RxISK blog

PSSD In The Guardian, U.S. News & Lyon Capitale
July 4, 2018 | 33 Comments

The Guardian The Guardian, a British newspaper, runs a weekly feature called “My life in sex”, in which readers can write in and talk about their sex life. On June 8, 2018, they ran a piece called “After taking antidepressants, my genitals felt numb”. A 30 year old women described how she had been left […]

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Crazy and it was
The WARM Network: Withdrawal and Recovery Meetings
June 27, 2018 | 17 Comments

New Initiative: The Withdrawal and Recovery Meeting (WARM) Network of Groups By Jennifer Bryant and Laurie Oakley This is a new initiative to give anyone who would like to start an in-person withdrawal group in their community a way to get started.  We have created a free “toolkit” that contains a Guide for Facilitators, Suggested […]

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What to do about Sex
June 20, 2018 | 12 Comments

The recent RxISK post on PSSD and Thermal Thresholds led to a lot of comments about what should “we” – those with PSSD or related conditions – do. There was a looking out to FDA or other regulators, doctors or politicians to do something. Coincidentally on davidhealy at the same time a pair of posts […]

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Historic Summit: Flox and Tox Get Together
June 13, 2018 | 7 Comments

  Editorial Note: The European Medicines’ Agency are holding a public meeting today about Fluoroquinolone antibiotics and the problems they can cause.  They invited submissions.  RxISK submitted.  But was not selected for a presentation so we will not be there.  Miriam Knight who has been a vigorous campaigner on the need to warn about the […]

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Antidepressants, Sex and Thermal Thresholds
June 7, 2018 | 27 Comments

Last month, we announced details of two new publications about enduring sexual dysfunction after the use of medications. We hope you found them interesting. In both articles, we discussed a couple of studies from 1991 and 1999, in which neurophysiological testing showed that taking a serotonin reuptake inhibitor reduces genital sensation. We have previously mentioned […]

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My PGAD Nightmare
June 1, 2018 | 11 Comments

Editorial Point: This post is both an extraordinary account of PGAD (Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder) but also an extraordinary account of what many people have to put up with from psychiatry. For some of the history of PGAD see our Citizen’s Petition to FDA. See also the video clip on PGAD. At the beginning of […]

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The Woman Who Was: Looking back from Prescription Cascade
May 21, 2018 | 16 Comments

  Editorial Note:  This is M’s story.  She outlines a Prescribing Cascade.  In an email she also asks a question: does anyone have any evidence of SSRI withdrawal causing Vit D deficiency?   HRT HRT started it all.  Peri menopausal at 45, my GP did a FSH test and prescribed Climagest – oral oestrogen and progesterone.  […]

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300 Cases
Enduring Sexual Dysfunction: 300 Cases
May 4, 2018 | 53 Comments

New publications After a great deal of work, we are pleased to announce details of two new publications in the International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine. The pre-print versions are currently available. [Now updated with printed versions – June 11, 2018.] The first is our new paper – Enduring sexual dysfunction after treatment […]

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Antidepressant Withdrawal: What’s in a Name
April 28, 2018 | 13 Comments

Editorial: a recent email to RxISK on the topic of antidepressant withdrawal brings out the fact that bupropion withdrawal is very different from SSRI withdrawal and both are very different to mirtazapine withdrawal.  For all RxISK posts on withdrawal see Here Email from Edge My name is A.  I’m 28. I was prescribed to Wellbutrin […]

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Dependence on Antidepressants and The New York Times
April 17, 2018 | 72 Comments

Editorial note – for all RxISK posts on withdrawal see Here A feature article in the New York Times recently by Ben Carey covered dependence on and withdrawal from antidepressants.  Here. It led to over a thousand comments within 48 hours including a predictable set of comments from doctors claiming that antidepressants don’t cause dependence […]

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PSSD, Withdrawal & Small Fiber Neuropathy?
March 20, 2018 | 68 Comments

The picture here shows the before and after feet of a person who has erythromelalgia. After exercise or in response to other triggers, sometimes just lying in bed, the feet or other body parts can become hot and burning, possibly painfully so. The condition is linked to sodium channels. Those who get it may have […]

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Venus O'Hara
Venus Not Rising
March 12, 2018 | 20 Comments

Editorial Note: Returning to the theme of the RxISK Prize… Reading the weekend newspaper, some months back, my eye was caught by a flame red haired women in a turquoise dress who said her occupation involved testing sex toys. The article was impossible to ignore and there was nothing for it but to contact Venus […]

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Five Minutes to Midnight
February 26, 2018 | 6 Comments

See Taper MD In 2016 life expectancy in the United States fell for a second year in a row. This was the first time anything like this had happened apart from a brief flatlining for men around 1962 we now know was linked to tobacco use. In 1962 the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) put […]

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Introducing Taper MD
February 20, 2018 | 2 Comments

Do you think you or someone you love are on too many meds? Did you know that reducing your medication burden may be the single best thing you can do to improve your quality of life? Adverse drug events are now a leading cause of hospitalization, disability, and death, all at great human and financial cost. […]

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Psychotropic Drug Dependence in Scotland: Petition PE01651
January 29, 2018 | 90 Comments

Email from Marion Brown PE01651 – Prescribed drug dependence and withdrawal I wanted to let you know that our Scottish petition seems to be gathering a very remarkable and powerful collection of published ‘evidence’ of patient experiences especially – and from all over the world! The petitions clerks are being kept busy with ‘processing’ these […]

