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“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.”

 Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 1

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Effects of Psychiatric Drugs

These psychiatric drugs are not of small risk but instead cause massive changes in the way the brain functions. Long term studies have indicated that there are severe debilitating and sometimes fatal effects of these drugs. Possible negative effects were minimized or not even discussed at all. There are risks of long term psychological harm, physical harm, social harm and economic harm. Many of these drugs cause symptoms that can themselves be construed as mental illness.The probability of developing Parkinsons’ like symptoms is also great.  


NIDS - Neuroleptic Induced Deficit Syndrome:  

Neuroleptic Induced Deficit Syndrome (NIDS) can be caused by these medications which change in emotional awareness, sense of aliveness, and in the speed, and clarity of thought. The treatment effects felt by many people who have taken these medications are described as feeling like a zombie. Neuroleptic effect is present when the following features are observed:

1. Psychomotor Retardation – motor slowing, body not moving so well
2. Emotional indifference - not being emotionally responsive / not caring
3. Reduced initiative – not showing interest in initiating activity
4. Slowing of thought

As the dose of the medication increases, and more time elapses, it appears that the effects change – from sedative effects, into anti-psychotic effects, and possibly into other less desirable side effects; akathisia (restless leg syndrome), emotional parkinsonism (emotional blunting) and on into some other unwanted side effects. It is not uncommon when the first symptoms appear like apathy, emotional indifference, motor slowing or slow mentation that these were attributed to the underlying condition of the patient (the patient’s disease) when really they are the effects of the medication itself. A patient on these medications can initially demonstrate an improvement in symptoms only to later over time have that initial improvement go away or to only reach a certain point and then plateau or level off. There is also one more important one effect: neuroleptic dysphoria – which is like depression. When this happens when patients are often given even higher dosages of the drugs, leading to even more severe effects.

Many of the symptoms that are used to justify hospital treatment may actually be caused by the psychiatric medications given. So continuation of these medications only creates a self-filling prophecy that furthers the financial goals of the hospital institution and may cause further permanent brain damage.

The Real Truth about Outcomes on Psychiatric Medications

These  drugs, over time, produce these results:

  a) They increase the likelihood that a person will become chronically ill.

b) They cause a host of debilitating side effects.

c) They lead to early death.


Extra-Pyramidal Symptomes

Akathisia and Agitation

Increased Risk of Suicide in Drug Treated Patients

In the largest study ever done to address suicide in schizophrenia patients it was found:

The widely cited lifetime rate of 10% for suicide in patients with schizophrenia is incorrect for both the pre- and post-community care eras.

The best estimate for the life time rate of suicide in patients with schizophrenia in the pre-community care era is of the order of 1% or less.

Although de-institutionalism is probably the single most important factor in determining suicide rates in patients with schizophrenia, pharmacotherapy appears to contribute to this risk, and is the element of  current care that is undermost clinical control.

Healy, D. Harris, M. at el. (2006) Lifetime suicide rates in treated schizophrenia: 1875-1924 and 1994-1998, In Brit J. of Psych, 18, 8, p. 223-228. http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/188/3/223

Parkinsonism -Psychiatric Drugs

Adverse Effects of Psychotropic Drugs

Patients should be involved in decisions regarding their treatment.  Many patients have rational reasons for rejecting treatment and concerns about the severe and potentially life-threatening side effects of psychotropic medications.  Many patients to either discontinue their medication or to be unable to retain employment in the community, which consigns them to the vicious cycle of repeated psychiatric hospitalization.

