Posted on 01/12/2010 7:28:54 PM PST by neverdem
Last week, The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study questioning the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs. The drugs are useful in cases of severe depression, it said. But for most patients, those with mild to moderate cases, the most commonly used antidepressants are generally no better than a placebo.
For the millions of people who take these drugs, and the doctors who prescribe them, this provocative claim had to be confusing, if not alarming. It contradicted literally hundreds of well-designed trials, not to mention considerable clinical experience, showing antidepressants to be effective for a wide array of depressed patients.
But on close inspection, the new study does not stand up to that mountain of earlier evidence. To understand why, it helps to look at the way it was conducted.
The study is a so-called meta-analysis — not a fresh clinical trial, but a combined analysis of previous studies. A common reason for doing this kind of analysis is to discover potential drug effects that might have been missed in smaller studies. By aggregating the data from many studies, researchers gain the statistical power to detect broad patterns that may not have been evident before.
But meta-analyses can be tricky. First, they are only as good as the smaller studies they analyze. And when there are hundreds of studies out there, how to decide which ones to include?
For the recent analysis in the journal, the authors identified 23 studies (out of several hundred clinical trials) that met their criteria for inclusion. Of those 23, they could get access to data on only 6, with a total of 718 subjects. Three trials tested the antidepressant Paxil (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, in the same class as Prozac) and three used an older drug, imipramine, in the class known as...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I quit last year. Best and hardest thing I’ve done in years.
Heed the Title warning!
Happy pills are bad news. God made beer and wine for that problem.
and bourbon.
Anti depressants are prescribed way too much. Lose a girlfriend, Prozac, fail a test, Prozac. Don’t make the team, Prozac. Its ok to feel like Sh#t for a while, that is life.
Had a good friend get disgusted with the whole serotonin uptake inhibitor thing and try to quit cold turkey. It isn’t recommended and there’s a very good reason - he genuinely thought he was going nuts. Ear echoing, panic attacks and a little delight he told me was called “brain freeze.” His Doc was horrified and helped him wean himself gradually. These are brain chemicals and messing with them is serious business. Just because it’s advertised on TV doesn’t mean it’s harmless.
Two years ago, I became phobic about swallowing food. I was terrified of choking. Also had a fear of dying hour by hour. Went to the doctor and he prescribed Lexapro. Within 3 weeks I began improving and thankfully I can eat normally again.
...then and if Obamacare passes, that'll mean your new computerized heathcare history records won't have to go back very far to check and see if you've ever been "depressed" when checking your answer on an FFL form regarding "mental illness".
I'd almost bet the marxists have the program already and ALL READY that can cross check those two items between "agencies".
Remember Lloyd Bridges' character in "Airplane!"
"You could be picking a bad time to stop taking Antidepressants!
I made it seven years without the meds, until I almost ended up as a suicide in April. Now I’m on a new one, Pristiq, which seems to be working okay.
You can get serotonin syndrome from SSRIs when starting them or increasing the dose and serotonin withdrawal syndrome when you try to stop them.
Anyone tryong to stop them should be switched to Prozac as the dose is reduced. Prozac, aka fluoxetine, has the longest halflife of the SSRIs.
I'd suggest an OTT lite - full spectrum light therapy as well - its helped me a lot - Ive got a desk lamp that is in my face all day
Effexor nearly killed me.
We'll see how the new generation works.
Lexapro is a true life saver IMO.
It “also” helped me greatly to quit smoking after 30 years of smoking cigarettes.
It has become a common misconception that you are never supposed to be depressed or freaked out or any negative emotion. Sometimes you should be. That isn’t to say some people don’t genuinely need these types of medicine, but being a little down over something bad happening doesn’t mean you are depressed.
I think some of it is doctors employing a CYA strategy. If you prescribe something you weren’t negligent in your care obviously. You tried to stop something from happening.
What is OTT lite?
Not a good way to stop as your friend learned...You have to wean yourself off psychtrophic drugs over a period of several weeks..Good info for any considering taking themselves off anti depressants or major tranqualizers...For anti depressents in the winter is not the best time, mid spring is....more sunlight.
people take thyroid medication when needed and diabetics take pills or insulin, the brain chemistry can also be out of whack and these medications help to get it balanced...
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