way we could talk? If not to talk could we text, kind regards Andrew.
Steven Webber 58 says
It seems to take longer to ejaculate..I’m excited..but not excited enough..seems to take longer to get there..and no amazing orgasm
Jürgen Rieger says
Good Morning, I have started to search for side-effects after about 3 weeks of use of Xarelto.
Change of prescription from ASS 100 (taken since 2011) to Xarelto/Rivaroxaban after a heart surgery has the side-effect of extreme loss of libido and – as now read in these comments – the same loss of a érection.
Being a sexual active man regardless of my age over 60, this disturbed.
So I will stop the medication and we will see.
Heather R says
The term. ‘Having all the joy sucked out of them’ is what 11 young people were all united as having said, seperately, to their friends and parents; they were describing what they suffered before they ended their own lives, having had treatment courses of Accutane/RoAccutane/isotretinoin prescribed for them. Now we see Spiro describing it too, and Spruce. They all said, this wasn’t just about pleasure in sex, important as that was. It was about ANY form of joyous anticipation. All gone.
In our office at home, my computer sat on a bench opposite my son Olly’s. When he was working over here, towards the end of his life, I’d sit opposite him and I’d try not to catch his eyes. There was no smiling in them any more. They were haunted and lost. I’d almost say, he wasn’t in there any more. He clung to computer strategy games in order to go onto autopilot and ease his horrendous pain. Tears would be pouring down his face but he couldn’t talk. His brain was f***ed, he muttered. There was no hope for him. He too had been on escilatopram and then citalopram, then venlafaxine, then Sertraline, Olanzapine, all lobbed in one after another, chasing the tail of RoAccutane. He wasn’t alone in the form of hell he was experiencing, but I didn’t know, and he probably didn’t know either. There were 10 just like him scattered round the UK at around the same time, all struggling like he was, and all destined to end like he did. As can be seen on the Facebook page of Olly’s Friendship Foundation for Easter Sunday.
We didn’t talk about sex.
We didn’t talk about anything towards the end. Olly was just an empty shell of what he had been, like they all had been, just as Spiro and Spruce describe in this post. We used to somehow almost silently get through each day, as the inevitable drew nearer and nearer. He prayed not to wake in the mornings. He wasn’t religious but he told me he prayed for death to free him. There was no help out there for him. There is no help out there for any of us parents, left behind, because how could there ever be? We’ve experienced a horror which is beyond explaining, which we try to put away. But Spiro and Spruce are in it NOW, and we MUST find a way to reverse it for them. And the thousands and thousands just like them, who suffer like Olly in isolated confusion. Thank heaven Spiro has a website and is researching, so he can be consulted and found by others on Xarelto. We have one too, and sadly we pick up more and more followers bereaved by RoAccutane or neuroleptic prescribed drugs all the time. But at least they now have a gathering point. Otherwise they would still be wondering why on earth their loved one’s behaviour had become so withdrawn and bizarre. Till they died.
Spiros says
Heather,
Your words are redolent with empathy and I am quite touched by Olly’s story and the loving and sensitive aura I can sense from his him.
Thank you for being courageous enough to want to help others with your web site, despite your grief. For me, this is the only way to transform a small portion of grief into love.
Sadly, I can pretty much relate to Olly’s feelings: “He prayed not to wake in the mornings. He wasn’t religious but he told me he prayed for death to free him”—I did write a poem on that in Greek; and another in English that pretty much captures the feeling:
https://greekpoet.wordpress.com/2019/02/23/tipping-point/
susanne says
David – would the small group of doctors who you say are supportive be willing to say who they are and meet with people face to face or online via initial contact with Rxisk ? Then they as practitioners would have a greater pool of knowledge to draw on and educate other medics who may be seeing the problems themselves more often than they realise or want or know how to deal with . I know there is on line help on the blog but if a network of interested doctors was published that would expand the network If enough doctors did get interested they could add to the work as a kind of subgroup of researchers at Rxisk while actually practicing. Maybe even leading to using the Rxisk Prize. As Spruce has said – too many doctors are more impressed by someone with status – sad but true. A recommendation/referral from Rxisk to a group of doctors recommended by and trusted by Rxisk – would that be possible?
Spruce says
Bayer in a statement on Monday said it continues to believe the claims are without merit. “However, this favorable settlement allows the company to avoid the distraction and significant cost of continued litigation,” the company said.