Psychiatric medications frequently cause severe side effects, some of which can be irreversible and for other patients these psychotropic medications fail to help patients.   According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes of the National Institutes of Health, antipsychotic drugs can cause neuroleptic malignant syndrome, a life-threatening neurological disorder.  Additionally, the National Institutes for Mental Health (NIMH) has found that long-term use of antipsychotic medications can cause tardive dyskinesia, a potentially incurable and disfiguring condition that causes muscle movements a person cannot control. For long-term psychiatric patients the chance of contracting tardive dyskinesia from psychotropic drugs is approximately one in four.  One of the most common side effects of antipsychotic drugs is a condition known as akathisia, which is marked by uncontrollable physical restlessness and agitation and by interminable pacing, shaking of arms and legs, foot bouncing, and anxiety or panic.  When this side effect occurs it is often mistaken for symptoms of mental illness itself and then even more antipsychotic medication is administered due to a psychiatrist’s erroneous perception that the signs of akathisia are symptoms of disease, the patient’s agitation and panic increase.   The opposite type of side effect is akinesia, which is typified by drowsiness and the need to sleep a great deal.  This effect is appreciated by those wishing to chemically restrain patients and prevent their moving around or demanding care in the middle of the night.  But this allows caretakers to ignore patient’s problems and use ever increasing amounts of drugs to achieve the desired ends.  This is not treatment of the underlying disease but instead forced drugging for the convenience of the caretakers.  In addition, polypharmacy, which is the prescribing for a single person of more than one drug of the same chemical class (such as antipsychotics), is widely practiced despite little empirical support, and can result in serious adverse reactions and intensified side effects and can lead to early death.

Numerous psychiatric medications are dangerous and even life threatening adverse effects including: weight gain and diabetes, tardive dyskinesia (movement disorder), tremor, akathisia (restless leg syndrome), dyskinesia (uncontrollable movements, tics, tremors), dystonia, as well as the side effects of nausea, dizziness (low blood pressure), and insomnia. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder, in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. It is painful to even watch a video of someone with dyskinesia or dystonia. The doctors when prescribing these medications tell patients and their families just to disregard these potentially life threatening and life altering side effects.

 

Many of these drugs cause symptoms that can themselves be construed as mental illness. One drug Abilify or Aripiprazole, is known to cause neurological side effects, gastrointestinal signs, movement disorders, disturbances in thinking, anxiety disorders, sleep disorders and even suicidal behavior. These are the actually side effects of the drug – yet when these symptoms occur they are attributed often to what they claim is the medical diagnosis. Doctors reported to the FDA that their patients had hallucinations, psychosis, heart rate, diabetes, cardiac problems, liver dysfunction, coma, and blood coagulation problems while on Abilify. Even a very cursory review of the FDA warnings and listing of adverse side effects would cause any responsible legal guardian to reconsider the use of these drugs on a loved one.


The Food and Drug Administration or FDA is the agency charged with protecting the safety of consumers. Hundreds of cases have been brought in the last several years against pharmaceutical companies arising from deaths and injuries attributed to drugs used to treat psychiatric disorders. The most urgent warnings are those known as “black box” warnings, in which drug companies are required to (or voluntarily) post warnings in bold black print in a bold black box. These warnings appear in the Physician’s Desk Reference and in the package inserts for the drugs, which doctors are presumed to read.    The black box warnings of Luvox included the possibility of violent behavior including homicidal thoughts.

Dystonia due to Psychiatric Medications

Antipsychotics Increase Chonicity of Psychosis

There have been several research studies that actually prove that these medications do not provide long term positive effects even though they may initially decrease or curb psychosis over the short term.  But positive effects did not lapse and a year later, patient on these antipsychotics actually relapsed and made patients more psychotic over the long term. ( Schooler, N, et al. “One year after discharge: community adjustment of schizophrenic patients.” American Journal of Psychiatry 123 (1967):986-95.)  The NIMH conducted three different studies that compared antipsychotic treatment with “environmental” care that minimized use of the drugs. In each instance, patients treated without drugs did better over the long term than those treated in a conventional manner.  Rappaport, M, et al. (1978), Carpenter, W., et al. (1977) and Bola J, et al (2003).  In addition in the Guy Chouinard and Barry Jones’ research study (1978 and 1980)  they tested the theory that the reason for this relapse when patients are put on year long antipsychotics, was that the brain responds to neuroleptics and their blocking of dopamine receptors as though they are a pathological insult. To compensate, dopaminergic brain cells increase the density of their D2 receptors by 40% or more. As a result now the brain  is “supersensitive” to dopamine, and as a result, the person has become more biologically vulnerable to psychosis than he or she would be naturally.  So neuroleptics can produce a dopamine supersensitivity that leads to both dyskinetic and psychotic symptoms.  Thus the outcome of treatment with an antipsychotic drug would increase the possibility of dopamine supersentivity and thus predispose the patient to psychosis more than just the normal course of the illness.

