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Health & intimacy

How can we talk when medication seems to affect one partner’s sex drive?

Some medicines can affect desire or sexual response. Talk with care and encourage prescriber advice without changing medication alone.

4 min read

Short answer

Some medicines can affect desire, arousal, erection, ejaculation, lubrication, or orgasm. A change does not prove the medicine is the only cause, and the person taking it should not stop or alter it without their prescriber. Couples can talk about the effect without making sex a test of recovery.

Talk about what changed

Choose a neutral moment and try, “I have noticed intimacy feels different lately. Is that something you have noticed too?” Describe changes without assuming why they happened. Mood, stress, health conditions, fatigue, relationship context, and medication can overlap.

The person taking the medicine may feel embarrassed or worried that they are disappointing a partner. Reassure them that they do not need to prove attraction or compensate with unwanted sex.

Keep the prescriber in the loop

Encourage the person taking the medicine to tell their prescriber what has changed, when it started, and how it is affecting their wellbeing. Their clinician can consider the benefits, side effects, other medicines, and health history. Do not suggest a dose change, supplement, or medication switch on your own.

This site has a specific article on antidepressants and orgasm for readers who want that narrower question.

Protect closeness while you seek answers

Ask what kinds of affection and sexual contact are welcome now. Make room for a no, a pause, and nonsexual intimacy. If the change is persistent or distressing, individual clinical support and, if wanted, couples or psychosexual counselling may help.

Sources and further reading