Anti-depressants!

[Guest guest]

An article in the Guardian Newspaper (UK) came to my notice (page 22 : 17

May 01) concerning anti-depressants which I thought might contribute to the

ongoing discussion we have on this topic.

It appears as if the UK Governements watchdog, The Medicines Control

Agency, wanted a warning put into every prescription of Seroxat (Paxil in

the US)but the manufacturers, GlaxoKline, have not complied. The

warning was to read,

" Occasionally thoughts of suicide or self harm may occur or may increase in

the first few weeks treatment with Serxat (Paxil), until the anti-depressant

effect becomes apparant. Tell your doctor imediately if you have any

distressing thoughts or experiences. "

Dr. , director of the agency stated that he was taking the

issue very seriously and felt that patients and the families of patients

should be made aware of this possible increased risk of suicide.

Seroxat (Paxil) is an SSRI which works by changing the chemistry in the

brain. They are being marketed for an ever widening range of complaints, now

including PMT. It is similar in molecular structure to Prozac, which is the

only other SSRI which outsells it.

Seroxat has had problems from the day it was licenced ten years ago. In

1993 the Committee on the Safety of Medicines wrned doctors that in light of

" symptoms occurring on withdrawal . including dizziness, sweating,

nausea, insomnia, tremor and confusion . (it) should not normally be

discontinued abruptly. "

Since then more adverse reaction reports have been filed about Seroxat for

problems associated with withdrawal symptoms than for all the other

anti-depressant, including Prozac, combined.

Next Monday GlaxoKline go on trial in Wyoming for not warning a man

who went berserk and shot himself along with family members only two days

after beginning his treatment with Paxil. The prosecuting lawyers contend

that GlaxoKline knew of the risks but failed to warn the patient or

his family.

One of the big selling points of all SSRI's has been that they are less

risky than older antidepressants, so called tricyclic drugs. But this is no

longer the whole story. Before Xmas an article appeared in The British

Journal of Psychiatry by Dr. Stuart Donovan and colleagues. In their report

of 2,776 patients they found that if you look for a statistically

significant relationship between taking SSRI's and suicide you wont find

much. But they did find a relationship between taking SSRI's and all forms

of deliberate self harm -- including overdose, attempted overdose, hanging,

laceration, deliberate road trafdfic accidents, head banging, swallowing

non-medicines -- much higher for SSRI's than for the older tricyclics. (

This applies whether the cause is the SSRI's or merely the delay in their

effect.)

The relationship is so strong,Dr. Donovan says, that he firmly believes

that promotional material for SSRI's including Seroxat, should be changed

immediately so doctors no longer prescribe them to potentially suicidal

patients thinking, mistakenly, that by doind so they are protecting their

lives.

Dr. Donovan sent his manuscript to KlineBeecham ( who partly financed

the study with Eli Lilly) before it was published asking for comments. They

never replied.

I hope this helps inform people who are considering taking such

medications to look further into the issue before comitting themselves. This

new research appears to have changed the balance a bit in any cost/benefit

analysis that may be considered when a person is experiencing depression and

considering taking these SSRI's.

Thanks for your attention.

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