Antidepressants are known to cause sexual dysfunctions. Sexual side effects due to
antidepressants negatively affect compliance with treatment.
Modafinil is a stimulant
drug used for
narcolepsy and some other
sleep disorders. It is also used in treatment of resistant depression,
chronic fatigue syndrome,
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and
cocaine addiction syndrome. In this article, two female patients whose depressive complaints improved with
antidepressant treatment, but who applied to the psychiatry outpatient clinic with complaints of sexual dysfunction and
daytime sleepiness, will be presented. Both patients had loss of sexual desire, arousal and orgasm difficulties. The sexual histories obtained from the patients suggested that there was no sexual dysfunction in the period before they started using
antidepressants. Both patients stated that they did not want to change the current
antidepressant treatment.
Modafinil 100 mg/day was prescribed to the patients for
daytime sleepiness. One month after the initiation of
modafinil 100 mg/day in the 39-yearold patient, there was a marked decrease in the complaints of loss of sexual desire, decreased sexual arousal and orgasm difficulties. In the other patient, 43 years old, a slight improvement in sexual functions was observed after the initiation of
modafinil. In this case, after the
modafinil dose was increased to 200 mg/day, there was a significant improvement in sexual dysfunctions. In both cases, the improvement in sexual dysfunctions and possible mechanisms as a result of the addition of
modafinil to the treatment will be discussed. Keywords:
Antidepressant, woman, sexual dysfunction,
modafinil.