FDA Issues Suicide Warning on Antidepressants

[Guest Vitamin X]

From WebMD Medical News...

March 22, 2004 -- The FDA is issuing a warning about the possibility of worsening depression or suicidal thoughts in people, particularly children, who take any of 10 popular antidepressants, especially at the beginning of treatment or when the doses are increased or decreased.

 

 

The FDA has sent a letter to drug manufacturers requesting labeling changes on these antidepressants -- warning of possible suicide, worsening depression, anxiety, and panic attacks in adults and children.

 

Antidepressants involved in this warning label request are:

 

Prozac (also sold generically as fluoxetine)

Zoloft

Paxil

Luvox

Celexa

Lexapro

Wellbutrin

Effexor

Serzone

Remeron

 

"We don't know that the drugs are responsible for these behavioral changes, but nonetheless we're telling physicians and families to be aware of this and that if the behaviors do emerge, to get treatment right away," said Russell Katz, a director with the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a news teleconference today.

 

 

The proposed warning label will "include information about behavioral changes that may occur in patients who are prescribed antidepressant drugs," said Katz.

 

 

"This applies to adult and pediatric patients and involves the potential for suicidal thinking or suicidal behaviors and warns the physician and family about any behaviors that might emerge that haven't been experienced before," he added.

 

 

But the FDA stopped short of recommending people discontinue taking their antidepressants.

 

 

"We specifically decided not to tell people not to use these drugs," said Katz. "We don't think that is necessary at this point."

 

 

In addition to looking for signs of worsening depression, the following symptoms may also be a sign of a problem:

 

 

Anxiety

Agitation

Panic attacks

Insomnia

Irritability

Hostility

Impulsivity

Severe restlessness

Mania in both adults and children being treated with antidepressants for major depression

 

If these changes appear, treatment should be evaluated, the FDA says. Medications may need to be discontinued when symptoms are severe, begin abruptly, or if they signal a new disorder.

 

 

There also is concern for people who have bipolar disorder (manic depression) but don't know it. Antidepressants have the potential for provoking a manic episode in these people, the FDA says. Doctors, patients, and family members should be on the lookout for any symptoms of mania, including feeling extremely happy or very irritable, inflated self-esteem, not needing as much sleep as usual, talking, or being more active than usual.

 

Reviewing Studies of Children

 

 

The FDA has been closely reviewing studies of antidepressants in children for the past year after an initial report on studies of Paxil and other drugs suggested an increased risk of suicidal thoughts in children given antidepressants. No suicides occurred in any of the trials, the FDA reports.

 

 

The analysis has involved 25 controlled trials with 4,000 children taking antidepressants, said Katz. "Those reviews are ongoing."

 

 

This action "arose from an unexpected observation in some studies of an apparent excess of emotionability, a catch-all term ... that includes suicidal [thoughts]," said Robert Temple, MD, the FDA's director of medical policy.

 

 

However, closer examination has shown that the accounts are unclear -- whether certain behaviors reported were actual suicide attempts or other self-injurious behavior that was not suicide-related.

 

 

"As we've gone into the studies in detail, it's become evident that the terms used were highly varied and [the studies] not very well done," Temple said.

 

 

Experts at Columbia University in New York are providing an independent review of the studies, looking carefully at descriptions of these events to determine whether those cases represent suicidal behavior.

 

 

"We hope to have a much better idea whether these drugs are effective and whether or not they do cause suicidal symptoms," said Katz.

 

 

"There is an ongoing awareness that children are particularly vulnerable, that they need additional protection, and that we make sure that all the protections are in place," said Dianne Murphy, MD, the FDA's director of Pediatric Therapeutics.

 

 

So my question here is exactly what the fuck is the point of antidepressants? I've taken Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, and Wellbutrin myself, and that explains a lot about why anything didn't particularly start to work until I took Lithium and learned the art of cognitive therapy.

 

Discuss amongst yourselves....

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I just stick with pot. No way a doctor's getting any of that Gleemonex shit down my gullet.

[The Amazing Rando 0]

This is more a problem of giving them to children and having those kind of affects. I've actually never heard of children being given Prozac and the like...always adults or at least teens over 16.

 

I didn't know about this till just now, but even if my child was seriously depressed, I wouldn't drug them up. I would try just about anything else...but not drugs. I've been through therapy and I know that in some cases even the therapy can be worse than the actual depression, because in therapy is harder to block things out.

 

That...and my therapist was a bastard.

 

 

But the thing is...if I start taking a drug...and it makes me want to kill myself...the LAST thing i'm going to do is keep taking it. I'd rather just be sad and depressed than suicidial.

 

 

EDIT: Wait...I do know one girl that was given antidepressents when she was 13 or 14 for bi-polar disorder... and she actually ended up trying to commit suicide around the age of 16, and her sister saved her life. I don't talk to her much lately (that was 5 years ago), but she seems more jovial when I do get a chance to talk to her.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

I'm wondering if the suicides are caused by the depression and the drugs simply aren't working.

[Guest Goodear]

Crap I was taking acne medication for years that 'OOPS!' fucked with my head something major because we didn't know it was a possible side effect. Its all about finding the right mix with some people where the brain chemistry can get tipped in the wrong direction if people aren't careful. Better to make sure that parents don't think about the pills as a cure and continue to keep an eye on their children to make sure the treatmenets aren't having an adverse effect.

[Guest I'm That Damn Zzzzz]

I'm wondering if the suicides are caused by the depression and the drugs simply aren't working.

