Antidepressants are known to cause sexual dysfunctions. Sexual side
effects due to antidepressants negatively affect compliance with treatment.
Modafinil is a stimulant drug used for narcolepsy and some other sleep
disorders. It is also used in treatment of resistant depression, chronic
fatigue syndrome, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and cocaine
addiction syndrome. In this article, two female patients whose depressive
complaints improved with antidepressant treatment, but who applied to
the psychiatry outpatient clinic with complaints of sexual dysfunction
and daytime sleepiness, will be presented. Both patients had loss of sexual
desire, arousal and orgasm difficulties. The sexual histories obtained from
the patients suggested that there was no sexual dysfunction in the period
before they started using antidepressants. Both patients stated that they
did not want to change the current antidepressant treatment. Modafinil
100 mg/day was prescribed to the patients for daytime sleepiness. One
month after the initiation of modafinil 100 mg/day in the 39-yearold
patient, there was a marked decrease in the complaints of loss of
sexual desire, decreased sexual arousal and orgasm difficulties. In the
other patient, 43 years old, a slight improvement in sexual functions
was observed after the initiation of modafinil. In this case, after the
modafinil dose was increased to 200 mg/day, there was a significant
improvement in sexual dysfunctions. In both cases, the improvement in
sexual dysfunctions and possible mechanisms as a result of the addition
of modafinil to the treatment will be discussed.
Keywords: Antidepressant, woman, sexual dysfunction, modafinil