# Sertraline sexual side effects: can they last? URL: https://sidefxhub.com/articles/sertraline-sexual-side-effects/ Updated: 22 October 2026 Publisher: SIDEfxHUB > SIDEfxHUB is a patient charity. We are not health professionals, and this does not replace medical advice. Don't start, stop or change any medicine because of what you read here. Talk to your doctor first. Sertraline (Zoloft, Lustral) commonly causes sexual side effects. The UK leaflet warns they have sometimes continued after stopping. That is called PSSD. Sertraline (Zoloft, Lustral) commonly causes sexual side effects, such as a lower sex drive, erection problems and trouble ejaculating. The UK leaflet warns that these problems have sometimes continued after stopping, a condition known as [post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD)](https://sidefxhub.com/conditions/pssd/). PSSD is more than sexual problems. Under the [2022 diagnostic criteria](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8925105/), its core is a lasting change in genital sensation, often numbness, and people also describe emotional numbing, problems with thinking and changes in other senses. No reliable figure exists for how often it happens, so no one can tell you your own chances. The NHS page on sertraline doesn't mention the warning. > **The story in 3 lines** > > 1. Sexual problems, such as a low sex drive, are a common side effect of sertraline ([NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/sertraline/)). > > 2. The UK leaflet warns they have sometimes continued after stopping ([leaflet](https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/files/pil.2835.pdf)). > > 3. No reliable figure exists for how often. Patients call it PSSD ([review](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37294623/)). > > Press: [contact@sidefxhub.com](mailto:contact@sidefxhub.com) Connor, not his real name, started sertraline in his 30s. His sex drive had gone within 24 hours of his first tablet, he told [BBC Scotland](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66430817). Twelve months after he stopped, it hadn't come back. "I still have numbness in my genitals," he says. Watch the BBC film to hear Connor describe it in his own words. Video: [Antidepressants: Should we talk about side-effects? - BBC News](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2fECDL3OCg) Connor in a BBC News film, August 2023. His part starts at 5:40. Its line about the NHS may now be out of date. Content note: the film covers depression and coming off antidepressants. If you're struggling, call Samaritans on 116 123. Depression wasn't the cause, as he sees it. "When I considered myself to be a depressed person, I had a very healthy sex life." ## How common are sertraline's sexual side effects? Very common. The UK leaflet says ejaculation failure may affect more than 1 in 10 people who take sertraline. It lists a lower sex drive and erection problems as common too. [One trial](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10770448/) asked about sex at every visit, so nobody had to bring it up themselves. It found problems in far more people than the leaflet suggests, in men and women, some within a week. The [NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/sertraline/) says most side effects ease after a couple of weeks, but some can last longer. ## Can sertraline sexual side effects last after stopping? Yes, for some people. The [UK leaflet](https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/files/pil.2835.pdf) says that in some cases sexual symptoms "have continued after stopping treatment". When that happens, it's called PSSD. The 2022 criteria are only proposed so far, and there's no official diagnosis yet. At their centre is a lasting change in genital feeling, such as numbness, three months or more after the last tablet. It isn't new. In 2006, doctors in Canada reported [a man](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16709553/) whose genital numbness began on sertraline and was still there six years after he stopped. Anthony took 11 tablets, at 25 mg, for mild insomnia. He describes emotional numbness within days, and genital numbness that didn't go away when he stopped. [His story has its own page](https://sidefxhub.com/articles/anthonys-story-11-pills-of-sertraline/). A [2023 review](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37294623/) of the published studies couldn't find a reliable figure for how often this happens. ## Why wasn't I told about this? The warning is there, but it's one sentence in the leaflet inside the box, and it's easy to miss. That sentence arrived in 2019, when the [EU medicines regulator](https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/prac-recommendation/prac-recommendations-signals-adopted-13-16-may-2019-prac-meeting_en.pdf) asked