This disgusts me. As if they actually believe this tripe about how the drug hasn’t caused these persisting effects. Grandiose denialism disorder is what the people who work for these drug companies are suffering from.
Maybe we should get this Grandiose denialism disorder into the DSM and get them sectioned, pump them full of SSRI’s and antipsychotics and then tell them that the side effects are all in their head, or they are making them up. See if that manages to cure their Grandiose denialism disorder.
And the way they manage to paint themselves as the victims.
Slippery.
Spiros says
Spruce, you made me laugh. In fact, I have had similar thoughts myself, —give them a taste of their own medicine, get a court order for that. Then see how they feel about it.
When people and big corporations’ only value is money and not compassion, and there are no true “checks and balances” for such attitudes by regulatory authorities, the result is our present day reality: a massacre of genocide-like proportions. And, like genocide, denialism, character assassination and victim-blaming, is part of this filthy game.
susanne says
Spruce -Is there any cure for the G.D.D. (grandiose denial disorder)? Or should they all be sectioned indefinitely.
Spruce says
Susanne- it is a life long illness I am afraid.
It can be treated, but not cured.
It can and needs to be treated with a variety of psychiatric drugs, and they need to be taken daily for the rest of the sufferers life to keep the disorder at bay.
Any symptoms if the sufferer tries to stop or reduce the medication, is likely an emergence of the disorder, and is unlikely related to the medication.
Any symptoms on reducing or stopping medication further indicate that the disorder needs to be treated with medication indefinitely.
The medications correct a number of chemical imbalances in the brain.
Try to think of it like how a diabetic needs insulin.
susanne says
Thebmj is advertising for submissions for another over-diagnosis conference to be held in Sydney in July:-
‘Commercial Interests, transparency and independence.’ ‘Help the move towards independence from commercial interests’.
Thebmj has pretty well been forced to declare that it receives incomes from pharmaceutical companies (and others) – In their declaration of interests :-
thebmj receives income from commercial interests and sponsors – with a link to annual declarations. There are no details about the income as far as I can see , but maybe there is another link somewhere.
Most revenue comes from displaying adverts for pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical products. No specific information and no call from the editor to put pressure on the companies, to reveal their intentions about publishing ,data at the conference. Not when 2.69 million is at stake
Just another jolly for the over-diagnosis crowd?.
susanne says
What about trying to attract research by putting adverts in the publications read by researchers/medics/pharmacologists/neurologists – anybody interested in researching the reasons why people are having severe adverse reactions to prescribed drugs. With a contact for an initial enquiry and then as the next stage further discussion to fill them in with what’s been done by Rxisk already.
Dubya_B says
Is there a possibility that Heparin is the culprit?
There is a member of propeciahelp.com who said he has been suffering from severe sexual symptoms, including deterioration of penile tissue, since being prescribed a cream that contains a cocktail of anti-androgenic substances.
Heparin was one of those substances, and it was later found out that it both inhibits 5-alpha reductase, and acts as an androgen receptor antagonist.
Spiros says
Heparin is definitely not the culprit (at least in my case). Its documented sexual side effect is quite the opposite: priapism. In my case the issues started when heparin had been discontinued and I was already 2 weeks into Xarelto.
Also, I suspect that the unnamed “cream that contains a cocktail of anti-androgenic substances” is a very different product than heparin which is injected under the skin (as the case is with low-molecular-weight heparins currently used for DVT), hence, there could hardly be any connection here.
annie says
The drug that banishes baldness can ruin a man’s love life: Hair loss drug finasteride is used by millions, but men say it has devastating side-effects such IMPOTENCE – that can last years after you’ve stopped taking it
Global market for hair loss treatments is valued at an extraordinary £5.6 billion
However, the cost for many men is infinitely higher as it can destroy their libido
Many people report that Finasteride-related impotence never fully goes away
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-7274057/How-baldness-drug-ruin-mans-love-life-Finasteride-devastating-effects.html
By Jo Waters For The Daily Mail
Published: 22:08, 22 July 2019 | Updated: 15:25, 23 July 2019
To many men, it’s a wonder drug that has helped halt their baldness.
