Antidepressant medications may trigger suicide!

Just read the news this morning about a young woman who was experiencing anxiety. Her doctor prescribed Klonopin and then gave her free samples of Cymbalta.

5 days later she was dead.

She started feeling bad the first day, but kept taking the pills; within 4 days she began talking about suicide, and the next day she did it.

According to the newspaper, the package inserts with prescriptions for Cymbalta clearly state that suicidal thoughts can be a side effect, but since she was given samples, neither she nor her family had seen a package insert.

Once again, this is a stark reminder to pay attention to your own body. Just because a doctor hands you something does NOT mean that it is good for you. It may be fine for someone else, but not for you.

Any time a medication makes you feel bad, you should quit taking it! This is true even if you begin experiencing headaches or nausea or any of a host of other side-effects - not just if you become suicidal.

Bad feelings are your body's way of telling you this is not a good thing. When you begin experiencing negative reactions after a change in medication it's a clear sign that the medication is harmful to you.

Go back to the doctor and explain your symptoms. Get a different drug if you must, but always remember that our bodies are all individual - one size does not fit all in clothing, foods, or medications.

Does big pharm control the FDA?

My guess is yes, big pharm does control the FDA. Possibly because so much of the "research" done by the FDA is funded by pharmaceutical companies.

And big pharm does not want the sale of natural health products cutting into its revenues.

Thus my email last night held a message about a new assault on our freedom. It seems the FDA, under pressure from big pharm, is hiring more agents to monitor the advertising from people selling natural health products. Those who dare to say natural products might help someone avoid illness or become well will be subject to stiff penalties, and could be put out of business entirely.

Those who advertise and sell herbal remedies, for instance, must not even mention the name of a disease or a symptom of a disease in their advertising. Talk about a way to get rid of the competition!

I suppose it makes sense. As more and more people realize the benefits of herbs and other natural supplements, and as more and more people are becoming ill from pharmaceuticals, big pharm knows that many will shift from trusting them to mis-trusting them - and will switch to natural remedies with no evil side-effects.

So... they promote the idea that natural products should be regulated because they might be "dangerous" to the public. Never mind that nearly all of the products they sell carry the risk of serious disability or death.

Thank goodness we are all free to do our own research and find out just what good things herbs, vitamins, and supplements such as mangosteen can do for us. I keep a copy of Dr. Tanton's "A Drug Free Approach to Health Care" by my desk, because I know he's done years of research into natural health. It's a great place to start - and if I want to know more, there's always Google.

I firmly believe that every person should research the side effects before taking any medication - and should explore natural alternatives before taking the risk that pharmaceuticals present. Even if it does mean lost revenue for big pharm.

Will Chantrix make you violent?

Chantrix is a stop smoking drug, so as much as I don't trust pharmaceuticals, I have to wonder if it is the drug that causes violent behavior - or the nicotine withdrawal.

If you've ever tried to quit smoking - or have quit - you probably remember feeling just a bit hostile.

Nevertheless, our newspaper doctor said this week that Chantrix is known to make people violent - even with people they dearly love - and that particular side effect can be accelerated by using alcohol while taking it. So, if you're trying to quit and taking Chantrix, be aware of mood swings. If you start screaming at people you love or punching holes in the wall, go back to your doctor and ask for something different.

Too Many Pills!

In another Q&A, a woman wrote to ask if her Mother's prescriptions might be causing her forgetfulness and dizziness. Then she listed 12 prescriptions the poor woman was taking every day. The doctor's reaction was that some of those drugs weren't even appropriate for an elderly person, and that several of them could cause her symptoms - most especially when taken with the others.

That letter made me think of my Grandmother and what she went through before she changed doctors. I don't know if she was taking a dozen pills - it might have been 20. But she was becoming progressively sicker during my teen years. She even had monthly blood transfusions, and had pretty much withdrawn from everyone. She told me later that she had quit talking because she figured she was dying and so why get interested in anything.

Then, her doctor couldn't think of any more pills to push (this was 40+ years ago, remember), so referred her to a blood specialist.