References on Side Effects of Psychotropic Drugs

Gary Tollefson, et al., Blind, Controlled, Long-Term Study of the Comparative Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Tardive Dyskinesia With Olanzapine or Haloperidol, 154 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 1248 (September 1997).

Leonardo Cortese, et al., Assessing and Monitoring Antipsychotic-Induced Movement Disorders in Hospitalized Patients: A Cautionary Study, 49 CAN. J. PSYCHIATRY, 31, 34 (January 2004).

Steven Kingsbury & Megan Lotito, Psychiatric Polypharmacy: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, 24 PSYCHIATRIC TIMES 32 (April 1, 2007)

Jeffrey Lieberman et al., Effectiveness of Antipsychotic Drugs in Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia, 353 NEW ENG. J. MED. 1209 (Sept. 22, 2005).

Archives of General Psychiatry in October 2006. Peter Jones, et al., Randomized Controlled Trial of the Effect on Quality of Life of Second- vs First-Generation Antipsychotic Drugs in Schizophrenia: Cost Utility of the Latest Antipsychotic Drugs in Schizophrenia Study (CUtLASS 1), 63 ARCH. GEN. PSYCHIATRY 1079 (Oct. 2006).

Linmarie Sikich, et al., Double-Blind Comparison of First- and Second-Generation Antipsychotics in Early-Onset Schizophrenia and Schizo-affective Disorder: Findings From the Treatment of Early-Onset Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders (TEOSS) Study, 165 AM. J. PSYCHIATRY 1369 (2008)

Robert Findling, et al., Double-Blind Maintenance Safety and Effectiveness Findings From the Treatment of Early-Onset Schizophrenia Spectrum (TEOSS) Study, 49 J. OF THE AM. ACAD. OF CHILD & ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY 583 (June 2010).

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/neuroleptic_syndrome/neuroleptic_syndrome.htm.

ADHD

Conditions Treated: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ADHD drugs:  Atomoxetine (Strattera), Lisdexamfetaminedimesylate (Vyvanse), Methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta), Ampetamine (Adderall), Dextroamphetamine (Dexedrine, Dextrostat)

Adverse Side Effects:

Decreased appetite

Tics

Psychosis

Antianxiety

Conditions Treated: General Anxiety Disorder, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Social Phobias,  

Antianxiety drugs:  Clonazepam (Klonopin), Lorazepam (Ativan), Alprazolam (Xanax),

Adverse Side Effects:

Dependence

Drowsiness and dizziness

Blurred vision

Nightmares

Antidepressants

Antidepressant Drugs: Fluoxetine (Prozac), Citalopram (Celexa), Sertraline (Zoloft), Paroxetine (Paxil), Escitalopram (Lexapro), Venlafaxine (Effexor), Duloxetine (Cymbalta), Bupropion (Wellbutrin)

Conditions Treated: Depression, Generalized anxiety disorder, Social phobia, Obsessive-compulsive disorder,

Adverse Side Effects:

Suicidal thoughts

Sleeplessness or drowsiness

Agitation

Sexual dysfunction

Antipsychotic Drugs

Antipsychotic Drugs: Clorpromazine (Thorazine), Haloperidol (Haldol), Risperidone (Risperdal), Olanzapine (Zyprexa), Quetiapine (Seroquel), Ziprasidone (Geodon), Aripriprazole (Abilify)

Conditions Treated: Bipolar Disorder, Schizophrenia, Tourette’s Syndrome,

Adverse Side Effects:

Rigidity (muscular tension)

Tremor

Tardive dyskinesia (uncontrollable movements)

Diabetes

High cholesterol

Weight gain

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (a life-threatening, neurological disorder most often caused by an adverse reaction to antipsychotic drugs)

Hypnotic drugs

Hypnotic drugs: Quazepam (Doral), Zolpidem (Ambien), Eszopiclone (Lunestra)

