Posted by JLM on August 14, 2004, at 7:37:35
In reply to Re: So, marilyn, please don't drop dead, posted by SLS on August 13, 2004, at 14:10:33
> > > I still don't understand what your point is.
> > > These drugs have side effects.This is not news.
> > > Is there anything else that you are trying to
> > > say beyond the fact that these drugs have side
> > > effects?
> >
> > Dear Scott,
> >
> > As a matter of fact, yes there is so much more I would like to say.
> >
> > First of all, since 1987, SSRI antidepressants are heavily marketed being completely safe and effective drugs.
>
> I disagree with you. This has not been my observation.
>
> I have been taking SSRIs since 1984 (indalpine). No one has ever portrayed to me that any antidepressant was "completely safe and effective". This is, in part, because I have had good doctors.
>
> I have never seen an advertisement in print or on TV making any such claims. Have you ever had the opportunity to view a TV advertisement for an SSRI that has made such a claim? On the contrary. For years, I have seen the drug companies place in their adds a list of possible adverse effects, many of them being quite serious. They also go out of their way to say that their drug is not for everyone, and that THEIR DOCTOR should be the one to make such determinations.
>
> Is this not true?
>
> > It is only very recently in this year, 2004, after so many reports of self-harm, suicidality and physical side-effects since 1987, that the FDA finally starts to recognize there should be stronger warning indications regarding these hazards.
>
> Which hazards? Which ones that are not already listed?
>
> I am glad that the FDA has finally seen fit to recognize that drug-induced suicidal states are a possible adverse effect of antidepressant medications. They are. There are many medications that can alter brain function in ways that bring about changes in mood and cognition. These include, but are not limited to, antidepressants. Prednisone, one of the most common treatments for pain, inflammation, and autoimmune disease, can produce depression and psychosis, and has precipitated severe pathological behaviors. This is old news. The medical community should be better educated in this area it seems. It is unfortunate that the FDA should ask for label warnings after the fact, but it is good that this has been rectified. To give the drug companies the benefit of the doubt, they are investigating a disease for which one of the symptoms is suicide. Perhaps they are not entirely negligent for not having been able to distinguish the differences any earlier.
>
> > How many children have been victimized throughout all of these years?
>
> I don't know. Do you have an estimate?
>
> > And how many more children will suffer of unrecognized side-effects in the future?
>
> Of course, this question can be asked of almost any drug, or of almost any human endeavor. I'm not sure Tylenol has been around long enough for us to be certain that no more "unrecognized" side effects will yet be recognized. There are thousands of serious people in medicine who are always asking this question. You are not alone.
>
> > I will give you an example of a young woman of 17 years of age who visited the doctor's office because she felt so tired prior to her school exam.
>
> What is her name, and where can I find the facts of this case so that I might scrutinize them?
>
> > He prescribed her the SSRI antidepressant Celexa also known as Cipramil and told her that it was completely safe to take and would give her more energy.
>
> Ah. We are now talking about the behavior of a specific doctor. What is his name?
>
> > Of course this doctor had his knowledge from a pharmaceutical representative and truely believed it would help her.
>
> Of course? How do we know this? If you are going to make statements as if they were fact, please describe how you know this to be true.
>
> > Within 5 days of ingesting Celexa, this young woman became a physical wreckage with severe signs of paraesteshia, extreme burnings in her face, arms and hands along with painful shooting sensations in her head, neck and spine.
>
> This might be true. I have no reason to believe that such a thing is not a medical possibility. Again, though, I am sure you will provide the source of your information or allow us to scrutinize it for ourselves, no?
>
> > 3 years later the symptoms are still there in their severity. She never finished her exam.
>
> > She couldn't play the piano anymore. This young woman -now 20 years of age- as well as her parents are desperate. No specialist is able to help her. No medication against neuralgia works.
>
> Has this case been published in any medical literature? I would be intereseted in reading it.
>
> > My question to you is: if this would be your daughter, how would you feel?
>
> Who's daughter is she? If you want an answer, lets get to the specific facts of this case. Who is this person?
>
> > Would you still explain these side-effetcs away as something innocent and short lived?
>
> > I doubt it.
>
> "Innocent" as opposed to "sinister"? Do you think something sinister is going on?
>
> I doubt it.
>
> > So that is my point.
>
> > Marilyn
>
> Marilyn, your point is a very serious one. It probably deserves to have provided facts and references so that we can better assess its validity.
>
> SSRIs are very powerful psychotropic drugs that are effective for many people and produce many side effects, some of which are serious. Among these are infrequent exacerbations of the illness itself. It is my opinion that these drugs belong in the pharmacopeia until better ones are discovered to supplant them.
>
>
> - Scott
>Scott,
"Perhaps they are not entirely negligent for not having been able to distinguish the differences any earlier."
That doesn't wash. Lilly could have went ahead and
carried out the Beasly Protocol, as they had promised the FDA, and chose not to. Is that perhaps because they feared what the result would be?
poster:JLM
thread:208072
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040811/msgs/377482.html