Could modafinil be an option in the treatment of sexual dysfunctions due to antidepressant use in women? Two Case Reports

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.