Conditions Treated: Insomnia, Anxiety

Adverse Side Effects: Dependence, Sleep-walking

Mood Stabilizers

Mood Stabilizers: Lithium, Divalproex sodium (Depakote), Carbamazepine (Tegretol), Lamotrigine (Lamictal), Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal)

Conditions Treated: Bipolar disorder

Adverse Side Effects:

Suicidal thoughts

Loss of Coordination

Hallucinations

Kidney, thyroid, liver and pancreas damage

Polycystic ovarian syndrome

Weight gain

 

The Violence Initiative

Cognitive Impairment

Various studies have found that neuroleptics reduce one’s capacity to learn and retain information. Duke University researcher Richard Keefe said these drugs may “actually prevent adequate learning effects and worsen motor skills, memory function, and executive abilities, such as problem solving and performance assessment.” (Keefe, R. “Do novel antipsychotics improve cognition?” Psychiatric Annals 29 (1999):623-629.)

Serotonin Syndrome

Serotonin Syndrome

Serotonin Syndrome:

Many of these drugs act upon Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) which is a neurotransmitter.  It is found in the gastrointestinal tract, in blood cells (platelets) and in the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system).  It is known to affect the feel of well-being and happiness and can affect mood, appetite and sleep.  Serotonin has an effect on memory and learning.  Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that affects the brain and plays a role in aggression, pain, sleep, appetite, anxiety, depression, migraine, and vomiting.  Several different classes of psychiatric drugs like anti-depressants, anti-psychotics, anti-anxiety drugs, anti- migraine drugs and psychedelic drugs affect the level of this neurotransmitter inside the neuro-synapses of the brain.  SSRIs act on the brain to raise levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin without raising the levels of norepinephrine. This was thought to be a benefit in treatment of depression, and later anxiety, panic, social phobia, obsessive- compulsive disorder (OCD) , and many other conditions.

 

However when considering risk vs benefit of these drugs, research has shown that these SSRI drugs do not produce clinically significant improvements in depression in patients who initially show moderate or even severe depression.  They show statistically significant but clinically minor effects only in the most severely depressed patients.

Drugs such as tricyclic antidepressants (TCA’s) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, making it stay in the synapse longer.  The benefits derived by these drugs may decrease in selected patients after a long-term treatment.  Serotonin syndrome is a medical consequence of these kinds of psychiatric drugs.  Serotonin syndrome which can also be called serotonin toxicity is really a poisoning and is the predictable consequence of excess serotonin activity in the brain and elsewhere in the body which can be caused by therapeutic use of these medications.  No laboratory tests can currently confirm the diagnosis and it is usually diagnosed base on the patient’s symptoms and clinical history.  Serotonin syndrome may be mistaken for a viral illness, anxiety, neurological disorder, various kinds of poisonings, or a worsening psychiatric condition.  The Serotonin syndrome presents characteristic clinical signs but can be mistaken for the more dangerous and life threatening neuroleptic malignant syndrome. This presents as twitching, tremors, rigidity, fever, confusion, or agitation.

Serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) also may cause serotonin syndrome by interactions. Most tricyclic depressants do not have these interactions, with the exception of amitriptyline.

The symptoms of Serotonin Syndrome are:

Cognitive effects: headache, agitation, hypomania, mental confusion, hallucinations, coma

Autonomic effects: shivering, sweating, hyperthermia (temperature as high as 104o F and even go as high as 106oF, hypertension (high blood pressure), tachycardia, nausea, diarrhea.

Somatic effects: myoclonus (muscle twitching), hyperreflexia (manifested by clonus), tremor.

Tardive Dyskinesia

SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome

Tapering off very, very, very slowly has proven the safest and most effective method of withdrawal of psychiatric medications.  When discontinuing or withdrawing from a psychiatric medication that affects the brains serotonin level, a dangerous situation can occur a condition called the "SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome."  When serotonergic activity dramatically decreases because the neurons aren't able to communicate properly with each other anymore. As a result of this decreased serotonergic activity, side-effects occur. Sometimes these side-effects are reported by the patient as feeling like electric shocks, zaps or shivers in the head (brain) or sometimes like “pins and needles” in the skin or like a light flickering in his/her head.  These symptoms are sometimes so severe that the patient feels confused or like on the verge of blacking out or losing consciousness.  These sensory disturbances may make the patient feel very confused and may involve short periods of short-term memory loss or absences.  These absences are actually petit mal seizures which may be invisible to the observer and not recognized as epileptic activity.  

