Antidepressants | RxISK

Silent Night – in the Vatican

December 24, 2018 | 21 Comments

There is no intention in this piece to cause offence. But there seems to be no point in being anything other than blunt. Two thousand years ago, Aristotle could argue that politics should be moral – that we should govern the polis in a manner that fostered virtue in its citizens. There wasn’t then the […]

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Welsh Senate Withdrawal Seminar

December 17, 2018 | 28 Comments

Last week a seminar on dependence on and withdrawal from antidepressants took place in the Welsh Senedd, overlooking Cardiff Bay. It was the initiative of and organised by Aled Jones of Prescription Drug Awareness, Support and Treatment, under the auspices of Mark Drakeford – the First Minister. The Senedd building was a stunning setting for […]

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December 5, 2018 | 10 Comments

Lawyer Needed For a job that will offer no pay. The case will be in the family courts and involves a divorce petition but its not clear that the lawyer needs to have any family law experience as this will be like no prior family law case. A number of posts on RxISK and davidhealy.org […]

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Skin and Drugs and Sex

October 25, 2018 | 6 Comments

Editorial Note: This post returns to PSSD – post SSRI sexual dysfunction – PRSD – post retinoid sexual dysfunction – PFS – post finasteride sexual dysfunction and PGAD – persistent genital arousal disorder. See our RxISK PSSD page for the many prior posts on these conditions There is also post on davidhealy.org – Khashoggi and […]

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Can Antidepressants Make You Less Attractive?

October 15, 2018 | 27 Comments

In recent years, there has been increasing concern about the problem of antidepressants finding their way into the environment. These drugs aren’t fully absorbed by the body and are present in human waste. Small concentrations are then flowing into rivers via wastewater treatment facilities where wildlife can be affected. In August 2018, several media outlets reported […]

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Akathisia, Depression & Suicide: The List

September 27, 2018 | 34 Comments

This post closes our series on akathisia. Along with posts on davidhealy.org, the other posts were: Akathisia Anthem 500+ Drugs that Cause Depression and Suicide – AKA Akathisia Akathisia Challenge Even Politicians get killed by Akathisia In 500 drugs that cause depression and suicide, we mentioned building a new list of drugs that can cause […]

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Even Politicians get killed by Akathisia

September 18, 2018 | 9 Comments

Editorial Note: – This continues our series of the lethal effects of akathisia running on RxISK and davidhealy.org – with special reference to Little Red SSRIding Hood and Even Docs get killed by Akathisia. Akathisia and treatment induced suicide took a political turn over the weekend, along with the issue of whether teenagers should be informed […]

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Akathisia Challenge

September 11, 2018 | 13 Comments

A post on May 31st on davidhealy.org, The Greatest Failure in What Used to be Called Medicine, and the following post on the Spectre of Dissent, triggered two conversations. One was about the appropriateness of the imagery used. The other was a long conversation initiated by Tim and then developed by Heather about what to […]

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500+ Drugs that Cause Depression and Suicide – AKA Akathisia

September 4, 2018 | 9 Comments

Billiam James’ Akathisia Anthem released last week and available HERE is timely. Since this headline in Newsweek in May 2013, things have got worse. In America since 2015, life expectancy has been falling and in other developed countries it has stopped rising. Recent American studies have fingered rising suicide rates as one factor in this […]

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Akathisia Anthem

August 29, 2018 | 7 Comments

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 […]

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PSSD In The Guardian, U.S. News & Lyon Capitale

July 4, 2018 | 44 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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Antidepressants, Sex and Thermal Thresholds

June 7, 2018 | 28 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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Enduring Sexual Dysfunction: 300 Cases

May 4, 2018 | 56 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 | 71 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 Not Rising

March 12, 2018 | 21 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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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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Bladder and Bowel Problems After Antidepressants

January 19, 2018 | 20 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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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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