To start with, I am no expert, I will tell you in the best way possible on how I got Susan better.

As you know from Susan’s own story (read the story here) , she had suffered for many years on Seroxat… also know as Paxil…, we went to countless doctors, Susan had countless tests done to see what was wrong, until one day……

Susan requested a blood test from her doctor, the results came through and I went with Susan to get the results…. the doctor said everything was OK!.. I pushed the doctor further, something was wrong with Susan and I wanted to get to the bottom of it… I asked him to go through the blood test reults properly, he did so and noticed Susan had high cholesterol … How could Susan have high cholesterol??, she ate a healthy diet, she didn’t drink or smoke… what caused the high cholesterol???

I now had something to work on.. I went home and did some research on the following subjects:

• high cholesterol
• body toxins & causes of
• liver toxins & causes of
• the link between medication & liver toxins
• toxic overload

I spent many hours reading articles on the internet on the above subjects and I came to the conclusion that the human liver cannot cope with medication… this leads to toxins in the body…. toxins get into the brain …. you feel crap…

The brain needs nutrients, not toxins… I then started to do research on the best way to detox the body… I came to the conclusion that detox foot pads would be the better option… I bought some off the internet, you can see them on eBay
Within a day…, that’s right, a day!!, Susan started to feel better, the detox foot pads were slowly taking the toxins from her body… within weeks, Susan was 100% better, free from medication and free from depression.

Update 25/10/2006, almost 1 year now, Susan has been better, and she continues to enjoy her life and is so much better, just remember, if Susan can do it, you can…. there is light at the end of the tunnel.

DON’T GIVE UP

Simon

Cholesterol is a type of fat (lipid) made by the body. It is essential for good health and is found in every cell in the body. However, a high cholesterol level in the blood (hypercholesterolaemia) is associated with an increased risk of various problems, such as coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke.

Why is high cholesterol a problem?

The main risk associated with high cholesterol is coronary heart disease (CHD). This is caused by blood vessels becoming narrowed with fatty deposits called plaques, which cholesterol contributes to. The narrowed blood vessels reduce blood flow to the heart. This can result in angina (chest pain) or, if the vessel is blocked completely, a heart attack. For more information see the BUPA factsheets on Angina and Heart attack.

High cholesterol can also increase the risk of other conditions, depending on which blood vessels are narrowed or blocked. These include stroke if the blood supply to part of the brain is reduced. For more information see the BUPA factsheet on Stroke. There is also a risk of peripheral vascular disease. This is caused by narrowed blood vessels in the limbs, particularly the legs. It may result in leg pain, ulcers, infections and eventually gangrene.

Types of cholesterol

Cholesterol is transported around the body in the blood attached to a protein. This fat-protein combination is called a lipoprotein. Lipoproteins can be high density (HDL), low density (LDL) or very low density (VLDL), depending on how much protein there is in relation to fat.

LDL (low density lipoprotein)

About 70% of cholesterol is transported as LDL. This is mostly fat and not much protein.

LDL causes cholesterol to be deposited in the arteries. High levels of LDL are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. LDL is sometimes referred to as “bad cholesterol”.

HDL (high density lipoprotein)

About 20% of cholesterol is transported as HDL, which is mostly protein and not much fat.

HDL actually helps prevent cholesterol building up in the arteries. Low levels of HDL are associated with an increased risk of heart disease. HDL is sometimes referred to as “good cholesterol”. Women tend to have a higher HDL cholesterol level than men.

If the total cholesterol level is too high, this is one risk factor for health problems. However, it’s important to consider the relative amounts of HDL and LDL. A high level of HDL and a low level of LDL is desirable.

Triglycerides

Triglycerides are a different type of fat, which mostly come from fats in food. Calories that are eaten and not used immediately are converted into triglycerides and transported to fat cells for storage.

Although most triglycerides are stored in fat tissue, low levels are also found in the blood. They are carried in the blood as very low density lipoproteins (VLDL).

A raised level of blood triglycerides together with high LDL can increase the risk of heart disease.

What causes high cholesterol?

There are several factors that may contribute to high blood cholesterol:

• a diet that’s high in saturated fat and, less so, high in cholesterol (see below)
• lack of exercise may increase LDL (”bad”) cholesterol and decrease HDL (”good”) cholesterol
• family history - people are at a higher risk of high cholesterol if they have a direct male relative aged under 55 or female relative aged under 65 affected by coronary heart disease
• being overweight, which may increase LDL (”bad”) cholesterol and decrease HDL (”good”) cholesterol
• age and sex - cholesterol generally rises slightly with increasing age, and men are more likely to be affected than women
• drinking alcohol excessively

Rarely, high cholesterol can be caused by a condition that runs in the family called a lipid disorder (familial hypercholesterolaemia).

Other health conditions such as poorly controlled diabetes, certain kidney and liver diseases and an underactive thyroid gland may also cause cholesterol levels to rise. Some medicines such as beta-blockers, steroids or thiazides (a type of diuretic) may also affect blood lipid levels.