This is an effect of the withdrawal of the prescribed drug itself - not a symptom of mental illness.  It is caused by the drug.

Neurolepic Malignant Syndrome

Neurolepic Malignant Syndrome

Neurolepic Malignant Syndrome

Neuroleptic malignant syndrome

 

Neruoleptic Malignant Syndrome or NMS is  a rare, but life-threatening, idiosyncratic reaction to a medication which can be fatal. NMS is caused by both 1st generation and 2nd generation neuroleptic medications, atypical anti-psychotics (clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine, ziprazidone), butyrophenones, phenothiazines, dopamineric drugs and lithium. The syndrome is characterized by fever, muscle cramps, unstable blood pressure and muscular tremors. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) causes changes in mental status, difficulty thinking, agitation, delirium and even coma. NMS causes an extremely high temperature, profuse sweating, severe muscle rigidity, increased respiratory rate and increased heart rate. Altered mental status can be either agitation or lethargy. This is a truly life threatening emergency requiring emergency treatment.  Treatment involves immediate withdrawal from the medication and immediate supportive care usually in an ICU with IV fluids. Correction of electrolyte abnormalities and treatment for metabolic acidosis is necessary. Agitation can be controlled with benzodiazapines, and a drug to lower dopamine levels (dopamine agonist) can be used.  High blood myoglobin levels can damage kidneys. Because NMS is fairly rare, it may not be recognized immediately thus delaying treatment.  Persons presenting with NMS can have muscle rigidity,  an elevated white blood count, an elevated creatine phosphokinase - CPK blood level and bradykinesia (an inability to adjust one's body position). Patients may experience a hypertensive crisis and metabolic acidosis. If recognized and treated immediately then only 10% of patients will die, however if not treated early death rates can be as high as 38% of cases.  Symptoms may be confused with the symptoms of mental illness thus doctors may erroneously prescribe higher doses of medication thus worsening the NMS - this can delay proper treatment and can lead to death. Men under 40 years old are more likely to get NMS.  Memory impairment is a consistent temporary effect of NMS and can sometimes persist after recovery.

 

 

 

Tardive Dyskinesia

One clear outcome of the use of the antipsychotic drug Abilify is tardive dyskinesia. Tardive dyskinesia is a difficult-to-treat and causes the patient to have in involuntary, repetitive body movements that started some time after starting the medication. The only way to prevent tardive dyskinesia is to not give these medications to the patient. It frequently appears after long-term or high-dose use of antipsychotic drugs. Tardive dyskinesia is characterized by repetitive, involuntary, purposeless movements, such as grimacing, tongue protrusion, lip smacking, puckering and pursing of the lips, rapid eye blinking and rapid finger movements. To knowingly force someone unnecessarily on medications that cause this outcome could surely be considered cruel and unusual punishment or even torture – because life with tardive dyskinesia is daily torture. Tardive dyskinesia is often misdiagnosed as a mental illness rather than a neurological disorder, and as a result patients are prescribed more drugs which increase the probability that the patient will develop this disabling disability. In such cases, it is critical to properly identify the signs of the disorder and stop drugs as soon as possible. These drugs have a tendency to mask the very symptoms they are causing, thus making it more difficult to determine what the problem is.

