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iQuestions Expert, Doug Rosenau 
 
 
Question: 
 
Can my medications be causing me sexual problems? 
 
Answer: 
 
We often get, as sex therapists, the questions about, “How do 
medications affect lovemaking, affect our sexuality?” 
 
If I were just going to tick them off, probably there are four major 
ones that you should be aware of.  
 
One would be the anti-depressants that can both affect desire 
sometimes, as well as the ability to be aroused.  
 
Birth control can be another one that’s important to realize that it 
really can affect desire and needs to be checked out. 
 
Another one would be just the anti-hypertensives, the blood pressure 
medications that deal with blood flow, like erections. 
 
So, it’s just important to remember that most medications have side 
effects. I remember one young couple came to me, and he was just 
saying, “Oh, no. Last night was a terrible time. I lost my erection.” And 
we were trying to explore, and he said, “She was just in a lot of pain.” 
So I said, “Well, that’s normal you would lose the erection if you feel 
like you’re hurting her.” 
 
So I explored why she had the pain, and what was going on. Long 
story short, she was taking a decongestant, and it had dried out her 
 
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vagina as well as her nasal passages. She was just feeling the pain, 
and they had to deal with it. 
 
So, remember that medications have side effects. The place to start 
with this really is with your physician. Be able to go in and explore, 
“Could we use a different type of medication? Could we use a different 
family of medication? What could we do to get beyond the sexual side 
effects?” 
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