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Mental Health  (Expert Forum)
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prozac
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD), bipolar disorder, dementia, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), panic, personality disorders, phobias, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, stress, transitions, and work problems.
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MedHelp Member's Question

prozac

by all names taken, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
I've known people on prozac, that quit cold turkey and had no withdrawal symtoms. I didn't have such luck with paxil,effexor.

Does prozac not have the withdrawal symtoms, is it not as likely to cause these problems?
Doctor's Answer

by Roger Gould, M.D., Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
Paxil is shorter acting and going cold turkey is almost impossible, whereas prozac is longer lasting, so stopping the oral medication means that you still have a blood level for longer and that gradually diminishes.
Member Comments (10)

by Peagee, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
To: differences in SSRIs
Paxil is a clone of Prozac but with a shorter half-life.  Prozac leaves the body more slowly than Paxil.  Perhaps this site (social audit site) would help to explain it, its one of many sites but at a quick guess it will probably give you a lead to answering your question fairly quickly :)



http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/4200JOGL.htm#Prozac%20Backlash



There's tons of info on the net (and I mean professional experts' information - the internet harbours both good and bad sites).



There are support boards and info sites specifically with regard to SSRIs generally, some to Prozac, some to Paxil etc.  



Peagee

Now going offline :)



by Doggies4, Apr 23, 2002 12:00AM
I have stopped taking 40 mg of Prozac cold turkey and I had no side effects, and I have done that several times over the years.  When I stopped taking Effexor, the side effects felt terrible.  Even tapering it down I still felt the side effects although to a lesser degree.

by SavingGrace, Apr 24, 2002 12:00AM
To: Everyone/allnamestaken
Hello!  



One of my friends just directed me to this site.  Please read what 7,500 other folks have to say about Prozac:



http://www.PetitonOnline.com/lilpro



If you want to join a group who is looking for the truth about all of these drugs in the SSRI class (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft,  Luvox, Celexa) please go to:



http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SSRI-Crusaders



We are a small group that is concerned that the whole truth about these drugs is not being given to the public.



Love to all,

Saving Grace

by Peagee, Apr 24, 2002 12:00AM
To: 55 Clinical Studies § Results
List of clinical studies (summaries of 55 studies and results of antidepressants) can be found here:





http://www.network54.com/Hide/Forum/message?forumid=182310&messageid=1017830140



For more information on any of these, further searching will need to be done (using the title of the researhers/authors above each summary as a start?).  The summaries do give a fairly short but comprehensive list of the results.



Peagee :)

by JustSayNo, Apr 24, 2002 12:00AM
To: All Names Taken
Prozac is the easiest SSRI to withdraw from because it has such a long half-life that it slowly leaves your body.  Effexor is the hardest since it has the shortest half-life and one who is trying to taper will go in and out of withdrawal due to this.  Paxil is also very difficult to taper and withdraw from... Please see the Class Action Lawsuit against GlaxoSmithKline which address this lack of disclosure:



August 24, 2001



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE    



Baum, Hedlund, Aristei, Guilford & Schiavo

12100 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 950

Los Angeles, CA 90025



Contact: Robin McCall, Media Relations

Day: (800) 827-0087 or (310) 207-3233

Night: (818) 558-5964

Email: ***@****



Web: www.baumhedlundlaw.com



Victims File Lawsuit over Severe Withdrawal Reactions from the

Antidepressant, Paxil - First Class Action of its Kind Against an

Antidepressant Maker



Los Angeles, August 24, 2001 - - 35 people who have suffered from severe

withdrawal reactions as a result of taking the antidepressant Paxil, filed a

class action complaint today in California Superior Court, LA County,

against Glaxo Smithkline Corporation (GSK), formerly known as SmithKline

Beecham. This group represents thousands of Paxil users who have allegedly

suffered from withdrawal reactions and dependency/withdrawal syndrome. They

come from all walks of life (e.g., Lt. Col in the U.S. Air Force; former

star athlete; web-designer; children; bank fraud investigator and many more)

and reside throughout the United States. Each has experienced similar

withdrawal reactions and problems such as:



jolting electric "zaps," dizziness, light-headedness, vertigo,

in-coordination, gait disturbances, sweating, extreme nausea, vomiting, high

fever, abdominal discomfort, flu symptoms, anorexia, diarrhea, agitation,

tremulousness, irritability, aggression, sleep disturbance, nightmares,

tremor, confusion, memory and concentration difficulties, lethargy, malaise,

weakness, fatigue, paraesthesias, ataxia, and/or myalgia.



Paxil was introduced into the U.S. market on December 29, 1992, and is a

well known antidepressant medication in the same class as Zoloft and Prozac

(selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or "SSRI's"). Paxil is approved for

marketing in the United States for conditions such as depression, obsessive

compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and "social anxiety disorder."