How diet affects blood cholesterol

Only about 20% of cholesterol comes directly from the diet - the other 80% is produced by the liver. However, a diet high in saturated fats and cholesterol can cause the liver to produce more LDL (”bad”) cholesterol. The amount that diet influences cholesterol levels varies from person to person and is probably an inherited characteristic. Some people who eat high-fat diets have high cholesterol levels; others may have normal or low cholesterol levels.

Measuring cholesterol

Cholesterol is measured in units called millimoles per litre of blood, usually shortened to “mmol/litre” or “mmol/l”. America uses the units milligrams per decilitre of blood: mg/dl instead. It is desirable to have a total cholesterol level under 5 mmol/l, and an LDL level under 3 mmol/l.

In order to estimate the risk of a person getting CHD, doctors look at the ratio between total cholesterol and HDL (”good” cholesterol), called the TC:HDL ratio. A lower ratio is desirable, indicating that the level of HDL is high.

Measuring cholesterol involves a simple blood test. A blood sample may be taken either by using a needle and a syringe, or by using a finger prick. This may be done at a GP’s surgery, at a hospital appointment, or as part of a health assessment examination.

Home-testing kits for cholesterol are not recommended because they are not usually very reliable. Also, cholesterol is just one of the risk factors for heart disease. It should ideally be measured under medical supervision so that other important issues, such as blood pressure, age and whether or not you smoke, are taken into account.

Who should have a cholesterol test?

Anyone who has any cardiovascular disease, such as coronary heart disease, peripheral vascular disease (disease in the blood vessels that supply the limbs) or stroke, should have their cholesterol measured by a doctor.

Anyone, even children, with a family history of familial hypercholesterolaemia should have their cholesterol measured.

Anyone aged 35 or over should consider having their cholesterol measured if they have one or more of the following risk factors for CHD: family history of early heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or if they smoke.

Diagnosis

Having a high cholesterol level does not cause symptoms. Most people find out they have high cholesterol when they have their blood cholesterol measured as part of a medical check-up. Alternatively, it may be identified after other health problems have been diagnosed, such as heart disease.

Treatment

The main aim of lowering cholesterol is to reduce the risk of heart disease. The type of treatment depends on the overall risk of heart disease.

There are two ways to treat high cholesterol. The first is with simple lifestyle changes including changing diet, managing weight and increasing exercise. The second is to combine lifestyle changes with cholesterol-lowering medicines.

Diet

Healthy eating can reduce cholesterol. Your diet should be low in saturated fats in particular, and low in fat overall. Biscuits, cakes, pastries, red meat, hard cheese, butter and foods containing coconut or palm oil all tend to be high in saturated fats.

Large amounts of cholesterol are found in a few foods, including eggs and offal such as liver and kidneys. Although dietary cholesterol does not usually contribute much to blood cholesterol, it is still advisable to limit these foods to three servings a week if you have high cholesterol.

It’s also important to eat plenty of fibre, especially soluble fibre, which is thought to lower cholesterol. It’s found in fruits and vegetables, beans and oats. Aim to eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. For more information see the BUPA factsheet Healthy eating.

There is some evidence that foods containing substances called plant sterols or plant stanols, such as the brand Benecol or Flora pro.activ, in combination with a low fat diet, can help to lower cholesterol.

Medicines

Cholesterol-lowering medicines are considered for people who already have CHD, or are at high risk of getting it because they have other risk factors.

The main group of medicines for lowering cholesterol are statins. Examples include simvastatin (Zocor) and atorvastatin (Lipitor). They work by reducing the production of cholesterol in the liver. Occasionally these drugs have side-effects such as indigestion and muscle pains. Other types of drugs to reduce cholesterol are called fibrates and nicotinic acids, but these are generally less effective or have more side-effects.

Reducing the risk of heart disease

A healthy lifestyle - exercising on most days, eating a low fat diet, not smoking and drinking alcohol within the recommended limits - will help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

The Seroxat scandal has shaken faith in
anti-depressants, exposed the fatal consequences of the greed and guile of the pharmaceutical industry and wiped £billions off their share values. The manylayers of influence of the Pharmas have opened new questions on the independence of regulators, government, charities, and patients groups. The Health Select Committee’s inquiry has heard explosive evidence of the all pervading influence of drug firms. The commercial sponsorship of All Party Parliamentary Groups may be probed.

Two courageous editions of Panorama sounded the alarm bells. Several MPs made grave accusation in an adjournment debate last February. At best, millions of people have been persuaded to use powerful drugs of little or no value. At worst, many are suffering drug dependency or have lost their lives through Seroxat induced suicide or homicide.

The Pharmas have been forced to confess that they have their rigged and suppressed information of potentially lethal side effects. Their secret tentacles of influence over regulators, governments, charities and patients’ groups are being uncovered.