for a warning on ten SSRI and SNRI antidepressants, sertraline among them. UK product information for all SSRIs was updated that year, a health minister [told Parliament](https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-05-07/50758) in 2025. Experts were reviewing the evidence, the minister said, because of concerns about "the ongoing lack of awareness of the existing warnings". In December 2025, advisers to the UK medicines regulator [recommended updating the leaflets](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/patient-and-family-experiences-inform-antidepressant-safety-information-review) of certain antidepressants. Patients and families had said this risk wasn't clearly explained. On 15 October 2026 the regulator, the MHRA, [said](https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/antidepressants-new-safety-measures-for-all-patients-to-improve-communication-of-the-risk-of-suicidal-thoughts-and-behaviours-and-persistent-sexual-dysfunction) the term “PSSD” will be added to the leaflets of these antidepressants, sertraline among them. The Lustral leaflet we checked on 21 October 2026 doesn't use it yet. A [2026 paper](https://medsafe.govt.nz/committees/marc/reports/206-3.2.3-Update-on-sexual-dysfunction-(post-SSRI-sexual-dysfunction)-following-discontinuation-of-serotonin-reuptake-inhibitors.pdf) by New Zealand's medicines regulator says some health professionals may not know about it either. New to PSSD? In this 90-second film, Professor Joanna Moncrieff, a psychiatrist at University College London, explains what is known and what isn't. It's background on PSSD in general, not about sertraline alone. Video: [Professor Joanna Moncrieff discusses Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ-eRlVyZ9c) Professor Joanna Moncrieff for the PSSD Network, June 2026, 90 seconds. She talks about sexual and emotional numbness that some people report after stopping, and says nobody knows yet how common it is. ## What can I do? These medicines help many people. If you have side effects, that's a decision for you and your prescriber. Don't stop suddenly: the leaflet says your doctor will lower the dose gradually. If you've stopped and something hasn't come back, tell your GP. Many people say it took time to be taken seriously. > **Questions to take to your GP** > > An opening line: "Since stopping sertraline, something hasn't come back, and the leaflet says this can happen." > > 1. Could anything else explain these changes, and what should we check? > > 2. Can you record in my notes that this started on sertraline? > > 3. Will you report it to the Yellow Card scheme, or should I? Bring the leaflet line, and write down your medicine and what changed, beyond sex too: "Sertraline 50 mg from January 2023, last tablet March 2024. Touch feels numb. Emotions feel flat." You can report it without a doctor agreeing. ### Report it: it helps everyone A doctor's note helps you. A report to the medicines regulator helps everyone else: it is how patterns get noticed. - **No proof needed.** A suspicion is enough, even years after stopping. - **Where:** the Yellow Card scheme in the UK, MedWatch in the US. - **Use the right words.** If symptoms continued after stopping, write *Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction* (MedDRA 10086208). [Our reporting guide walks you through it](https://community.sidefxhub.com/report) ## What else do people ask? **Does sertraline affect women's sex drive?** Yes. In the trial that asked about sex at every visit, about 4 in 10 women on sertraline developed sexual problems. It had no placebo group to compare with. The UK leaflet lists female sexual dysfunction as a side effect, and its warning about problems continuing after stopping covers women too. **Isn't it just the depression?** Depression often lowers sex drive on its own, the New Zealand paper notes. [PSSD](https://sidefxhub.com/conditions/pssd/) is different. Its criteria centre on a lasting change in genital feeling after the tablets stop, in someone who didn't have that problem before. **Is PSSD permanent?** For some people it has lasted years after stopping. Nobody knows yet who will be affected, or whether it will ease. Whether people [fully recover](https://sidefxhub.com/articles/is-full-recovery-from-pssd-possible/) "has never been properly investigated", two researchers [wrote in 2024](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11450419/). A year after his last tablet, Connor's numbness was still there. If something like that has happened to you, [report it](https://community.sidefxhub.com/report), even years after stopping. ## Sources 1. Lustral 50 mg and 100 mg film-coated tablets, [patient information leaflet](https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/files/pil.2835.pdf), last revised December 2025. Section 2, "Sexual problems"; section 4, side effects and their frequency; section 3, "If you stop taking Lustral". Electronic Medicines Compendium. 