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Toilet sign
Bladder and Bowel Problems After Antidepressants
January 19, 2018 | 14 Comments

In addition to sexual problems such as post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) and persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD), a range of other urological problems linked to antidepressants are increasingly coming into view, and can sometimes be long-lasting after the drugs are stopped. They are likely to be significantly more common than is generally thought, and it’s […]

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Better Times Will Return
Better Times Will Return
January 4, 2018 | 38 Comments

The following blog post comes from Mary Hennessey. It’s a wonderful example of the generosity we have seen in response to our RxISK Prize campaign, in support of men and women who have been left with permanent sexual dysfunction after using antidepressants, finasteride, or isotretinoin. Commissioned textile art piece – to be sold I commissioned […]

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PGAD: Clitoridectomy or ECT?
December 22, 2017 | 12 Comments

Editorial Note:  Following on from The Princess and the Frozen Pea, this is a second post in a PGAD series.  There will be one more on the range of conditions mentioned here that are often linked to PGAD – interstitial cystitis, pelvic floor dysnergia, prostatitis and others. See also PGAD Video Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder […]

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The Princess and the Frozen Pea: PGAD
December 15, 2017 | 7 Comments

Imagine: sitting with friends – maybe a couple of people you have never met before also present – having supper. You’re uncomfortable; it’s hard to sit still. You try hard to concentrate on the conversation – the political turmoil erupting around you, or a film someone’s just been to see – but you can’t. Because […]

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POIS: A Whole New Meaning to Man Flu
December 7, 2017 | 6 Comments

The following article about Post-Orgasmic Illness Syndrome (POIS) by Andrea Downey appeared in The Sun on November 29, 2017. (Keep reading after the article). COMING DOWN WITH SOMETHING? BOYS, do you get a stuffy nose, fatigue and the sweats after you’ve had sex? No, it’s not because your performance was so mind blowing your body […]

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RxISK Prize: Campaign & Challenge
November 28, 2017 | 8 Comments

The RxISK Prize campaign took off 3 months ago.  The generosity of donors from all walks of life – many out of work because of the impact of these conditions on them – has been astonishing. There have also been substantial anonymous donations. While many of those affected have lost faith in doctors and pharmaceutical […]

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Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction: Getting a Diagnosis
November 21, 2017 | 30 Comments

When reading about the experiences of people with Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), one of the common themes is the difficulty that some sufferers have faced in trying to obtain a formal diagnosis. However, this isn’t always the case. There seems to be a disparity between the experiences of different PSSD sufferers when engaging with the […]

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RxISK Map: Relationship Based Medicine
November 14, 2017 | 15 Comments

Editorial Note: This is the third in a RxISK Map series of posts – See Reformation Day and Here We Stand. These link closely to the RxISK Prize. There are two aspects to finding a cure for an adverse event. One is understanding the biology. The other is getting it established that the effect happens. […]

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Here We Stand, We Can Do No Other
November 7, 2017 | 28 Comments

Editorial Note.  This post runs hand in hand with Vampire Medicine and Cisparency on David Healy.org.  It is the second of three posts, following on from Reformation Day laying the basis for a RxISK Map which is linked to the RxISK Prize. When you are facing down the barrel of a tank… Pharmaceutical companies, medical […]

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RxISK Reformation Day
October 31, 2017 | 31 Comments

Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther nailed a set of theses to a Church door calling time on a scam. A scam that had the backing of the political and religious authorities of the day. When challenged his response was “Here I stand, I can do no other”. Today is Reformation Day. The drama in […]

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RxISK Prize: Stigma and Recovery
October 25, 2017 | 26 Comments

This continues the series of posts about the RxISK Prize.  It lays the way for the RxISK Prize and Map which will feature next week Stigma PSSD, PFS, PRSD and PGAD come with a heavy burden of stigma.  This is a problem AIDS activists met head-on and conquered in an extraordinary fashion.  It had never […]

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Map of 300 cases
RxISK Prize: Global Impact
October 16, 2017 | 44 Comments

Globalization is not a word that’s in favor at the moment. In the face of this very recent economic development that seemed to be sweeping the board in the 1980s and 1990s, we now want to reassert national boundaries, hang onto “our” jobs, and keep out others – sometimes those who have done a great […]

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RxISK Prize: Relationships
October 9, 2017 | 37 Comments

The RxISK Prize campaign has now had over $10,000 from 51 donations coming from 48 donors in 12 different countries. People from Korea to Argentina are engaging with the issue. We will give more details later in the week. It seems clear that Adverse Events – Drug Wrecks – are a Global Disorder, the greatest single source […]

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RxISK Prize: No Nos
October 4, 2017 | 16 Comments

The RxISK Prize throws up one surprise after another. I would have thought as organizations that save lives and pillars of the economy, it should be relatively easy to contact a pharmaceutical company. It isn’t. I have lots of contacts in organizations that liaise with pharma and used to have many contacts in pharma but […]

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RxISK Prize: The Golden Rule
September 26, 2017 | 15 Comments

This post follows Launching and How You Can Help which are also now on our Prize page on the Main Menu. Launching the RxISK Prize has been eye opening. Everyone who has donated or will donate will hopefully get some sense of this. If you’re not getting it, you need to remember this Prize is yours […]

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