While Paxil has been used successfully for the most part to treat anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic stress and depression, one of its off label uses is for the treatment of premature ejaculation.
While Paxil is not approved for the treatment of premature ejaculation, this is a known off-label use of the drug. Currently, it isn’t fully understood just how Paxil works for treating premature ejaculation; however, it does list sexual side effects as one of the potential results of using the drug. Premature ejaculation is when a man ejaculates involuntarily during arousal or immediately following sexual penetration.
The most common sexual side effect which occurs when taking Paxil is that it produces delayed ejaculation. While these sexual side effects are usually not the type that most men want, those men that suffer from premature ejaculation will actually prefer the delay. However, it is still seen as an off-label use of the drug.
The term “off-label” is used to describe when a drug is used for treatment of a condition but is not approved by the FDA for that use. While the FDA regulates how a medication can be advertised or promoted by the makers of the drugs (in Paxil’s case GlaxoSmithKline), that does not mean that doctors can’t prescribe the drugs for those uses that are found to work. However, doctors should use extreme caution when prescribing drugs to treat conditions that are not listed officially because whatever dosage is given can cause severe side effects to the patient. This is particularly true when drugs like Paxil are used for a prolonged period of time.
Since Paxil is an SSRI inhibitor medication, side effect such as heart attacks, strokes, severely modified behavior, suicidal thoughts and even death can occur. Paxil should be taken under the strict guidance of a doctor no matter what you are taking it for.
