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 Prize began with our involvement with sufferers from Post-SSRI … [Read more...] about Launching the RxISK Prize
Antidepressants
After the Rot Sets In: Teeth on Treatment
Editorial Note: In the midst of recent posts about SSRIs and homicide and other events, there has been a continuing input of reports of changes in hair on drugs or skin and this one on teeth. All of these can have an impact on confidence but there is another worry - the treatment is causing obvious and undeniable changes in something that can be seen; what are they … [Read more...] about After the Rot Sets In: Teeth on Treatment
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
Prescription for Murder
Editorial: This evening a Panorama program aired on the issue of antidepressants and violence. The driving forces behind this were Andy Bell and Shelley Jofre, prompted in the first instance by Katinka Newman. The story is to my mind compelling. There have been considerable efforts to cloud the picture - see Honey I Shrunk the Shrinks on DH. Prescription for Murder was … [Read more...] about Prescription for Murder
Withdrawal & PSSD: Terminal Diagnoses?
There has been something of a hiatus on posts on DH and RxISK in recent weeks. There are a few reasons - one of them outlined here and one to come next week. Part of the problem has been knowing what to say to people with PSSD and severe withdrawal. I have been swamped with emails that are terribly difficult to answer. It would be good to get input from readers on this … [Read more...] about Withdrawal & PSSD: Terminal Diagnoses?
I Took Antidepressants and I Still Feel Medicated
I suffered from a pretty bad biological anxiety that runs in my family and was very difficult to control without medication. Prior to the timeline of events below, I have taken other medications (Paxil, Effexor, Cymbalta) each causing sexual dysfunction at the lowest possible dose and genital numbness almost immediately upon taking them. I stopped them fairly quickly because of … [Read more...] about I Took Antidepressants and I Still Feel Medicated
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?
The Pills That Steal Sex
This post is the original piece written by Katinka Newman, author of The Pill That Steals Lives: One Woman’s Terrifying Journey to Discover the Truth about Antidepressants, by Katinka Blackford Newman (John Blake £8.99), thepillthatsteals.com. A slimmed down version appeared in the Daily Mail. Its unusual for a day to go past when I don’t utter a prayer of gratitude that my … [Read more...] about The Pills That Steal Sex
Illnesses Worse than Side Effects?
This extraordinary image is from an advert for Clozapine. Mental illness can unquestionably bring distress - it can be haunting, dislocating and deeply disturbing. But the side effects are often more severe. Drugs like Clozapine are used by the military for torture purposes. Healthy volunteers commit suicide after a few days exposure to them. Treatment induced problems … [Read more...] about Illnesses Worse than Side Effects?