Pregabalin and Libido- Case Reports

ABSTRACT

Pregabalin is a drug used in UK for the following conditions: peripheral and central neuropathic pain, adjunctive therapy for partial seizures with or without secondary generalization and generalized anxiety disorder. Drugs used to treat anxiety disorders very often do have sexual side effects (e.g. SSRIs, SNRIs, and Benzodiazepines). Patients with generalized anxiety disorder can have an impaired libido due to the direct effect of anxiety. Since mid 2009, when we first started prescribing Pregabalin for patients with a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder, two male patients reported enhanced libido after having started treatment with Pregabalin. It would be argued that the Pregabalin mechanism of action might be responsible for these changes. An extensive search of the medical literature conducted in 2010 failed to retrieve any relevant published studies or case reports that comment on the impact of Pregabalin on increased libido.

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