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December 2012
Updated
- See last entry down at the end - September, 2013
Selective Serotonin
Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), of which Prozac
(fluoxetine)
was the first. Other SSRIs are Zoloft (sertraline), Paxil
(paroxetine, known as Seroxat in the UK and
Aropax in Australia), Celexa (citalopam), Lexapro
(escitalopram), and Luvox (fluvoxamine). Other newer antidepressants
included in this list are Remeron (mirtazapine), Anafranil
(clomipramine) and the SNRIs Effexor (venlafaxine), Cymbalta
(duloxetine) and Pristiq (desvenlafaxine) as well as the dopamine
reuptake inhibitor antidepressant Wellbutrin (bupropion) (also
marketed as Zyban).
"One person in five will experience some form of mental illness each year, and almost half the population at some stage during their life,"1 the most common types are depression or anxiety problems.
"The majority of mental illnesses
begin between the ages of 15 - 25 years".2
2.
These anti-depressant drugs can with some people, have bad side effects,
both physical and behavioural, and if you stay on the drug too long, you
can end up with more problems than you started with.
3. Some of the drugs are addictive, you can become totally dependent on them.*
I have just had nearly four months of
sheer hell, recovering from an anti-depressant drug (paxil/sold
as aropax in Australian)
that I was stuck on for many years.
As happened in my case,
if you try to stop taking the drug, you start feeling very sick again
–depression or bad anxiety etc. – So you think – ‘heck I must be really
sick and better go back on the drug.’ But this is just the withdrawal
effects of the addiction or dependency on the drug, that are kicking in
and hanging on. The doctors are given free samples of these different anti-depressant drugs by reps from the drug companies. So the doctors are able then to often give the patient the first box of pills for free... 4. People need to be told that if they or a family member are ever put on an anti-depressant drug, they should work very hard to be on it only a number of months, so they don’t become drug dependent. 5. It’s more important to use alternatives to anti-depressant drugs: exercise, relaxation/ breathing/meditation techniques, counselling, and a better diet (less sugar- highs and lows etc). 6. Be informed! Don’t self-medicate, but be informed. Use the Internet- look up the drug you are given. There are many information sites, and more importantly, discussion forums on the Internet, where people describe their experiences on these drugs, potential side effects and effectiveness etc… I was stuck on paxil/aropax for many years. In the last four or five years, the drug seemed to be losing it’s effectiveness. After my local doctor tried me on two other drugs, neither of which seemed to work, I ended up on Paxil again but on twice the dose! The side effects got much worse, although I was still unaware oblivious to the behavioural side effects, and getting sick on the second drug was probably just the paxil/aropax withdrawal effects kicking in. Paxil/aropax is still one of the most commonly prescribed antidepressant (SSRI) drugs prescribed to people today. Paxil / aropax(Aus) is now a very old drug, it has a ‘scatter-gun’ approach in that it targets five different chemical areas/aspects of the brain. In June 2012 GlaxoSmithKline, the company that makes this drug, was fined 3 billion dollars mainly for bribing doctors to prescribe this much older and addictive drug to young people. See article extracts below. I’m just so relieved that I am now finally free of this drug. After nearly four gruelling months of withdrawal, I’ve rid my head of these chemicals, so now I’m starting to feel clear headed, and feel my old normal self again.
(Click
paxil aropax withdrawal syndrome and
paxil withdrawal youtube to see the horrendous experiences people
have had to endure trying to get off this drug.
(It the above links, click Open this content
in a new window.) In the first link above you’ll find the youtube clip of a Sydney girl that was prescribed Aropax in Year 11. She describes her experiences as she tries to get off the drug many years later.)
This drug has even inspired street protest marches! See 'Best Answer' :
Please remember that if you or a member of your family, or a close
friend, is ever
prescribed an anti-depressant type drug, how they can be effectively
informed about the drug, not to stay on it too long, and how it is very
important to pursue the alternatives to the drug that I outlined above.
The hidden side effects of these drugs can be very damaging. I hope this information can be of help to other people.
P.S. The only physical side effects that persisted with me while I was on this drug, was weight gain, occasional mild nausea, and sometimes having exhausting bad dreams that left me feeling on waking as though I had already done a ten hour day!
With regard to the behavioural side effects,
I have cut and pasted below♦ some extracts from
a discussion forum. Most of these behavioural side
effects I could personally vouch for as likely credible.
♦
Extracts from ‘paxil behaviour side
effects’ – extracts from this discussion forum thread – different people
discussing their experiences with paxil / aropax (Aus).
