Dr. Cheney Warns Against Long-term Use of SSRIs and Stimulants

[Sing]

I think probably that the drugs one responds well to are indicators of what type of illness or illness pattern is going on. Fibromyalgia sufferers often experience a benefit from SSRIs, I have read, whereas those with the ME dept of the general diagnosis of CFS typically do not. Along the same lines, those with Major Depression experience a benefit from CBT and GET, whereas those who are again in the ME dept of the overly general diagnosis of CFS experience no benefit or worsening of symptoms from GET, and only minor benefit from CBT. People who get better with long term antibiotics might have Chronic Lyme, another diagnosis which can be confused with CFS, whereas people who don't might be in the ME dept. again. There are more examples. People with toxic poisoning have a lot of overlapping symptoms with ME, but the treatments they respond to are not all the same as ours. So all I am saying is that the drugs or treatments one responds well to or negatively to are indicators of the correct diagnosis, more specific than the overly general grab bag of CFS.

 

[AaroninOregon]

I have gone down the AD road a few times and never had any great results and more side effects then anything else. What i dont understand is that ssri's are suppose to help by increasing serotonin but side effects occur, now i dont think its extra serotonin doing the harm, maybe something else is doing this as using things like 5htp and tryptophan which help increase serotonin dont have side effects like ssri's?? Maybe ssri's increase serotonin too much??

I think they need to develop reliable tests of transmitters like serotonin etc or doctors need to test for them before prescribing them. Maybe many people with supposed depression have good neurotransmitter and doctors cant/dont want to investigate patients further as it would take longer then a 10 min consult. Heres your prozac/zoloft good bye and have a nice day??

Now i will watch the video above.

cheers!!!

To expand upon the supposed increase in serotonin...if this was truly how ssri's worked them why does it take weeks for them to reach therapeutic levels? Perhaps they do cause a gradual increase in serotonin, which does build up over time? But why doesn't the increase continue to the point of causing serotonin syndrome? :/

 

[AaroninOregon]

I've been on a ssri for six years. I've been bed bound and housebound during all this time. With a life so limited, the ssri has helped me stay reasonably cheerful and sane. It is worrying though to read the above ......

All drugs have potential side effects, that doesn't mean you will be affected in such a way. If the SSRI's help you get through the day then doesn't the benefit outweigh the potential risks?

 

[fishersta]

I have taken an SSRI (escitalopram) for about 20 years, 12 before CFS and 8 since. For me it has been one of the best things to ever happen to me in my life - this SSRI is particularly effective against social anxiety, which had pretty much made my life miserable. It eliminated about 95% of my social anxiety, ended thesperiodic bouts of depression I previously had suffered, and I have never observed any side effects whatsoever.

 

[Nibuc]

All drugs have potential side effects, that doesn't mean you will be affected in such a way. If the SSRI's help you get through the day then doesn't the benefit outweigh the potential risks?

Whether the benefits or risk outweigh each other may, to a certain extent, depend on the individual. But with SSRIs and other drugs and interventions of big corporate medicine the problem is that this massive business often suppresses the real risks of so-called therapeutics in their carefully crafted "scientific" studies, and, conversely, they "massage" the data to exaggerate the benefits of their insanely lucrative products (read Marcia Angell´s book ”The Truth About the Drug Companies. How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It” and Lynne McTaggart, “What Doctors Don't Tell You: The Truth About the Dangers of Modern Medicine” and Peter Gøtzsche's "Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime").

The story of SSRIs isn't any different - google/bing "Tryptophan Side Effects: L-Tryptophan Is Far From Harmless"

 

[AaroninOregon]

Whether the benefits or risk outweigh each other may, to a certain extent, depend on the individual. But with SSRIs and other drugs and interventions of big corporate medicine the problem is that this massive business often suppresses the real risks of so-called therapeutics in their carefully crafted "scientific" studies, and, conversely, they "massage" the data to exaggerate the benefits of their insanely lucrative products (read Marcia Angell´s book ”The Truth About the Drug Companies. How They Deceive Us and What to Do About It” and Lynne McTaggart, “What Doctors Don't Tell You: The Truth About the Dangers of Modern Medicine” and Peter Gøtzsche's "Deadly Medicines and Organised Crime").

The story of SSRIs isn't any different - google/bing "Tryptophan Side Effects: L-Tryptophan Is Far From Harmless"

I take it you had a bad experience with SSRIs?

Sure SSRIs are over-prescribed, but they are very useful medications. I wouldn't have commented on them if I didn't have any first hand knowledge of them, which I do. Prozac helped save my life 20 years ago...it's a fantastic drug IMHO. But it's not for everyone, especially teens. Paxil, on the other hand, I wouldn't recommend to anyone, but it's great for some people at least until they try to quit using it.

I'll have to do some research on l-tryptophan, as I know little about it other than when the FDA banned it due to some deaths I believe??

 

[redaxe]

I have taken an SSRI (escitalopram) for about 20 years, 12 before CFS and 8 since. For me it has been one of the best things to ever happen to me in my life - this SSRI is particularly effective against social anxiety, which had pretty much made my life miserable. It eliminated about 95% of my social anxiety, ended thesperiodic bouts of depression I previously had suffered, and I have never observed any side effects whatsoever.

That's a pretty good outcome. I think that is what makes it tricky with SSRIs - It's very difficult to determine if the patient is going to respond positively too them.

I found myself that taking N-Acetyl Cysteine did a similar thing for me. Seemed to eliminate a lot of the anxiety, OCD and even some addictive tendencies I've had.

There's also been a lot of interest in ketamine lately with some academics claiming 75% success rate with depression. What this seems to suggest is that mood disorders can be caused by a malfunction in multiple pathways. Ketamine for instance works on NMDA whereas N-Acetyl Cysteine regulates glutamate. So those 2 compounds work on things other than seratonin.

Hopefully one day there will be an easy test that can determine which treatment will have the highest amount of success - right now it seems like you just take a chance on different meds and hope something works. For a lot of people they've found relief using Ketamine when all other SSRIs have failed.