A link to the Akathisia Anthem song and video is available on RxISK's Akathisia page. There will be follow up posts on RxISK and DavidHealy over the next two weeks. Akathisia anthem Akathisia, Akathisia You make me wanna Make me wanna Akathisia Thank you doctor for this little pill But the fact of the matter, it’s making me ill The fact of the matter is I can’t, … [Read more...] about Akathisia Anthem
Antibiotics
Historic Summit: Flox and Tox Get Together
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 hazards of these drugs … [Read more...] about Historic Summit: Flox and Tox Get Together
Prescription for Murder ABCD
If you look at the adverse events section of the sertraline - Zoloft - label you will see in small print that sertraline has been linked to psychosis, hallucinations and aggressive reactions. Its there in small print. These links have been there since the mid-1990s. Vanishingly few doctors understand what is going on here. They see a label saying something … [Read more...] about Prescription for Murder ABCD
What a Surprise: RxISK taking entrepreneurs
It is worth wading through some slow moving stuff at the start of this post to get to the juicy bits. The Things Drugs Do Drugs do things. Company marketing divides these things into the one good thing the company wants you to focus on - good for a company bottom-line and the ninety-nine other "side effects" that we are doing our best to minimize. This issue came up in … [Read more...] about What a Surprise: RxISK taking entrepreneurs
Drug Wrecked: Where Does Change Come From?
Editorial Note: There are two elements to RxISK. One is identifying adverse events in order to keep people safe and to widen our knowledge about what drugs do. But just as important is taking on a power structure that some of us get a glimpse of when we raise the possibility of an adverse event and our doctors dismiss us, or get nasty, and close ranks. The idea behind a … [Read more...] about Drug Wrecked: Where Does Change Come From?
Flox-Tox; Guerilla Guide
Editorial Note: Twenty-five years ago, Diane Fried took Floxin, a fluoroquinolone antibiotic and a predecessor of Levaquin and Cipro, and was severely damaged as a consequence, leading her husband to write Bitter Pills. Three years ago we featured two posts on fluoroquinolone antibiotic problems. We have also featured posts on the closely related Lariam - mefloquine - and its … [Read more...] about Flox-Tox; Guerilla Guide
Drugs and Smell: Smells of SHIT
Medication can mess up your sense of Smell. This post links to the Magna Farta post on david healy, which tells the story of Zicam and Matrixx Pharmaceuticals. For anyone interested in adverse events, this is one of the most important stories in medicine. It also links to the SHIT Happens and SHIT happens 2 posts. There are three Tables. The first shows drugs that cause Anosmia … [Read more...] about Drugs and Smell: Smells of SHIT
DRESS Syndrome: No Way to Treat a Lady
Black out Five minutes into yoga class, my sixteen year old daughter Hannah blacked out. Her face, white as a ghost. When she came to, she said she couldn’t see. Her pulse was almost nothing, and panic set in. I ran to my car to grab my phone and dial the infectious disease doctor Hannah had recently seen about an allergic reaction to a commonly prescribed antibiotic acne drug … [Read more...] about DRESS Syndrome: No Way to Treat a Lady
Becoming Suicidal on an Antibiotic
Editorial Note: The last post on Lariam and suicide mentioned an alternate treatment for malaria prophylaxis - doxycycline. Doxycycline is not without its problems. It can cause suicide - Suicide is Painless. It and other tetracycline antibiotics can also cause sexual dysfunction including enduring post-treatment sexual dysfunction - makes you wonder if they also inhibit … [Read more...] about Becoming Suicidal on an Antibiotic
Antibiotics: Suicide & Psychosis
Editorial Note: This is the transcript of a program broadcast as The Lariam Legacy on BBC Radio on March 31 2015. The narrator is Victoria Derbyshire. The featured drug is the anti-microbial Lariam, mefloquine. Mefloquine is closely related to the Fluoroquinolone's Levaquin and Cipro. See previous RxISK posts on Lariam History, Lariam Hell and Flox-Tox. Atabrine was the … [Read more...] about Antibiotics: Suicide & Psychosis