If one naturopathic physician prescribed a natural product that caused
an adverse reaction in their patient we can just imagine how both the
physician and the plant product would be demonized in the dominant media.
It has been plainly obvious since before it became FDA approved and prescribed
to millions that Prozac is an extremely dangerous drug that can kill people.
What does this tell you?
The Back to Basics column was started in August 1999 as a way of helping
people treat their biochemical imbalances without drugs. The idea was
to assist people gently in discovering how their body works in health
and disease without incurring too much expense buying multi level marketing
potions or relying on the vast array of alternative practitioners. What
I now realize is that far too many have become dependent on dangerous
pharmaceutical drugs that never address the cause of the ailment but actually
exacerbate the problem. These drugs are counterproductive when used with
any natural healing program and have been a source of frustration for
me since most people don't understand how they "work" and
why they are so dangerous. Since the July 2000 Spectrum came out with
its lead story, "The Ticking Time-Bomb: Prozac - Prescription for
Disaster," I have become somewhat numb with shock from the horrific
consequences of drugs licensed by an FDA that is wedded to the very industry
it should be monitoring for safety. When Vickie Barker called me in March
with her Prozac story, I realized it was time to devote this column to
serotonergic drugs. If you are currently taking ANY pharmaceutical drugs,
do yourself a favor by looking up the drug in the Physician's Desk
Reference. And even better, go directly to the drug manufacturer and ask
for the original studies done on this product prior to FDA approval.
The most commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs in use today are Prozac
or drugs which work on the same principle as Prozac -- Zoloft, Luvox,
Paxil, Celexa, and the latest, Sarafen. They are known as selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and are designed to block the metabolism of
serotonin, thereby increasing levels of this neurotransmitter in the brain.
Medical research has shown that the theory behind the use of these drugs
is invalid.
Elevated serotonin is found in: psychosis or schizophrenia, mood disorders,
organic brain disease, mental retardation, autism and Alzheimer's.
Whereas low levels of the metabolism of serotonin (which also produces
high serotonin) are found in those with: depression, anxiety, suicide,
violence, substance abuse, insomnia, nightmares, impulsive behavior, reckless
driving, exhibitionism and hostility. SSRIs increase brain levels of serotonin
and decrease the metabolism of serotonin leading to any or all of the
above results.
The October 20, 1997 edition of TIME magazine quoted Dr. Candace Pert,
Research Professor at Georgetown University Medical Center and past head
of the brain chemistry department at the National Institute of Health
(Dr. Pert is one of the two developers of the serotonin binding process
which made possible the development of these serotonergic drugs):
"I am alarmed at the monster that John Hopkins' neuroscientist
Solomon Snyder and I created when we discovered the simple binding assay
for drug receptors 25 years ago. Prozac and other antidepressant serontonin-receptor-active
compounds may also cause cardiovascular problems in some susceptible people
after long-term use, which has become common practice despite the lack
of safety studies."
Dr. Pert accuses the medical profession of oversimplifying the action
of these drugs by leading us to believe they only produce their effects
on the brain. An excerpt from a letter to Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, author
of Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? brings home this important point:
"I caught the last part of your presentation on Radio Station KEX
in Portland while flipping through the dial last night. I was flabbergasted
to hear you speak of the horrible potential side effects from Prozac,
which I have been taking for approximately four years, particularly since
I have been diagnosed recently with cardiomyalgia, severe artery disease,
congestive heart failure and also fibromyalgia (I was a very 'well'
person prior to taking Prozac and am now exhausted all the time, with
horrible aching joints, considerable pain and a massive heart problem).
The adverse cardiovascular effects from Prozac, the one drug in this class
of drugs out long enough to have somewhat of a track record, are listed
in the drug information sheets put out by the manufacturer. The 'frequent'
effects listed are hemorrhage and hypertension. The 'infrequent'
effects include very serious adverse effects: congestive heart failure,
myocardial infarct, tachycardia, angina pectoris, arrhythmia, hypotension,
migraine syncope and vascular headache."
Serotonin receptors exist throughout the body as well as in the brain
which is why every aspect of our body's physiology is affected by
these drugs. In fact, serotonin is defined in the 1972 Encyclopedia and
Dictionary of Medicine and Nursing as a potent vasoconstrictor substance
secreted by argentaffin cells of the small intestine, absorbed by the
blood platelets and circulated in the blood. Dr. Michael Gershon believes
that this is the reason why Prozac produces so many gastrointestinal side
effects. A March, 1998 study shows that Prozac so strongly inhibits one
particular serotonin receptor that this produces both obesity and seizures.
But even more revealing is the studies on Prozac leading to its licensing
nearly 20 years ago. The following came from Eli Lilly's own studies
on Fluoxetine (Prozac):
In 1977 Prozac was found to affect sleep habits, specifically to suppress
"deep sleep" or REM (rapid eye movement) sleep in cats. By
the fourth day, the cats receiving the larger doses of Prozac began
to growl and hiss. After cessation of drug treatment, the cats returned
to their usual friendly behavior in a week or two but those receiving
higher doses recovered more slowly.
