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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
As will be clear from some of the helpful comments on the first post about a RxISK Prize, you are going to have to work with us to make this work. Your input can take several forms. The greatest need The biggest block to making the Prize work is the same block everyone suffering from […]
This Prize is part of a two-pronged attack on the unwillingness of the medical and regulatory establishments to listen to people with adverse events in general – not just the sexual dysfunctions mentioned here. The second front in the attack will be unveiled in a few weeks’ time. The problem The idea for a RxISK […]