Hi, before I developed Bipolar I feel I functioned normally. Actually I know I did, I felt like a stud when I was doing the act, I never really had an Issue. Occasionaly I’d become depressed and I did have sexual side effects to medication, but never ED. Then I had a my first two manic episodes, and ended up on a medication that made it imposisble to orgasm, and I had just met a new partner too. Navigating that was tough and it started to make me lose interest in sex. I became manic again and this meant I had to chnage to a different medication. I’m on lithium now. Which has done the job, but has given me ED at higher doses. Im managing at a lower dose, but I feel the medications side effects at a higher dose has cause psychological damage to my confidence and now I’m struggling with ED more on a lower dose of lithium than I was on a higher dose. I know my tirggers, but I’m scared either lithium is lowering my libido, or my fear of failing to keep an erection during sex is lowering my libido to make me avoid sex. It’s definitely a head ache some days. PDE 5 inhibiters help a lot, but sometimes the anixety and low desire gets to me. Im generally capable of maintaining an erection if theres constant stimuli but as soon as im distrcated it gets weak which sends me into anxiety spins and cna sabotage me. My main tirgger is my parnter can only orgasm from penetration in one position, so i put a lot of stress on myself in that specific postion and most of the time, thats the position that I get ED in. I just wish i never had bipolar, Id never have these issues to begin with
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