Anticonvulsants Are Associated with the Least Impact on Sexual Function in Bipolar Disorder Treatment
It is known that in patients with bipolar disorder, in addition to the illness itself, sexual dysfunction is adversely affected by psychotropic medications. A study by Spanish authors recently published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine compared the treatment of different groups of mood stabilizers in patients with bipolar disorder in terms of adverse effects on sexual function.
Methodology and Study Course
This multicenter cross-sectional study included 114 outpatient patients with bipolar disorder who had been in euthymia for at least 6 months, treated only with mood stabilizers. Patients were divided into groups receiving lithium alone, anticonvulsants alone (valproate or lamotrigine), lithium + anticonvulsants, or lithium + benzodiazepines. Changes in sexual functions were assessed using the CSFQ-14 questionnaire (Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire Short Form). Patients reported data on sexual desire, sexual arousal, and orgasm.
Findings
In the group of patients on anticonvulsants alone, better overall sexual function scores were found than in the lithium group and the lithium + benzodiazepine group. Compared to the anticonvulsant group alone, the lithium group had worse scores for sexual arousal, the lithium + benzodiazepines group had worse scores for sexual desire, and the lithium + anticonvulsants group had worse scores for orgasm. Generally, lower scores in all subscales were observed in women and older individuals. Higher scores for sexual arousal were associated with a higher quality of life.
Conclusion
As this study showed, in patients with bipolar disorder with ≥ 6 months of euthymia, treatment with lithium alone or in combination with benzodiazepines is associated with worse sexual function scores than treatment with valproate or lamotrigine. Anticonvulsants showed the least adverse impact on sexual function in this study.
(zza)
Source: García-Blanco A., García-Portilla M. P., Fuente-Tomás L. et al. Sexual dysfunction and mood stabilizers in long-term stable patients with bipolar disorder. J Sex Med 2020 May; 17(5): 930−940, doi: 10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.01.032.
Did you like this article? Would you like to comment on it? Write to us. We are interested in your opinion. We will not publish it, but we will gladly answer you.