Posted by reb on November 15, 2002, at 9:35:15
In reply to Re: prozac/effexor=dendrite shrinkage?, posted by djmmm on November 15, 2002, at 7:51:24
OK... so taking into account what everyone has said:
well, i can appreciate the idea of "would you rather suffer now or worry about the consequences later?" -because suffering now for many people certainly does include loss of work, social life, possibility of suicide, etc... but to deny the very real possibility that in the FUTURE, there may be some PERMANENT physical consequences that may affect you, bring the depression BACK, etc.... is also unwise.
i.e., what is the point of trying to find a way to cope with/cure/tolerate a severe depression now, if it causes it to get worse in the future, with or without the meds??? that just doesn't make sense to me, that the very thing you're doing to try to help yourself is only going to make it worse in the long run. and as for me, i have enough to worry about in the future (very little social security coming my way, where am i going to live & how am i going to survive??, etc...) without having to worry about the burden of depression being even greater & interfering with my life even more than it does now. ESPECIALLY if i am doing something TO MYSELF to cause damage, to the very thing i am trying to fix!! how ironic is that?!
so yes, even though we must deal with the present & find a way to get through each day-- the concern about the future is very real for many of us.
what i need to do is ask my pharmacist if he knows exactly where that study can be found. if it does exist, you can bet your last dollar every effort has been made to supress it from the public.
the study cited here seems vague to me, so perhaps he was talking about a different one. and as for the rodents, well... i guess researchers use them for a reason. if they are finding some new info about long-term damage using rodents, i definitely think the public needs to know.
so my next question is, if there IS damage cause by long-term use of prozac &/or other SSRI's, is it reversable? i.e., will the neurons eventually heal themselves, and if so, how?
this brings up the idea that sometimes the "cure", when used to long, will cause the afflicted area to atrophy, instead of being strong again. think of a cast left on too long, or staying in bed too long after an injury without recieving physical therapy. why should the brain be any different?
poster:reb
thread:127552
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021108/msgs/127745.html