-
Antidepressants can numb people emotionally, make them less empathetic,
callous, and generally less considerate of the feelings of others. They
can also causes problems with judgement, impulsiveness, and personality
change. - Because the focus initially is on whether
or not the person is responding to the medication and because the side
effects above can happen slowly over time, it's sometimes hard for the
person taking the AD and their significant other to notice. - Take it from someone who has "been there"
, and lost friends .... through paxil addiction and side
effects...the erratic behaviour and out of character stuff is very very
common with this drug ..... - Now that I'm coming out of the fog, I can
see everything a bit clearer, it's embarrassing .... What would I give
just to go back and do things a little different? - It's very common for those on Paxil (or
other SSRIs like Zoloft) to not care about the impact of their actions
on others... It's also common during… the point where the Paxil is not
effective anymore. - Weight gain is almost universal in those
taking Paxil. They cannot help it, it's a side effect of the drug. - She is now off paxil all together for
several weeks now. She says she can feel her feelings again and it’s
like she was wearing cotton around her feelings for years and now she
can feel again. - I think Paxil could definitely have caused
some of your wife's behavior. I was an unemotional zombie on Paxil,
manic at times, slept a ton, gained 20 pounds ….did odd and
insensitive things, and made impulsive decisions.. You can't see these
things when you are on it though, only when you come off does it open
your eyes. - Approximately 8 years Paxil 20 mg. Side
effects: weight gain, personality changes, no motivation, memory loss,
stomach problems, ….excessive eating, vivid [bad] dreams. - I had no idea that paxil was so invasive. - Paxil turns people into uncaring and
unemotional zombies. Somehow Paxil blocks our sense of what is
[socially] right and what is wrong... [and at times your social skills
can just disappear!] - Things are much better now. I recognize
him again and today he cares about consequences and other people's
feelings.
'Scotty' and
'Trying 66'
in the above forum/link for example, shows you disturbing
behavioural side effects, that can occur with some people on these
drugs, and may have links to
the violence incidents shown
in the green link below.
Also some of the
contributors such as
‘Pantela’ and
‘Charlie’
believed that “...this type of reaction is by no means limited
to Paxil" and that other SSRIs such " Zoloft, Lexapro, Celexa, Prozac, Effexor, Cymbalta all have
the potential to do exactly the same thing!”)
These antidepressant drugs can have with some people, an
emotionally deadening effect.
This could well be contributing to relationship break downs, as
well as anti-social behavior that ranges from 'out of character' bad
manners, to mania (silly eratic behaviour), or even aggression in
extreme cases.
More case stories from around the
world.
The second person, in this above forum / link, struck a chord
with me!
New York Times Published: July 2, 2012
GlaxoSmithKline
[the drug company that makes Paxil/Aropax] agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges and pay $3 billion in fines
for promoting its best-selling antidepressants for unapproved uses …. Prosecutors said the company had tried to win over doctors [to encourage them to prescribe the drug] by paying for trips to Jamaica and Bermuda, as well as spa treatments and hunting excursions... A warning was later added to the drug that Paxil, like other antidepressants, might increase the risk of suicidal thoughts in teenagers.
GSK also admitted distributing a misleading
medical journal article about Paxil while failing to publish data from
other studies that showed it was not effective in treating depression in
young people…. concerns it triggered suicides.
*“Antidepressants such
as SSRIs have some
dependence
producing effects, most notably a withdrawal syndrome.
"In late 2004 media attention was
given to a proposed link between SSRI use and juvenile suicide. For this
reason, the use of SSRIs in pediatric cases of depression is now
recognized by the United States FDA as warranting a cautionary statement
to the parents of children who may be prescribed SSRIs by a family
doctor."
Working to the advantage of the drug
companies, is the reluctance of the people who have had bad
experiences on these SSRI antidepressant drugs, to complain openly
about the product, because of the social stigma attached to any kind
of mental illness.
Is this for real?
Articles: Behavioral Side Effects of
Antidepressants Patients taking antidepressants may display other unusual behaviors or act out of character. They may act recklessly, change their sleeping patterns or suffer from extreme hyperactivity. Even if the unusual behavior seems relatively harmless, all individuals who show sudden or significant changes in behavior should have these side effects reported to a doctor as soon as possible .http://www.livestrong.com/article/262843-behavioral-side-effects-of-antidepressants/#ixzz2DJq1jaSp
Emotional side-effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors:
qualitative study The dark side of antidepressants
Chronic use of antidepressants also
promotes dependency on drugs rather than empowering people to make
positive life changes, and places a tremendous burden on healthcare
systems in the U.S. and abroad – but I will discuss those issues in next
week’s article
Personality Structure and Out of Character
Behaviour
From: http://ssristories.com/
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/showthread.php?t=36302
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54427
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10417
http://npanth.wordpress.com/2012/02/28/paxil-withdrawal-symptoms/
With hindsight it is not surprising that
this should happen, that you should still experience the side
effects during the year after you’ve stopped taking the drug,
especially if you had been stuck on the drug for many years. In my
case I was dependent and trapped on the drug for nineteen years.