In 1978 Eli Lilly began using human subjects in controlled clinical
trials. The first group of patients showed no improvement in their depression.
However, a large number of adverse reactions were reported. The first
human to receive Prozac experienced "dystonia resembling an extrapyramidial
reaction" - an uncontrollable, Parkinson-like shaking or trembling.
In 1979 Prozac's use in clinical studies on depression showed
that some patients went from severe depression to agitation within a
few days. In one case the agitation was severe enough for the patient
to be taken off the drug. Benzodiazepines and other sedatives would
be used in future studies to help offset the "stimulant effect"
of Prozac.
Prozac induced violence and suicide? The following factors were brought
to the attention of the FDA but were ignored, discounted or trashed
by them:
Lilly's analysis improperly excluded 76 out of 97 suicides.
Dr. Bruce Stadel, Chief of the Epidemiology Branch in 1990 stated
that, "it is inappropriate in a safety analysis to exclude
such a large proportion of cases."
Lilly admitted that its clinical trials "were not designed
for the prospective evaluation of suicidality" and that their
trials specifically excluded patients with current suicidal ideation.
Lilly admitted that the HAMD-3 rating scale they used to assess
suicidality in clinical trials was inadequate. Furthermore, Lilly's
statements regarding violence demonstrates that this was also greatly
under-reported.
So how many violent acts and suicides can be attributed to the proliferation
in the use of these serotonergic drugs in the past decade? Reading Dr.
Ann Blake Tracy's summary of violent acts of murder and suicide that
have been associated with these drugs literally reads like "the Nightmare
on Elm Street." In fact, every single school shooting from Littleton,
Colorado to the most recent in Santee, California can be traced to the
use of these drugs.
So why are these drugs still on the market?
By running full page newspaper and magazine ads as well as TV infomercials,
manufacturers bring in over $7 million daily. On the other hand they are
settling Prozac suicide cases for huge amounts of money in exchange for
silence from victim's families on the details of those settlements.
The silence in these court cases insures that the drug will be allowed
to finish out its patent time, bringing in the highest possible profits
for the manufacturer. Eli Lilly has been sued for Prozac related deaths
in numerous state and federal courts with most cases being settled or
dismissed.
So what are the future plans for these drugs?
The American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatric
Psychiatrists asked the FDA in 1998 to consider approving serotonergic
antidepressants for use in children as young as two and drugs for anxiety,
aggression and manic depression in babies only one month old. From 1995
to 1996 the use of Prozac among children 6 to 12 years old has increased
an alarming 400 percent.
In the June 1999 edition of Clinical Psychiatry News, Dr. Malcolm Bowers,
a psychiatrist at Yale has found that physicians are not paying enough
attention to patient factors that could make treatment with SSRIs dangerous.
He found that, "SSRI induced psychosis has accounted for eight percent
of all hospital psychiatric admissions over a 14-month period...What is
surprising is that this particular group of side effects is really underplayed."
These hospital admissions represent over 150,000 SSRI-induced psychotic
breaks a year.
The fluoride connection.
Fluvoxamine (Luvox) has three fluorine molecules; Fluoxetine (Prozac)
has three fluorine molecules as does Lovan; and Paxil has one fluorine
molecule. Because these drugs have fluorine molecules and fluorine can
be tested for magnetic sensitivity, a nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy
(NMRS) is used to test for their accumulation in the brain. Dr. Craig
N. Karson, a professor of psychiatry and pathology at the University of
Arkansas and Chief of Psychiatry at John McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital,
has been researching the issue of Prozac accumulation for several years
now.
"The results are the brain Prozac levels are maybe even a hundred
times higher than serum levels and that they accumulate much more gradually
over time and probably don't reach their peak until about six to eight
months, in contrast to about two weeks for serum levels. So they're
there and they'll stick around in the brain for a long time. So a
hundred times more in the brain...I think what it means is that the stuff
concentrates in the brain and sticks around for a pretty long time."
(Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? p. 122)
"Dr. Karson's research on the massive build up of Prozac in
the brain would suggest the time period for flushing Prozac, in order
to avoid post drug interaction, could be incredibly long. It should be
emphasized that it is not known just how long a waiting period is safe.
Patients have reported consistently that other drugs cause a variety of
adverse reactions for them long after their use of Prozac." (Prozac:
Panacea or Pandora? p. 123)
WARNING: If you are currently taking a serotonergic drug, it is vitally
important not to simply stop taking the drug. Dr. Ann Blake Tracy recommends
that you "shave" off small amounts daily so that your body adjusts
to the smaller dose. It can take two to three months to safely come off
of a serotonergic drug.
This article was excerpted from Dr. Ann Blake Tracy's May 2000 article
entitled, "The Aftermath of Prozac, Zoloft, Luvox, Fen-Phen, and
Many Other Serotonergic Drugs" and is available on her website www.drugawareness.org.
Dr. Ann Blake Tracy is the executive director of the International Coalition
for Drug Awareness and the author of the book, Prozac: Panacea or Pandora?
This book is normally $19.95 but is available to Spectrum subscribers
for $14.95 this month. To subscribe to The Spectrum AND order a copy of
this life saving book, call 1-877-280-2866.
