heroin and Sexual-Dysfunction--Physiological

To date, it has been difficult to address the issue of sexual functioning and drug use, and many approaches to it have basic problems and methodological errors.. The present cross-sectional study compared the sexual functioning scores of a group of drug users with those of a group of nondrug users. It explored the relationship between drug abstinence and sexual functioning.. A sample of 905 males participated in this study (549 met the substance dependence criteria and 356 were controls). All of them were assessed with the Changes in Sexual Functioning Questionnaire-Drugs version.. The assessment was conducted from September 2009 to January 2011. The clinical sample was evaluated in nine different substance abuse treatment facilities.. Results show that, overall, all dimensions (pleasure, desire, arousal, and orgasm) were moderately impaired. Yet, differences regarding preferred substance were observed. Pleasure and orgasm were the two areas most significantly impaired. In these areas, all drugs seemed to negatively affect sexual functioning. However, desire and arousal were not affected by all the substances. In addition, at least after 2 weeks of drug abstinence, no relationship was found between drug abstinence and improvement in sexual functioning. The sample studied had an average of 1 year of drug abstinence and was found to have poorer sexual functioning than the control group.. Therefore, these results seem to contradict those that argue that drug use only impairs sexual functioning temporarily. Moreover, they suggest that sexual functioning does not improve just by stopping drug use.

Topics: Adult; Alcoholism; Arousal; Cocaine; Drug Synergism; Ethanol; Follow-Up Studies; Heroin; Humans; Illicit Drugs; Libido; Male; Middle Aged; Orgasm; Pleasure; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological; Sexuality; Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; Substance Abuse, Intravenous; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome; Substance-Related Disorders

A significant number of men with opiate misuse have sexual problems. Premature ejaculation (PE) occurs predominantly on discontinuation of the opiate but seems to persist in some cases. The aims of this study were to determine the rates of PE and other sexual dysfunctions in patients maintained on methadone; to determine the time of onset of PE in relation to onset of opiate misuse; and to look at the patients' perception of the effect of heroin and methadone on PE.. Sixty five men attending a tertiary referral clinic for methadone maintenance treatment were assessed cross-sectionally using a semi-structured questionnaire, clinical interview, review of clinical records and the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF).. Thirty eight (58.5%) subjects reported a "lifetime" history of PE. Twenty (30.76%) of them reported "current" history of PE. Eleven (16.9%) people reported that PE preceded opiate misuse. Twenty four (63.2%) felt that heroin helped their PE and 7 (18.4%) felt that heroin worsened it. Fourteen (36.8%) felt that methadone helped PE, while 10 (26.3%) felt methadone worsened PE. Only 2 out of 65 (3.07%) reported that they had been asked about their sex life by the addiction services.. Prevalence of "current" premature ejaculation was almost 3 times greater than reported in the general population. A significant number of patients perceived heroin to be beneficial on PE. Presence of sexual dysfunction could therefore be a risk factor for relapse into heroin misuse. Most clinicians avoid asking patients questions of a sexual nature. Nevertheless, managing sexual difficulties among patients with opiate misuse could be a significant step in relapse prevention.

Topics: Adult; Cross-Sectional Studies; Ejaculation; Heroin; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Methadone; Middle Aged; Opiate Substitution Treatment; Opioid-Related Disorders; Population Surveillance; Prevalence; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological; Sexual Dysfunctions, Psychological; Statistics, Nonparametric; Surveys and Questionnaires; United Kingdom

Topics: Ataxia; Coma; Depression; Electroencephalography; Female; Heroin; Heroin Dependence; Humans; Male; Mental Disorders; Muscular Diseases; Myelitis, Transverse; Nervous System Diseases; Neuritis; Neurocognitive Disorders; Nystagmus, Pathologic; Parkinson Disease, Secondary; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological; Sleep Wake Disorders; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome; Tremor