2. NHS, [Sertraline](https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/sertraline/), page last reviewed 8 September 2025. 3. BBC News, [Antidepressants: I wasn't told about the side effects](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66430817), 9 August 2023. Connor is a pseudonym. 4. Segraves RT, Kavoussi R, Hughes AR and colleagues. [Evaluation of sexual functioning in depressed outpatients: a double-blind comparison of sustained-release bupropion and sertraline treatment](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10770448/). J Clin Psychopharmacol 2000;20(2):122-8. 248 adults with normal sexual function at the start, 16 weeks, structured interview at every visit; sexual dysfunction in 63% of men and 41% of women on sertraline. No placebo group. 5. Healy D, Bahrick A, Bak M and colleagues. [Diagnostic criteria for enduring sexual dysfunction after treatment with antidepressants, finasteride and isotretinoin](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8925105/). Int J Risk Saf Med 2022;33(1):65-76. 6. Bolton JM, Sareen J, Reiss JP. [Genital anaesthesia persisting six years after sertraline discontinuation](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16709553/). J Sex Marital Ther 2006;32(4):327-30. 7. Tarchi L, Merola GP, Baccaredda-Boy O and colleagues. [Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, post-treatment sexual dysfunction and persistent genital arousal disorder: a systematic review](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37294623/). Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2023;32(10):1053-67. 8. Healy D, Mangin D. [Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction: barriers to quantifying incidence and prevalence](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11450419/). Epidemiol Psychiatr Sci 2024;33:e40. 9. European Medicines Agency, PRAC, [recommendations on signals adopted at the 13-16 May 2019 PRAC meeting](https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/documents/prac-recommendation/prac-recommendations-signals-adopted-13-16-may-2019-prac-meeting_en.pdf), EMA/PRAC/265212/2019. Persistent sexual dysfunction after drug withdrawal, SSRIs and SNRIs, adopted 16 May 2019. The wording is for ten medicines: citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, desvenlafaxine, duloxetine, milnacipran and venlafaxine. 10. UK Parliament, written answer [50758](https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2025-05-07/50758), Karin Smyth MP, Department of Health and Social Care, 13 May 2025. It says the product information "for all selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) was updated in 2019". Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0. 11. MHRA, [Patient and family experiences inform antidepressant safety information review](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/patient-and-family-experiences-inform-antidepressant-safety-information-review), 1 December 2025. Review of the leaflets of 28 antidepressants by an expert group of the Commission on Human Medicines. 12. Medsafe, [Update on sexual dysfunction following discontinuation of serotonin reuptake inhibitors](https://medsafe.govt.nz/committees/marc/reports/206-3.2.3-Update-on-sexual-dysfunction-(post-SSRI-sexual-dysfunction)-following-discontinuation-of-serotonin-reuptake-inhibitors.pdf), paper for the Medicines Adverse Reactions Committee, 11 June 2026. Sections 2.2.1 (sexual dysfunction in depression) and 3.3. 13. MHRA, [Antidepressants: new safety measures for all patients to improve communication of the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours and persistent sexual dysfunction](https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update/antidepressants-new-safety-measures-for-all-patients-to-improve-communication-of-the-risk-of-suicidal-thoughts-and-behaviours-and-persistent-sexual-dysfunction), Drug Safety Update, 15 October 2026. "The term “Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction” (“PSSD”) will be added to the PILs of antidepressants associated with a risk of sexual dysfunction that may continue even after the drug is stopped." Footnote 1 names citalopram, escitalopram, duloxetine, fluvoxamine, fluoxetine, paroxetine, sertraline, venlafaxine, amitriptyline and nortriptyline. On 21 October 2026 the Lustral leaflet (source 1) did not contain the term. 14. Videos: BBC News, [Antidepressants: should we talk about side-effects?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2fECDL3OCg), 11 August 2023; Moral Medicine, interview with Anthony, 20 October 2025; PSSD Network, [Professor Joanna Moncrieff on PSSD](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ-eRlVyZ9c), June 2026.