Others, however, say it has had a devastating effect on their lives, causing a range of crippling side-effects including impotence, infertility, insomnia, anxiety, depression and, in some cases, suicidal thoughts — even years after they stopped taking it.
annie says
A Reuters Series
https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-courts-secrecy-propecia/
Court let Merck hide secrets about a popular drug’s risks
Lawsuits claim baldness drug Propecia causes sexual side-effects
By Dan Levine
Filed Sept. 11, 2019, 1 p.m. GMT
Kyle says
Hello Spyros. I have experienced almost to the T what you have experienced sexually and I have sworn up and down to my doctor that the xarelto was to blame-even describing almost word for word your paragraph from my own desires and experience. Can you please email me so I can talk to you more about this and if there is anything you have done to remedy the situation? I’m at my wits end with this issue. Hope to hear from you. -Kyle
Spiros says
Please read the sections “Alternatives to Xarelto” and “You have similar issues? What YOU can do to help yourself” on my website. I do not withhold any information, so all my knowledge is there.
Why do you take blood thinners? Coumarin-like anticoagulants like warfarin are the oldest kids in the block and, although not side-effect free, with good regulation and INR monitoring they have some of the safest records.
Personally, if I were to switch, it would be a coumarin or heparin.
Spiros says
I am reading that Bayer has applied to the European Medicines Agency for a pediatric indication for Xarelto, based on the results of the EINSTEIN Jr. Phase 3 study. And I think to myself, apart from maximizing the clientele, this is indeed a most astute way to circumvent any sexuality-related side-effects—by the time the children reach puberty and realise that they have no libido or erectile function it will be too late and too difficult to connect the dots and point to the culprit.
References:
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/915826
[https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/pediatrics/new-phase-3-data-advances-pursuit-pediatric-indication-xarelto]
Spiros says
Apparently this is happening to females as well, quoting from a comment I got on my website:
Dr. David Healy says
A new comment on the post Xarelto and Erectile Dysfunction
I’m on my second DVT and been prescribed Xarelto on a long term basis. Since taking the medication I constantly feel sick, look drained, and with no explanation woke up one day with a bad pain in my knee. After months of trying to figure it out it turned out two ligaments were torn in the knee. I still don’t know how I done this (the injury is similar to a person who’s been in a car crash) and pretty sure its attributed to the medicine. My erections are not as large as they are but managing the situation with mind power (the more you worry the worse it gets). I have told the Doctors time and time again but they insist its my age (39 and had no issues before taking the medication). Even when I have explained the side effects they have often “missed” this on follow up letters in which I have several open complaints.The hospitals believe that this is a wonder drug (it stops regular check ups and therefore saves money). This week after 1 year of fighting they have finally agreed to discuss changing the medication. Something is not right. Please email me on lovellsinternational@hotmail.co.uk. We need to talk, and may take some action against Bayer. Enough is enough.
Spiros says
Spiros says
Another comment I received on the site:
Chris says
Wow. This is so spot on to what I’ve been going through for 5 years on Xarelto. Especially down to the feedback I’ve received from doctors. I medicate with copious amounts of alcohol to feel any sort of sexual attraction. It makes dating near impossible. Thank you for sharing.
ivana says
I am a woman who was prescribed Xeralto approximately 1 week ago and the interesting thing is that for me it has actually had the opposite effect to what you experienced!
There are few things in life that make me so angry as when doctors dismiss patients symptoms as having a psychological basis.
These “psychological” misdiagnosis’ do more harm than good and purely serve the doctors and not the patients!
It gives the doctor a sense of having an “answer” so that they don’t feel like a failure.
Interestingly, many doctors do not want to face the fact that they are not infallible and that there are still many many unknowns in medicine.
I personally believe that it may have to do with how the blood is flowing in the sacral/pelvic region, perhaps some sort of process such as what happens in pelvic congestion syndrome or pudential neuralgia.
Ditit says
Im 34, taking Xarelto for over year. Never had any problems before, now i can’t hold erection for more than few minutes…
Frank says
It’s been 3 1/2 years on Xarelto for me. Morning erections went away very quickly, it now takes a tremendous amount of effort and foreplay to have an erection and it is extremely difficult to maintain. However, my sexual desire remains very high. I went to the urologist very early and he knew of no side effects and offered to prescribe viagra. They tested me and my testosterone is in line for my age. I even tried and expensive shockwave treatment called Gainswave but have had no success. Thanks everyone for sharing their stories, I just sent my urologist a note and am going to try and get myself off this drug for good.