He took her off everything and began trying just one remedy at a time until he found what worked. And... I got my Grandmother back. We enjoyed her company, and her involvement in our lives for almost another 30 years.

My wish for everyone is to find a doctor like him - dedicated to helping patients be well.

Do you take Lipitor? Beware

I really am on a mission to bring you natural cures - good news about taking care of your health while avoiding the dangers of pharmaceuticals.

But then, when I read something tucked into a small corner of the newspaper and think I haven't heard it anywhere else, maybe I have a duty to tell you about it.

Such is the case with Lipitor. Now to begin with, I believe Dr. Al Sears when he says we should leave our darned cholesterol levels alone. We need cholesterol. But I know a lot of people are convinced that they need to reduce the levels of "bad" cholesterol down.

So, many are prescribed Lipitor. One such person wrote to the "newspaper doctor" and told about taking Lipitor for a couple of months when he suddenly woke up one morning with amnesia. He didn't know what day it was, couldn't remember people's names, couldn't enter simple data on a spreadsheet because he had forgotten how.

Doctors did a myriad of tests over the next few weeks and diagnosed him with transient global amnesia - with no cause. When he asked if the Lipitor could be a cause, the doctor dismissed it with a casual "no way."

But he was suspicious, so quit taking Lipitor. He now takes prescription niacin and his cholesterol levels have dropped - but better yet, his memory is back, stronger than ever.

What did the newspaper doctor say about this? Amnesia is a not-uncommon side effect of statin-type cholesterol lowering drugs.

And yet, the man's doctor waved aside his concern with a curt "no way."

If you have a concern about a medication you're taking - and if your doctor waves you away when you express that concern - please do two things:

1. Do the research. The web is a goldmine of information.
2. Change doctors - find one who cares about helping you be healthy

Yours for abundant well-being,
Marte

Why do doctors defend harmful drugs?.

This morning's doctor column has a letter from a woman who is concerned about her Father. It seems he caught a cold a few months ago, so went to the doctor -and the doctor prescribed Prednisone. After 4 days he became delirious and nearly lost consciousness. His doctor was not concerned - he just said "Oh, yeah?"

Now, her Father suffers from fatigue, loss of energy, shortness of breath, and a fibrillating heart - none of which he had before.

The newspaper doctor said prednisone is not an appropriate treatment for a cold - only for severe bronchitis, penumonia, asthma, arthritis, and other inflammatory conditions.

But then - he went on to say that while prednisone has many side effects, including muscle weakness, potassium loss, high blood pressure, thin skin, headaches, seizures, congestive heart failure, and more - it may not have been the prednisone that caused her father's problems.

It could just be a coincidence.

He then mentioned that while she didn't say it, he assumed that since her father is 82, he is on medication to reduce cholesterol and to lower blood pressure, and is taking an anticoagulant such as warfarin or aspirin.

Huh? If he was healthy, why on earth would he be taking all that stuff?

Sounds to me like doctors prescribe based on your age, not on your health.

I mentioned in my last post that older people are too apt to trust doctors and big pharm, just because they did see some incredible medical advances during their lives.

I don't know the answer, or how we as children or grand-children can help raise their awareness, but we do need to try. Maybe just sitting down together and reading the package inserts would help - and making sure that the people we love know the risks and all the possible side effects before they pop that next pill.

Yours for good health,

Marte

Marte Cliff, Copywriter
writer@marte-cliff.com

I don't want doctors to "practice" on me!

"That's why they call practice," my friend said, when I expressed horror over the phone message he'd found on his answering machine.

It instructed him to call his nurse first thing in the morning, because they had just realized that the new medication they'd given him could cause his kidneys to fail.

What? They prescribed medication without checking out something like that? And this is a man who has "endangered" kidneys already, as well as a problem with his heart that is sending him under the surgeon's knife in just a few days.

It goes to show that before you take any medication, you should do your own research. Begin with actually reading the package insert. The one that lists the side effects and all the possible drug interactions. After that, go on line and see what else you can learn.

Your doctor may say "Oops, sorry" if he kills you - but that apology won't do you or your loved ones a bit of good.