 

Not likely. There are cases recently that non-suicidal, non-depressed people that participated in studies with anti-depressants that commited suicide (I'll find the link shortly.) And there are lots of reports of people acting fucked up on SSRIs, from a devout Mormon taking up drinking Everclear straight to a small girl murdering her favorite aunt. ( http://www.rense.com/general/pro.htm )

 

In any event, serotonin poisoning sucks....

[Guest ian.]

This is why i refuse to take pills, hell, get any help. I'd much rather get depressed than happy but medicated. And besides, depression isn't such a bad thing....

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I laughed when I heard this on the radio the other day.

 

Next thing you know the FDA will issue obesity warnings on Hostess products...

[Guest Vitamin X]

I laughed when I heard this on the radio the other day.

 

Next thing you know the FDA will issue obesity warnings on Hostess products...

Well that would be implying that Hostess makes products intended to cause obesity, which they don't. That just happens as a byproduct of people overindulging.

 

There's a bit of a difference, because antidepressants are MADE to combat the depression that would ultimately lead to suicide, not CAUSE it.

 

That's like putting a warning on Advil saying it will cause you stronger headaches.

[BX 0]

You need to think twice before linking from Rense. That site doesn't have a lot of credibility around here.

 

Shit, even if it did, someone would still disregard it.

 

Boy, this is going to be a fun thread.

[Guest Vitamin X]

....Rense?

[BX 0]

Think Art Bell Online.

[Guest MikeSC]

Think Art Bell Online.

Can I not?

 

Please?

-=Mike

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

This is very disturbing news. I just hope this topic can stay mature, unlike the last thread with this type of topic.

 

Celexa

 

I'm on this myself, so it troubles me.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Boy, this is going to be a fun thread.

Well, I'm back.

 

Where's the fun?...

[Guest Jay Z. Hollywood]

This is scaring the shit out of me right now, because my girlfriend is on one of those medications listed. (I *think* it's lexapro, but I'm not sure.)

[Guest MikeSC]

Simple question:

 

How on God's Earth would a drug make a suicidal person MORE likely to commit suicide? And how in the world did they come to the conclusion that it does?

 

It would seem to be exceptionally difficult to prove any ACTUAL causality to it.

 

I mean, if a suicidal person commits suicide, it does seem a bit difficult to show that a drug drove them over the edge. It'd be like proving that a cholesteral medication causeda heart attack in a person with already high cholesterol.

-=Mike

[Red Hot Thumbtack In The Eye 0]

Well, I don't know about any of the effects of the other drugs, but effexor was the hardest drug I've ever come off of, legal or otherwise. That shit finally stopped kicking my ass 3 months later...

 

it's better now dealing with shit myself then it ever was when i was bogged down under that bullshit. I don't begrudge anyone who takes things for depression, but the way some of these things work, it might just be a good idea to go it on your own.

[Mole 0]

I've taken St. John's Wort for a little while, and it actually worked.

 

I'd say just take some Xanax; that will make anyone happy.

[RepoMan 0]

I've always found it funney that drugs are not the answer unless they're made by a giant corperation and prescribed by doctors. If your going to use drugs to effect your feelings, might as well take some of the fun kind.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Dexedrine*... It will make you happy AND productive!

 

*basically a legal form of methamphetamine they prescribe for narcoleptics..It was recently popularized in that case against the US Air Force pilots who accidentally shot those 4 Canadians in Iraq...Known as "go pills" in the military, Dex is pretty popular. So ask your local Air Force recruiter for some today!

[Mole 0]

I've always found it funney that drugs are not the answer unless they're made by a giant corperation and prescribed by doctors. If your going to use drugs to effect your feelings, might as well take some of the fun kind.

Yeah, I think that is very ironic too.

 

Half of these drugs fuck you up just as much as coke does.

[Guest SideFXs]

RepoMan, you are closer to the truth than you realize....

 

In my opinion most depression is caused by ones fear or anger at other people . I think, that a belief in a higher power and prayer, is what our society needs. Not a fucking pill or easy fix. Don’t focus on others, look at your own actions. Don’t focus on resentments of others, forgive.

 

Its true that ‘clinical depression’ is caused by low serotonin and/or nor epinephrine levels. Synapses fire less often, causing depression. These SSRI drugs increase levels of these neurotransmitters, reducing clinical depression. It is my belief that the pressure to prescribe these drugs is causing these suicides. Not everyone should be on them. You can be depressed or suicidal for many reasons. But, if you don’t have low levels of these neurotransmitters, then taking these SSRI’s will magnify feelings of suicide.

 

We live in a society that wants an easy fix, with a chemical, and the drug companies know this. They fund their own studies then promote their drug to doctors if they get positive results and FDA approval. Then they advertise on TV to get you to ask for the drug. This promotes over prescribing by doctors who don’t want to take the time to convince you that your problem is behavioral.

 

I am a pharmacist and these are my observations. The game is to get the FDA to approve your drug for a clinical disease. Then physicians receive these FDA approvals in the monthly updated Merck Manual, or the doctor gets a visit from the drug companies representative, and the doctor prescribes your drug.

 

There is real potential for a drug to become a fad. If this happens, the results are usually negative.

[Guest SideFXs]

I want to add that there are many ethical physicians out there, but not all. Ask why there is bacteral resistance developing to antibiotics. Oh, and as usual, the FDA covers ass, just like with phen-fen and Ritalin.