Sex is meant to be an intimate time between two people. Few things can ruin the mood like having premature ejaculation cut the festivities short. The situation is far from being a hopeless one, though. Some medications can be effective for men suffering from premature ejaculation. Dr. Laurence Levine discusses some studies that show sertraline can increase ejaculation time for men.
Used For More Than Regulating Emotions
When people think of sertraline, otherwise known as Zoloft, they tend to envision people taking it for a variety of mental health disorders, including anxiety and depression. The idea of taking it for something like premature ejaculation might not have occurred to them. That’s how a lot of medications work, though. Researchers might have been developing a certain drug and noticed that it can help in other ways.
For example, the manufacturers of Viagra initially intended to have it be used for the treatment of angina, which is a condition that affects the heart. Research showed that the little blue pill was much more effective at helping men who suffered from erectile dysfunction. To bring this back to Zoloft, or sertraline, there were studies that showed that men could have more time in bed before ejaculating after taking it.
An Off-Label Prescription
When doctors prescribe this for something to be used for anything other than its original purpose, this is known as an off-label prescription. That means that if someone gets sertraline for premature ejaculation, they are getting it off-label since they are not going to be taking it for any mental health disorders. It’s important to get a doctor’s OK, because certain dosages are right for different heights and weights. That means that it’s a bad idea for someone to try to take a friend or family member’s pills.
Using a Side Effect for Your Benefit
One of the main things about prescription medications is that there are almost always side effects. When someone flips through a magazine and sees ads for prescription medications, there’s usually an entire page devoted to things that can happen to people who take it. The symptoms can range from anything from headaches to feeling sweaty to having stomach issues. When it comes to sertraline, one of the side effects can be a delayed orgasm for me. That means that men can have intercourse for a longer period of time.
The Larger the Dose, the More Time Before Ejaculation
According to a 1998 study, people were given doses of 25, 50, and 100 mg. The men who took the lower dose had an improvement time of six more minutes while the largest dose saw their time increase by 15 minutes. There were side effects in some of the men. They ranged from not being able to ejaculate at all to feeling faint or dizzy. As previously mentioned, that might have been a normal side effect.
Also, men who took sertraline and then stopped saw their premature ejaculation issues return within six months. One of the better ways to manage that was to treat it like an on-demand drug, like Viagra. Men who took it four hours before trying to have intercourse had better results than those who took the medication daily. When they did that, they tended to have fewer side effects than those who took it regularly.
Handling Premature Ejaculation
The best course of action for people who are affected by premature ejaculation is to talk with a medical professional. They will be able to discuss all aspects of what they are going through. There may be other things that they can change, like getting out of a stressful job or moving to a less stressful area of the city or suburb that they are living in.
Premature ejaculation can be something that causes a lot of issues and leaves people feeling unhappy. Fortunately, in these modern times, there are a lot of ways to handle it, including with medication. It doesn’t have to be a one-thing solution, either. They can combine things like sertraline and activities like meditation or exercise. Doing this will bridge the gap between the mind and body and allow people to have pleasure without worrying about it ending too quickly.
Speaking of exercises, there are ones that people can do discreetly anytime and anyplace. One of them is known as Kegel exercises. When people have to interrupt the flow of their urine, they have to use their Kegel muscles to do that. Men can do these exercises while driving — they pretend to stop peeing and hold it for 30 seconds at a time. A good start is to do five sets of ten repetitions.
As time goes by and those Kegel muscles get stronger, that can help people keep from ejaculating too soon. If they feel like the semen is about to come out, they can squeeze those muscles and hold it off until they are truly ready to finish.
In the past, premature ejaculation was something embarrassing that could affect how a person lived their life. It could lead to strained relationships, and even resentment on both ends, since their partner would also be unsatisfied due to the premature ejaculation. Sertraline could be promising, though people are also trying to think about natural lifestyle changes that could also have good benefits.
The main goal is to have a happy, healthy sex life. People should explore every viable option that will leave both parties feeling satisfied. That will make all the work worth it.