This is difficult to put into words, but it is comforting in a way
to know that I was not alone and that thousands of other people in
other countries have also been trapped on this drug for similar
lengths of time. Is it any wonder that the drug was such a money
spinner for the drug company(GSK) or that they tried promoting it so
aggressively. The side effects, if they return in the year
after you have stopped taking the drug, can also last for a
substantial length of time. I my case I think this was for seven or
eight months before I was clear headed enough to feel as though I
was myself again. So for a total of almost five full years after
this drug had stopped working properly, it had had an adverse effect
on my life. It is not surprising that many lives can be ruined by
these drugs. I don’t know how other people were able to
adjust in their life after finally being free of this pervasive
drug. In my case, although I could think clearly and felt as though
I was myself again, taking the drug for that length of time left me
feeling shattered. With people trying to come off these brain drugs,
I have often read the term, ‘then stuck of the drugs
merry-go-round’. This is what
also happened in my case as well. Although I could think clearly and felt as
though I was myself again, I started a long and terrible period of
serious anxiety and gruelling depression. This lasted in varying
degrees for a further three years! I was only able to survive this further period
of three years through the help of my doctors, and support of my
family and friends. I was put on a combination of newer drugs
that didn't give me any horrible side effects. At one point when I
was at my lowest and people were concerned that I might not be able
to continue, I declined my psychiatrists recommendation that I be
hospitalised and just ‘gutted-it-out’ and continued working. I
continued working because surprisingly, when I was actually
‘on-the-job’ it was the one time I had a respite from the gruelling
anxiety and depression. I think this was because of the distraction
for my mind of being occupied in working, and in a role that I had
enjoyed and had given me much professional satisfaction for many
years. I don’t know why I was so sick or why it lasted
so long. I think the new drugs I was put on and the combination of
the drugs and when I took them played a big role in me finally
getting better. It was like the sun slowly coming out after a very
long period of dark and depressing bad weather. Many times during
that period I thought I would never feel happiness ever again. But I
did survive it. I have been able to reduce the drugs to just two and
I do feel well and normal again. I have maintained this blog about my
experiences with mental health because as many other people have
found, it helps with the healing process. I think it is also
important to help inform people, as many others are now doing, that
these so-called anti-depressants which are designed to affect the
chemistry of the brain, can with some people have very harmful and
potentially dangerous side effects. It is also an important message
to make, that no matter how black and seemingly hopeless your life
can seem with mental health problems of severe anxiety and
depression, you must not give up because with the right professional
help and the correct drugs used responsibly it is possible to get
well again. |
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In the letter he makes an oblique reference, as much of an admission that any doctor I think would make, to the fact that a past SSRI anti-depressant brain drug I was on, had terrible side effects on me and caused a lot of grief. What is helpful, though in the letter, is to be reminded of another effective drug-alternative tool that anyone can use if suffering from extreme anxiety or depression. It is known as CBT or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. It is a therapy that teaches you what causes people to think in certain ways, what your underlining thought patterns are that is causing you painful anxiety and depression, and then ways of changing those thought patterns. I learnt about CBT from a book I was given, called 'Feeling Good: The Clinically Proven Drug-Free Treatment for Depression.'' by David D. Burns, MD. On the cover it proudly states that it is a national bestseller and that over four million copies are in print. In a three or four month period the information and exercises described in the first half of this book helped me tremendously. It really helped me to climb out of a really desperate state I was in at the time, and function for a while more easily. I remember now being keen to tell my Psychiatrist about the book so he might be able to us it and tell others.
The local doctor who I relied more on for help in later years, was
good at counselling people with mental illness and tended to follow a
drugs remedy approach, which eventually worked for me, rather than
making referrals to psychologists.With regards the 'Mindfulness or ACT’, this is another drug free therapy. I have
heard that it can also be very helpful but I have had no experience with
it myself. 29.5.2023  |
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Hi
there, WARNING: Happy pills! – SSRI anti depressants:
I’m
finally off Aropax /Paxil, or as they are calling it in the States
‘Paxhell’!