Editorial Note: This post by DG continues a series begun a year ago looking at the effects of aripiprazole on Tourette Syndrome Abilify, Tourette Syndrome and Me. The key point here is not just the effect of a drug to trigger effects but the ability of someone who has the disorder and takes the treatment to be more expert on what is going on than the so-called experts. This is … [Read more...] about Robbie’s Tourette Syndrome Story
Antipsychotics
Olanzapine: Still Treading Water
Editorial Note: Ages back, Sally MacGregor wrote this piece to follow up to her Olanzapine experience - Olanzapine Withdrawal: Sally's Story. The original piece has routinely been among the top ten RxISK blog posts visited. This update slipped between the cracks. But here it is. Time for a progress report. I was in feisty mode last time – determined not to be beaten by the … [Read more...] about Olanzapine: Still Treading Water
Kidnapped: Natalie’s Story
Editorial Note: Natalie's story parts 1 and 2 are by her mother Kristina. Natalie, celebrating her tenth birthday in 2003, shortly after being prescribed Prozac. Her left eye was starting to show signs of amblyopia, more commonly called “lazy eye.” This adverse drug reaction worsened and was one of many Natalie suffered from unnecessary prescribing. We couldn’t understand how … [Read more...] about Kidnapped: Natalie’s Story
A Kidnapped Daughter 2
Continued from Part 1. Put on mirtazepine my daughter deteriorated rapidly. The crisis intervention team descended. They started by counting pills. When they found the number correct, they assumed I had destroyed the pills. They seemed perplexed. One of the team would take her out for some one–to-one. They would visit the local park, go to the café and drink some cocoa. … [Read more...] about A Kidnapped Daughter 2
A Kidnapped Daughter
Editorial Note: This is the first of a two-part post by a father and daughter who want to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals - a very real and realistic fear. This is about how my daughter was “led away” (the literal meaning of abduction), in a cruel and calculated act undertaken by people to whom her mother and I had ill-advisedly, and to our eternal regret, trusted to … [Read more...] about A Kidnapped Daughter
Kidnapped: Arthur Hippe
Editorial Note: This post by Lois Sampson, an Elders' Rights Advocate with the Seniors At Risk Coalition, is the first of several on this theme. The message for readers who think that neither they nor their relatives have been or are likely to be in the position that Arthur Hippe was in is that Arthur's is the kind of case where the kidnapping can be seen, yours or your … [Read more...] about Kidnapped: Arthur Hippe
Greg’s Dilemma: Feeling Blue
Magic bullet In Greg's Dilemma 1 and Dilemma 2, Greg outlined more than one dilemma linked to getting hooked to antidepressants and benzodiazepines. The responses to these posts were all over the shop - from pull yourself together, to entrust your life to God, to support for descriptions of positions others find themselves in. The responses also split in terms of what the … [Read more...] about Greg’s Dilemma: Feeling Blue
Benzodiazepine and Antidepressant Dependence
Sally MacGregor has written about the horrors of dependence on olanzapine - see Olanzapine Withdrawal and Back In Olanzapine Waters. Here she picks up a conundrum - Primary Care Doctors react to the idea of Benzodiazepines as though they have been the greatest threat to the stability of society since World War II, while at the same time it seems still dishing out these drugs in … [Read more...] about Benzodiazepine and Antidepressant Dependence
The Maintenance Man: Fata-nomics the cancer plaguing healthcare
Editorial Note: This post is from Johanna Ryan "You murdered my dad. You poisoned him. You tortured and murdered my dad." The sentencing hearing for Farid T. Fata, M.D. at the federal courthouse in Detroit last week did not lack for drama – and Piero Zanotti’s daughter was not the only victim to accuse him of murder. The U.S. government might well have done so, if he had not … [Read more...] about The Maintenance Man: Fata-nomics the cancer plaguing healthcare
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