However, according to a 1997 review, one study found that 25% of patients experienced at least one discontinuation symptoms, verses 5.9% taking a placebo. In another study of patients with major depression, 42% experienced at least 1 discontinuation symptom.
Another internal memo kept hidden with a protective order, states: “Discontinuation: why this is an issue,” followed by, “’97 Seroxat/Paxil sales to end Sept already exceed $1 Billion“.
This particular memo carries a cartoon-like picture of a big black money-bag.
In Paxil literature, Glaxo flat-out lied to patients and specifically said that the drug was not addictive. For example, a pamphlet made available at doctors’ offices and disseminated to patients, asked the question: “Is Paxil addictive?”
The pamphlet then states: “Paxil has been studied both in short-and long-term use and is not associated with dependence or addiction.”
The withdrawal syndrome is real and in fact, it is now known that infants of women who take SSRIs in the last 3 months of pregnancy, may experience symptoms of withdrawal, including convulsions, according to a study published in the February 4, 2005 issue of the journal Lancet.
In addition, experts warn against the use of Paxil and other SSRIs with children. According to Fred Baughman Jr, MD, an adult and child neurologist in private practice for 35 years, "most antidepressants have not proved effective in treating depression in children and some studies suggest they may cause some children to become acutely suicidal.”
Yet in 2002, Dr Baughman says, “nearly 11 million prescriptions for the drugs were given to children, 2.7 million of them to children under 12."
A report by an expert witness, previously sealed with a protective order, reveals how Glaxo concealed and manipulated data concerning Paxil-induced suicidality and how suicide attempts in studies by patients on Paxil were underreported and attempts by people taking a placebo were inflated.
Excerpts from the report were published by psychiatrist, Peter Breggin, MD, in Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, (Volume 8, Spring 2006, pp. 77-84). Dr Breggin is a founder of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology (ICSPP) and the author of the Antidepressant Fact Book (2001).
His report also documents how Glaxo hid the incidence of akathisia (agitation with hyperactivity) and stimulation, which he says, are known risk factors for suicidality and violence.
Dr Breggin’s original report was based on a 3-day review of Glaxo’s sealed files, and was written for the California case of Lacuzong v GSK, and attached to a July 21, 2001, affidavit submitted in a case filed by the widow of a man who drowned their two children and himself in a tub after taking Paxil for three days.
At Glaxo’s insistence, the report remained sealed. However, in the more recent case of Moffett v Glaxo, in the US District Court for the South District of Mississippi, the report was filed in the public record.
“The drug companies,” says Dr Breggin, “settle almost all legal cases brought against them in order to seal incriminating scientific data.”
“The publication of a previously sealed medical expert report is a rare event,” he explains, “the first in my experience.”
In the book, The Antidepressant Solution, author Dr Joseph Glenmullen, a clinical instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, recommends tapering off antidepressants by following a 5-Step Antidepressant Tapering Program, to reduce both the incidence and severity of withdrawal reactions.
To relate my own experiences with SSRIs, which I've been taking for almost 6 years: I will say that Dr's have not warned me up front that there could be 'withdrawal symptoms' however it has ALWAYS been stated profusely that one should never quit cold turkey, as adverse effects could occur. Having to pay for the meds (zoloft at the time) myself, I at times ran out before I could get more and therefore experienced these symptoms. I went to the dr to get myself checked out. They then told me that what i was experiencing was 'withdrawal'-and no they don't call it that by name. The symptoms were quite odd and out of the norm for me, but never was it thought or suggested that i was 'relapsing' or that my meds should be increased, they knew from the get-go what the problem was. I got back on the zoloft, no more problems.
After taking the original for a few months, I am now on generic paxil which, in the literature, states that it has a 17-21 hour time period, as oppose to Zoloft's, which is closer to 22-28. Perhaps this is why more people feel the symptoms to a greater degree.
These medications change the chemical balance within your brain and body. Anyone on them should know this and therefore know that stopping them w/o proper supervision and too suddenly will no doubt make your body feel and react oddly. It is of course, the doctor's responsibility to inform the patient, but it is also the patient's responsibility to know what they are putting in their body and how it could affect them.
I am not saying that Glaxo and other companies like them are free from blame, hiding documented facts is knowingly harming the public and should not be tolerated. But to place sole blame the manufacturer is not going to fix anything. Even with information being suppressed, it is still possible to know what to expect from most any drug you're taking. Read the inserts, talk to your pharmicist, look up info online, read 'The Pill Book'. You'll get the gist of what could happen to you with the drugs you're on, learn what symptoms to look for, when to consult your doctor, etc.
It can take up a month or maybe longer for these drugs to fully affect you. The individuals that take these drugs are already unstable (remember I'm speaking of myself as well,so don't take offense), so it is possible that severe shifts in mood and mental capicity have already been occurring, whether anyone, even the individual knows it. If you have severe mood swings or become suicidal or homicidal while on SSRIs for only a very small period of time, it is possible that these behaviors were already possible, before you took these drugs and that the drugs are not solely to blame.
Just something to think about.
by
RH (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 10:12:38 AM
I do not agree, some of us were put on paxil for a single anxiety attack. I became suicidal coming off the drug and its been 5 yrs. My life has never been the same, No I don't just blame GSK, I blame the doctors for not knowing more about this drug, I blame the FDA for not making it harder to patent a drug this dangerous. Paxil has what is called a half life, which means it doesn't stay in your system but 23 hours unlike other ssri's which stay in your system alot longer. I don't advocate any antidepressants because I am scared of them. But I also blame myself for trusting doctors. I have heard and talked to alot of people who went through H--- on this drug. You would not believe the reasons for it was prescribed.
I wasn't suicidal before, I had a good life. But its nothing like it used to be.
Donna
by
dlem39 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments)
on Thursday, September 28, 2006 at 5:17:11 PM
I was given Paxil a number of years ago for depression associated with my mother's death. Within 48 hours, I was a shaking, nervous wreck, so riddled with anxiety, I couldn't perform ordinary tasks. Luckily, my doctor immediately told me to discontinue it and prescribed something else. My friend was not as fortunate. Her cousin was put on Paxil for depression. After two weeks, he repeatedly told his doctor that it was making him so anxious, he felt worse. His doctor told him to keep taking it. Two days later, he took a rifle into the woods and killed himself.
This is a bad drug, yet so many doctors still prescribe it. Must be all the perks they get from Glaxo.
by
Lynn Beckman (0 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 27 comments)
on Thursday, April 27, 2006 at 11:31:49 PM
