Addicted by prescription
CategoriesYou say a drug would surely not be approved if it was addictive? I thought so as well, but it appears that a whole class of drugs called the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibiitors (SSRIs) is actually addictive and there is even a name for the addiction. It is called SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome.
Of course that is a nice way of saying you can't stop taking them, and in my book that means they are addictive. What are SSRIs? They include Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, and Celexa.
Not a REAL ADDICTION - Yeah Right!
September 29, 2003
When I first started in pharmacy practice doctors seemed to give out Phenobarbital and Valium like candy. Those days are gone - thankfully. Doctor's know better now. It turns out that both phenobarbital and diazepam (the generic name for Valium) are addicting. But the mass addiction of unsuspecting housewives, professionals and laborers, even our children - couldn't possibly happen today could it? Ya wanna bet? Take a hard look at the SSRI's.
You may see these drugs advertised on TV (drug advertising on TV - is there something wrong with that picture?). They include Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, and Celexa. These drugs are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors or SSRI's. The ads all claim these drugs are not addicting or even habit forming. This is turning out to, once again, simply not be true.
The ads are not disclosing the group of symptoms known as SSRI discontinuation syndrome. These symptoms include anxiety, vomiting and tremors. They occur in up to 25% of patients who stop taking these drugs. Now, that's an interesting combination of words - SSRI DISCONTINUATION SYNDROME.
* Can A Leopard Change Its Spots? *
When Valium first hit the market, the Roche company told us that it was unlike the previous generations of sedatives. It was not addicting. Within a few years, Valium became the number one cause of addiction in the country. You may recall the song lyrics that mentioned "mothers little helpers." It took a nosedive in both popularity and level of addiction when another - safer - sedative was introduced - Xanax.
Upjohn (the makers of Xanax) claimed that their drug was better than Valium because Xanax is absolutely nonaddicting. And, Xanax quickly became the number one cause of prescription drug addiction. By most accounts, it still is.
Soon, SSRI's may displace it.
Millions of Americans take SSRI's. They are the medication of choice for many psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Part of the reason for their popularity is that drug companies have gone to great lengths to prove that they are not addicting.
Now these drugs have been in very widespread use for years. We are beginning to yield results from non drug company sponsored studies. Not only are they being prescribed for known and suspected psychiatric disorders, they are also being offered to women to help with PMS and menopausal symptoms. No, they aren't hormones. One company (Lily) actually took their drug - Prozac - and renamed it and offered new indications just for premenstrual disorders. Prozac came off patent and Lily then turned around and came up with their NEW DRUG. Many of our readers will know that we strongly favor approaching PMS situations as if they are a form of hormone imbalance (which they really are) - instead of a psychiatric disorder (which the drug company would have us believe). From our perspective, using drugs to treat a hormone imbalance doesn't resolve the underlying problems. Furthermore, the current Eli Lily drug of choice is their renamed Prozac - SARAFEM. Read about some of the horrors you might experience with this DRUG.
All of the SSRI manufacturers stand firmly behind their claim that the SSRI's are non-addicting. I think they're pulling our leg again.A recent report in the Journal of Postgraduate Medicine notes that up to 25% of patients who stop taking their medication experienced a number of bothersome symptoms.1 These symptoms include:
Anxiety
Crying spells
Insomnia
Irritability
Mood lability
Vivid dreams
Nausea
Vomiting
Dizziness
Headache
Paresthesia
Dystonia
Tremor
Chills
Fatigue
Lethargy
Myalgias
RhinorrheaThe cause of SSRI discontinuation syndrome is the interruption of the acetylcholine. Acetylcholine is used for memory and concentration. You burn more when you are under stress.2
The symptoms begin 24 to 72 hours after stopping the SSRI. They last 1 to 3 weeks but resolve if you restart the antidepressant. It sure seems that their discontinuation syndrome sounds a lot like withdrawal to me.
The symptoms are not life-threatening. Yet they can be distressing to those patients who experience them acutely. The drug companies' failure to disclose this information has led patients to make unnecessary trips to the ER. The symptoms are sometimes mistaken as signs of a heart attack or pulmonary embolus and many have costly diagnostic tests.
* LOOK OUT - and BEWARE *
The incidence of discontinuation syndrome is highest with Paxil followed by Luvox and Zoloft. Celexa and Prozac have a lower occurrence.
I will not deny that SSRI's can be helpful for those with severe depressive conditions. If you and your physician decide that you are a candidate for one of the SSRI drugs take the following precautions.
- Never abruptly stop taking your medication.
- If you stop treatment make sure you taper the drug slowly
- Eat choline rich foods such as eggs, beef, cauliflower, peanuts and spinachRef.
1. Ditto, Kara E. SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome: Awareness as an Approach to Prevention. Postgraduate Medicine, August 2003; 114: 79-84.2. Host, Paula. SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome
By:
Larry J. Frieders
http://www.thecompounder.com
See also:
PROTOCOL FOR THE WITHDRAWAL OF SSRI ANTIDEPRESSANTS
by Dr David Healy MDAntidepressants Linked to Withdrawals in Newborns, Study Says
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- GlaxoSmithKline Plc's Paxil, Eli Lilly & Co.'s Prozac and other antidepressants may cause convulsions and other withdrawal symptoms in newborns whose mothers took the drugs during pregnancy, according to a study in the Lancet medical journal.Child warning on anti-depressants
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Depression is the most frequently searched-for topic at DoctorYourself.com. And no wonder. Those of us that have experienced the depths of clinical depression know just how awful it really is. When you are in the bag, it is hard to think out of the bag. But there is a way out...Effectively Managing a Child's Behavior
Prozac Nation? Is the Party Over? - by Richard C. Morais, 09.06.04 Forbes Magazine
SSRI Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome in Newborns - by Elizabeth Rudy, D.V.M., R.Ph. (file is in pdf format, available from Washington University)
Antidepressants Potentially Misused In Treating Adolescents, Stanford Study Finds
When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared in 2004 that certain antidepressants are linked to an increased risk of suicide in adolescents, there was surprisingly little data about how depression was being treated in young patients. Now new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine provides critical documentation of the potential misuse of these medications in the years leading up to the FDA's decision to issue the so-called "black-box" warnings.Medscape: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors May Increase Risk of Abnormal Bleeding
Child Suicide Rate Spikes
Child and teen suicide rates rose for the first time in more than a decade in 2004 - and many psychological experts said the stronger warning labels that led to a drop in the number of prescriptions for antidepressant drugs may be to blame.
Vince Boehm comments: Something strange is going on here. A spike in adolescent suicide in 2004?However, this spike cannot be attributed to a decline in SSRI use, because sales actually increased in the first six months of that year.
If such a spike happened later in the year in the wake of the September 2004 blackbox decision; it may be attributed to uninformed "cold turkey" detoxing from these substances. This is a "catch 22". The industry will not acknowledge such a problem exists. The FDA colludes in this. Therefore there is no medical help going off of these chemicals, and no insurance to pay for it.
Video: Fox News Big Story with Doug Kennedy on Big Pharma's Lie
Fox News Big Story with Douglas Kennedy on how Big Pharma leaves out the bad studies and downplays the nasty side effects of their highly addictive drugs.
posted by Sepp Hasslberger on Tuesday October 21 2003
updated on Saturday January 19 2008URL of this article:
http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/10/21/addicted_by_prescription.htm
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