Spiros says
Another comment, relating to Eliquis this time:
Ian says
Finding this page has been a revelation. I have only been on Xarelto for a month and I have already noticed serious side effects. No interest in sex at all, not much desire to go places and do things. It just feels, as Austin Powers would say, that I lost my mojo, and I was wondering if it was the recovery from surgery or the drug. Hopefully, now that I’m stopping with Xarelto (I only had a month’s supply, post-op) things will return to normal, but I’m not sure after reading other posts here. This stuff really needs a warning label because the side effects are serious, quick and apparently less reversible than I had hoped.
Paul says
I have been on Xarelto for three months for DVT in leg that resulted from hernia surgery. My sex drive has begun to drop and similar experiences to those mentioned above. I need to find a way off this and control the clotting. Thank everyone for sharing your experiences and helping me understand things a little better.
Spiros says
Another message:
Mike says
I had terrible side effects from xarelto, also have lack of interest and pleasure now after taking that drug.I got switched to Eliquis as soon as I could. Does anyone know if this is only xarelto or is there other blood thinners that cause this?
Dr. David Healy says
We have reports on Eliquis doing the same
David
Jonathan says
Hi David. What alternatives are there to Xarelto, Eliquis please as I have lost all my drives, sexual and social? I am a shell of a man.
Dr. David Healy says
J
I dont know. You need a doctor with some expertise in the kind of operatoin you had and alternative drugs to advise you. If you get an answer to this question, let me know. I will ask someone I know to see if he has any answers
D
Dr. David Healy says
J
I don’t know that these problems have ever been reported on Warfarin. This is just as good as any NOAC and it should be possible to get your doctor to transfer you to it. If it comes to a crunch, I will be happy to write to your doctor mentioning that your problem is real, is linked to Xarelto and s/he would be doing you and science a big favor by switching you to Warfarin to see what happens. It is not clear Warfarin will reverse this but it would still be good to try it
D
J says
Hi Dr. Healy,
I know of 3 people on Warfarin (all men) and they too reported that sexual ardour cooled.
One of these men used to have sexual intercourse with his wife several times per week and within 6 weeks of going onto warfarin, he was unable to get an erection and they slept in separate bedrooms from that point on such was the frustration on the part of his wife. They essentially became friends after that, living under the same roof.
He recently (past 2 years) came off Warfarin and his sexual drive has returned however she has now passed away. It’s evil what these drug companies are doing.
I attempted yesterday to masturbate and it took me well over an hour to achieve orgasm because my erections are now so weak and when I did ejaculate, I experienced hot sensations all over and the orgasm was severely muted. I have to accept I will never be able to partner up again.
I am thoroughly depressed. I have also lost all interest in playing guitar, gardening, even washing. I literally have no drive in any area of my life. Even when I was becoming ill last year before I was put on this terrible stuff, I was easily able to achieve early morning erections and sexual arousal.
The medical establishment have saved my life but given me a kind of waking death.
Km says
Hi
I have been using xeralto since 2016 . I am a 52 years old woman , I identify myself with the loss of libido. I don’t have pleasure in kissing or touching it feel like I am a different person . I have been married for 16 years and we had 3 kids in the first 5 years of our marriage.
I love my husband and I feel sad and incomplete. I believe that is a big probability that Xeralto has something to do with my problem.
John says
Thank you so much for sharing your story. You have confirmed what I have suspected for quite some time. My story is so similar to yours. After taking Xarelto I have the exact same effects as you, and it was so good to know that I am not unique and that it is not me, it is this damn drug.
Jonathan says
I had a DVT which became a Pulmonary Embolism and was put on Xarelto in 2017 and within a couple of weeks, I lost all sexual desire as well as interest in myself and life in general. I came off it after 18 months and in time, my feelings came back again.
Last year, I needed surgery and was told I needed to go back on Xarelto for life and within 2 weeks, I had lost all libido. No morning erections, no interest in women at all. In fact, I don’t notice them. Looking at a beautiful woman is akin to looking at a napkin. There’s nothing going on for me at all.
At 49, my sexual and romantic life is over. I have tried talking to doctors however my concerns are dismissed. I am tired all the time and have lost all interest in wanting to be with people. I have once again become reclusive.