Physicians should educate patients and families about the dangers of tardive dyskinesia. The majority of patients who are on the drugs long enough will develop the disorder of tardive dyskinesia, with some getting this problem after only 4 months of treatment with the medication. The published rate for tardive dyskinesia among people who stay on the older drugs is approximately 3-5% per year - if you stay on these medications, for ten years, the risk of developing TD is 50%. (Dr. Grace E. Jackson MD ‘What Doctors May Not Tell You About Psychiatric Drugs’ Public Lecture, UCE Birmingham June 2004)

 

Tardive dysmentia and tardive psychosis

There are also long term affects of these drugs called tardive dysmentia and tardive psychosis which are debilitating conditions caused by these medications. But doctors often blame the patient for these problems and attributing symptoms to the underlying condition and not to the medications own effects. Tardive dementia is caused by long-term use of the neuroleptics resulting in a depressive condition similar to NIDS that involves the frontal lobe of the brain. In some individuals, it seemed that long term treatment with neuroleptics was more likely to affect emotional centers in the human brain, and patients were seen to develop dramatic or euphoric mood swings and this was called tardive dysmentia.

Over-Use of Anti-Psychotics

Adverse Effects of Atypical Anti-psychotics:


The so-called “atypical” antipsychotics are neither “atypical” nor “antipsychotic.” Not infrequently, these chemicals induce or enhance bizarre statements (disorganized speech or delusions), social withdrawal (depression), and sedation (encephalopathy), regardless of dose. The processes through which these medications exert destabilizing effects include receptor blockade (D2, ACH, histamine), electrophysiological (depolarization) blockade; direct toxicity (cell death); and induction of other disease processes (pneumonia, diabetes, hypothyroidism, PE). Unfortunately many prescribing clinicians are largely unaware of these problems and thus do not inform their patients.

Numerous psychiatric medications are dangerous and even life threatening adverse effects including: weight gain and diabetes, tardive dyskinesia (movement disorder), tremor, akathisia (restless leg syndrome), dyskinesia (uncontrollable movements, tics, tremors), dystonia, as well as the side effects of nausea, dizziness (low blood pressure), and insomnia. Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder, in which sustained muscle contractions cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures. It is painful to even watch a video of someone with dyskinesia or dystonia. The doctors when prescribing these medications tell patients and their families just to disregard these potentially life threatening and life altering side effects.

Akanthisia

This is an inner restlessness and anxiety that many patients describe as the worst sort of torment. This side effect has been linked to assaultive, murderous behavior.

 

Akathisia

This video is when the patient's  myoclonic jerks became to much to handle. They were worse a few hours earlier resulting in convulsing on the ground like a severe seizure. He started having parkinsons like movement a week after he started the lowest dose of Symbyax (6mg/25mg). The warnings about Symbyax include akathisia which classified as just restlesness. He stated that he  wasn't quite prepared for chorea like uncontrolled movements, extreme stuttering, no cognitive thought process and nearly the complete inability to control all motor functions. It started 5 days  after taking just one doze of fluoxetine (prozac 20mg) with the sudden onset of jerking movements then followed by intense fear resulting in contemplating suicide and losing touch with all reality. He was experiencing also hallucinations and dementia/ This was most likely caused by the Prozac itself and the rest of the time was the effects of the antipsychotic Zyprexa or olanzapine. The next days were better and he thought it would stop but when the seizure-like movements started this morning he was taken to the ER. 

White Blood Cell Abnormalities

The antipsychotic Clozapine can cause fatal blood problems as well as other side effects of serious concern. Clozaril, which is effective second-generation antipsychotic medication, can cause agranulocytosis, a potentially fatal blood disorder in which the drug triggers a sudden severe deficiency in the number of white blood cells. Clozaril (clozapine) is a drug which was known to be associated with fatal cases of aplastic anemia which causes low white blood cell counts and predisposes patients to infections. Clozapine has also been linked to high blood sugar and diabetes. Doctors are supposed to watch for unexplained fever, fatigue and low energy levels in patients taking Clozaril. Clozaril has been strongly associated with possible fatal heart problems. [Presto v. Sandoz, 226 Ga. App. 547 (1997)].   For this reason, administration of Clozaril requires frequent blood testing and monitoring, and the drug is typically used as a treatment of last resort.

http://www.clozaril.com/info/about/side_effects.jsp.