Complaint Allegations: 1) The complaint alleges Paxil can cause some people

who take it to experience serious and unexpected withdrawal reactions.

Neither the patients nor the physicians expect these withdrawal reactions

because, according to the complaint, the manufacturer has deliberately

failed to warn of their potential occurrence. Both physician and patient

unwittingly commit to Paxil without knowing the drug's addictive traits.

None of the named plaintiffs were ever informed before starting Paxil that

it was addictive, induced dependency, or created withdrawal reactions when

dosage was reduced or terminated.



2) Paxil creates both physical and psychological dependency because GSK has

suppressed the information about the severe withdrawal reactions of its

drug, many patients and their physicians are fooled into thinking that the

withdrawal reactions are caused by another condition (such as relapse), thus

prompting further incorrect and unnecessary medical treatment, including

increased dosages of Paxil.



3) GSK has known for years the distinct characteristics of Paxil which make

it prone to cause withdrawal reactions when discontinued. While the medical

community has acknowledged the potential for all SSRI's to cause

dependency/withdrawal syndrome, Paxil is, by far, the worst. According to

World Health Organization ("WHO") data obtained by the plaintiff class

members, Paxil has the highest incidence rate of withdrawal adverse

experiences of any antidepressant drug in the world. "Even despite our

clients' extreme difficulties caused by this drug, some remain on Paxil

today because they are "hooked" and fear they cannot get off the drug," says

attorney Mary Schiavo.



The complaint charges include fraud and deceit, negligence, strict

liability, breach of warranty and implied warranty which can be seen on the

complaint.



The lawsuit was filed by Karen Barth (in association with Mary Schiavo) of

Baum, Hedlund, Aristei, Guilford & Schiavo in Los Angeles and Donald Farber

of San Rafael, California.



The attorneys have stated, "The scariest part about this is that there are

people out there trying to get off this drug who are experiencing these

horrible withdrawal reactions. They think its because of something wrong

with them, when it's really the Paxil - - and then they take even more and

further exacerbate the problem!"



Fact Sheet is available on the web along with the complaint at

www.baumhedlundlaw.com.





DiscloseTheTruth

by Peagee, Apr 25, 2002 12:00AM
To: MD and ALL - PAXIL LAWSUIT EXTRACTS:
CALIFORNIAN LAWSUIT re PAXIL can be found here:  



http://www.breggin.com/paxilcomplaint.html



and here are some extracts from it:



22.The "patient years" standard is a sham by anyone's common sense.It works like this.Assume 366 patients are selected at random to test Paxil.Three hundred and sixty five (365) patients take Paxil and suffer horribly the first day--immediately quitting the test.These patients are called, not surprisingly, "losers."The 366th patient, however, tolerates Paxil quite well, and even improves on the drug, staying in one or more trials for a full year.This patient is a "winner" by SKB standards.Like a champion race horse, this "winner" is entered in all the sweepstake trials for Paxil--and these trials are intentionally programmed to be long.Knowing they have a champion race horse, SKB racks up "points."By anyone's common sense standards, 365 failures out of 366 attempts would render the drug a dismal failure.But not so under "patient years."Under patient years, the one Paxil patient who tolerated the drug for one year counts the same as the 365 patients who couldn't tolerate the drug and dropped out the first day.The "score" in this example is "one patient year" for each side.Not surprisingly, the mathematicians who go along with this voodoo math are subordinate to the physicians and clinicians in the corporate chain of command, and the physicians at the top of the FDA chain of command.



23.In Paxil's clinical trials, SKB ultimately achieved positive results--as it were--because of emphasis on "subjective" testing data.Objective data is very scientific.Subjective data is less scientific.The latter requires more stringent controls to be applied scientifically.Subjective data is subject to the biases, opinions, and prejudices of the person(s) collecting the data.SKB’s subjective data to justify Paxil’s approval was obtained both from physicians, principal investigators ("PI") (most of whom were physicians) and from patients.The physicians and PI's were compensated handsomely by SKB for their participation in the trials.On information and belief, plaintiffs allege these individuals were hired only after appropriate screening to ensure they were friendly to the drug industry and SKB.



........28. In the meantime, SKB knew they had to keep a lid on the Yugoslavia trial to avoid detailed scrutiny by the FDA.SKB further knew that government regulators and mental health professionals were aware of the withdrawal issue and would look long and hard at any assertions SKB might claim in this area.SKB further knew that any claim connecting the "relapse" and "withdrawal" issues would be reviewed before the FDA committee that would vote on Paxil.Aware of this dilemma, SKB decided to massage the problem through