The medical cartels know about side effects of drugs. It’s all about money for them. They don’t care about people at all. Xarelto is an evil drug, as is Eliquis which I was on also. I’m alive but my life is over in essence as I no longer feel part of the human race. I am completely ruined.
Jay says
Are there natural supplements which can be taken which act as anticoagulants? I ask because certain foods shouldn’t be eaten while taking pharmaceuticals which perform the same role, namely turmeric, garlic, cayenne, ginger, and a few more.
Dr. David Healy says
J
This is a great question. There is increasing evidence that type 2 diabetes can be cured by diet and weight loss. But if you google these things you get told that things like a keto diet could be dangerous, if you are on metformin or other medication for diabetes.
Medication appears to offer control of a problem but in fact you may end up giving up control to a medicine. It might be better to get your sugars down to a reasonable level by diet alone and live with that rather than take the risks that can come with meds unless you have no option. We get told about getting sugars way down to childhood levels or else we might lose our eyesight or feet but we don’t get told that the hypoglycemic episodes that can happen on meds alone even when you aren’t dieting are more likely to lead to dementia.
The same applies to epilepsy – this too in many cases can be controlled by diet and rest without using meds.
What would be great is if you and others could research the question you have just asked. RxISK can run a post on natural treatments for a range of conditions if we can get enough good material
David
Phillip says
I have been experiencing exactly the same effects as Spiros has described. I’ve been on rivaroxaban now for several years following suffering from pulmonary emboli and have lost all possibilities of getting a full erection. I have followed a very similar approach in trying to reach orgasms, never achieving them with any deep pleasure, just struggling to reach them with a semi-hard penis. I have not spoken to my Dr about this. I too am (was!) a musician and used to compose, even being president of a composer’s association but have lost all inspiration. I did drink alcohol and, it seems, this was excessive as I spiralled downhill two years ago although I still maintain it wasn’t excessive. I ended up in hospital with liver failure and was told I was dying and received the last rites. I miraculously recovered and after a year of slow recovery have finally returned to full time work two months ago (late Feb 2024). My Dr recently reduced my dosage of Xarelto to 10 mg a day from 20 and I’m also now on vitamin B compound pills and thiamine.
My sexual libido is so low but there’s still the memory/wish to achieve a hard erection and enjoy an orgasm rather than struggle to get there with no pleasure. To this end I managed to get a prescription of pills online to aid erections and I have so far only had the courage to try one once a few days ago which amazingly seemed to make my penis less floppy, generally, when not trying to get an erection. When I did try, for the first time in about six years, my penis went really hard and I achieved an orgasm. I can’t say it was pleasurable, more of a scientific experiment. A few hours later it still felt like I could maybe do it again but I didn’t try (guilt… that’s another story!).
I’m relieved to hear that other guys have been experiencing the same ill effects of rivaroxaban. I’m in two minds now what to do: can’t stop the rivaroxaban as did a few years ago and got more emboli; experiment with trying the two other erectile pills the online Dr prescribed maybe? Any advice would be welcomed!
Dr. David Healy says
P
What was the name of the pill you got online that helped
D
Phillip says
Tadalafil 10mg
Frankie Gallegos says
These messages gives me no hope I literally don’t know what to do I recently walked in on my girlfriend of 9 years being with another man and got my ass kicked by him when I confronted him insult to injury my girlfriend told me she needed sex that I couldn’t give her I feel so hopeless and doomed since I started taking xarelto due to congestive heart failure I’m 44 and for me not being able to perform I’m literally on the verge of suicide
Karen Write says
I’m glad I have found this article. I wish SOMEONE would have believed me. Eight years ago my husband had severe DVT/PE almost lost him. They put him on Zarelto from that point on I lost me loving, caring husband. I am living with a shell of a man. He will attempt sex but can not achieve erection. I am living with my best friend but I still feel cheated out of a full life. Yes I get mad and I tell myself it is not his fault. He has asked too many doctors to count NONE of them will admit it is the zarelto. He can’t go off it so we are stuck. Some one please listen. Doctors please tell your patients that this can and will happen. This is not married life it is a life sentence to abstain from what should be pleasurable time for a husband and wife. I won’t leave him, but I cry myself to sleep too many nights to count. This drug is a double death.