Tardive Dyskinesia

Risks of Psychiatric Medications

Saphris or asenapine by Merck:


A new drug recently put on the market is Saphris or asenapine by Merck. Saphris like other atypical antipsychotic drugs is known to increase mortality. This drug causes very serious side effects including the permanent and totally disabling disorder called Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, and also Tardive Dyskinesia, Hyperglycemia and Diabetes Mellitus, Weight Gain, Hypersensitivity Reactions, Orthostatic Hypotension and Syncope (fainting), Leukopenia, Neutropenia, and Agranulocytosis (white blood cell problems), QT Prolongation: (heart rhythm problems), Seizures: Potential for Cognitive and Motor Impairment and Suicide (a mother’s worst nightmare). Adverse reactions to the drug Saphris include causing akathisia (restless leg syndrome, unpleasant sensations of inner restlessness that manifests itself with an inability to sit still or remain motionless) oral hypoesthesia (loss of sensation in the mouth causes difficulty in eating and talking), somnolence (sleepiness) and dizziness.

Risk of Parkinson's symptoms


Many patients who take psychiatric drugs also develop Parkinsonian side effects - about 40-50% (or more) experience Parkinsonian symptoms.  Julia Child, a very famous cook over in the US and the actor Michael J Fox are both famous victims of severe Parkinson’s disease.  In Parkinson’s disease people lose these dopamine cells in the substantia nigra area of the brain. With antipsychotic medication, we’re not killing off those cells but we are affecting how they function and so Parkinson’s symptoms do occur in a fairly high rate of patients.

"It is easy to think the State has a lot of different objects -- military, political, economic, and what not. But in a way things are much simpler than that. The State exists simply to promote and to protect the ordinary happiness of human beings in this life. A husband and wife chatting over a fire, a couple of friends having a game of darts in a pub, a man reading a book in his own room or digging in his own garden -- that is what the State is there for. And unless they are helping to increase and prolong and protect such moments, all the laws, parliaments, armies, courts, police, economics, etc., are simply a waste of time."

-- C. S. Lewis

Risks of Using Combinations of Drugs

Mental health professionals have an ethical duty to inform parents about the potential lethality of drug combinations as well as adverse effects of individual drugs. Yet some psychiatric drugs actually are combinations of drugs. As a medication for ADHD, Adderall was approved for unrestricted use for treatment of ADHD by the FDA in March 1996. Adderall is a combination of stimulants  (a combination of dextroamphetamine and amphetamine). In 2005 Adderall XR  was pulled off the market in Canada after regulators linked the drug to 20 sudden deaths and 12 strokes. Fourteen of the deaths and two of the 12 strokes were in children.  According to Canadian researchers the adverse reactions were not associated with overdose, misuse or abuse of Adderall XR. The effects of amphetamines and methamphetamine are similar to cocaine, but their onset is slower and their duration is longer. (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) fact sheet).

Stimulants are designed to enhance dopamine transmission.  Atypical antipsychotics are intended to block it.  Mental health professionals have an ethical duty to inform parents about the potential lethality of drug combinations as well as adverse effects of individual drugs such as the  combination of both an antipsychotic with a stimulant.  The use of stimulant plus atypical antipsychotic places the patient at risk of sudden death due to stroke or dysrhythmia (heart arrhythmia); neuroleptic malignant syndrome; tardive phenomena (irreversible movement abnormalities of face, tongue, neck, limbs, trunk); and diabetes.   In one sense, the pharmacodynamic effects of stimulants plus antipsychotics would be expected to oppose each other. In another sense, the brain’s adaptations to each class of medication might be synergistic.  This enhances the risk of movement abnormalities, dysphoria (an emotional condition in which a person experiences intense feelings of depression and discontent) , and psychosis.  There are neurotoxiceffects of use of stimulants and antipsychotics together; the dangers include the inhibition of neurogenesis and the induction of neurodegenerative changes.  In other words, they prevent the healing process and can cause permanent brain damage and dysfunction.

Increased Psychiatric Medications

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.”
 
― Leo Buscaglia

Medical Whistleblower Advocacy Network

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"Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself."  Confucius

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt- Excerpt from the speech "Citizenship In A Republic", delivered at the Sorbonne, in Paris, France on 23 April, 1910