Previously respected articles in prestigious journals have been shown to be the self serving distortions written by Pharmas. Even confidence in the integrity of double blind trials is in doubt. The most serious claim is that conclusions to trials have not matched the data collected but have been rigged to serve commercial interests. The benefits of drugs are exaggerated: dangers are airbrushed out.

Seven years ago, Professor David Healy of Cardiff questioned the safety and value of the latest anti-depressants – the selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs) principally Seroxat and Prozac. His warnings were derided. He was alarmed at the results of SSRIs side effects on his own patients. He noted that SSRIs increased suicidal tendencies and created homicidal behaviour in previously placid patients. A court in the USA agreed with David Healy that Seroxat was the cause of personality change that turned a loving husband and father into murderer.

The adverse side effects should not be a surprise. Depression treatment has been the same repetition of an identical false promise. Sigmund Freud used an anti-depressant on himself, all his patients and urged his healthy friend to use what he believed what an effective anti-depressant and an antidote to drug addiction. It was cocaine. Bromide was the next miracle cure that created an epidemic of a new deep psychosis named bromism. The cure for the psychosis was the cause. Barbiturates and then benzodiazepines wrecked millions of lives. Now the wreckage caused by anti-depressants tricyclics and SSRIs is now being revealed. All these drugs were proclaimed in their times as safe, effective medicines that did not create dependency. All have been proved to be ineffective, dangerous and addictive.

The ballooning demand for anti-depressants is a phenomenon. In barely a decade depression has gone from a rare disorder to being classed as the second major affliction of humankind. Can a thousand-fold increase be explained other than as deliberate marketing ploy to medicalise unhappiness? A new disease of social phobia has been invented, packaged and sold along with its anti-depressant cure. The repeated claim that drugs correct a faulty ‘chemical balance’ in the brain is a theory that has no scientific base. But millions of prescriptions are issued without any test of brain chemical activity. In the USA ten million children are dosed up with antidepressants. That includes 2 million prescriptions for Seroxat.

Pharmas have cynically created dependence on happy pills. Their fable is that life should by perpetual euphoria from cradle to grave. We have been conditioned to believe that if we feel sadder today than we felt yesterday, we are sick. Stress and depression are swelling epidemics in prosperous Western countries. The impoverished developing world has other things on their minds. But unhappiness, boredom anxiety even grief and despair are the inevitable trials of the human condition. They are to be endured not to be smothered with a drug. Grief suppressed is grief multiplied. Without misery, we would not recognize happiness. Most works of art are the products of anguish. If Beethoven and Michelangelo had been on SSRIs their creative animus would have withered. This is the Pharmas’ greatest success in disease mongering and medicalising society. Their aim, expressed to me in a letter from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is that half of the population of the UK should be on anti-depressants at some time in their lives. A drugged nation delivers bounteous Pharmas profits.

After repeated denials of Seroxat’s side effects GSK caved in last June. They published the results of nine secret trials that revealed the increased suicidal tendencies created by Seroxat. They dropped the claim that it is non-addictive. One study alarmingly showed that six youngsters on Seroxat had increased suicidal tendencies compared to only one on placebos. The drug was also linked to distressing side effects including hostility, insomnia, dizziness, tremors and emotional instability. An internal GSK document from 1998 said the company would have to “effectively manage the dissemination of these data in order to minimise any potential negative impact”. These findings were suppressed for a decade while thousands of depressed teenagers and children were prescribed a drug that increased their likelihood of taking their lives – the equivalent of handing loaded revolvers to suicide risks.

It’s a surprise to many that regulation of drugs is not governed by the Department of Health. It was effectively ‘privatised’ and handed over to a body now named the MHRA and entirely financed by the Pharmas. Its present chief executive worked for 27 years at GlaxoSmithKline. Regulators and industry are intimately intertwined.

The MHRA investigations into Seroxat has been heavily criticised for delays and lack of scientific rigour. Embarrassingly, the initial committee set up to look at the safety of Seroxat was force to disband after months of work. Half the ‘independent experts’ on the committee had links with GSK. Significantly and courageously Richard Brook, the mental health charity Mind’s Chief Executive resigned last March from the MHRA expert group on SSRIs. He said that continued membership was incompatible with Mind’s remit to represent the interests of mental health service users. He revealed that the MHRA had delayed publishing for ten years data they possessed of the dangers of Seroxat for children.

Mind has a distinguished record of tackling the might of the Pharmas. They take no money from the industry.The integrity of other charities may have been compromised. The Depression Alliance admits to taking more than 80% of their funding from Pharmas. Their mouths have been bandaged into silence throughout the exposure of the scandal. Depression Alliance’s sole contribution was an attack on the accuracy Panorama.

Charities and patients groups depend on Pharmas’ cash. In a survey I conducted, 18 charities involved in parliamentary lobbying said that took donations; six refuse. Young Minds charity stated, “It is YoungMinds policy not to enter into financial partnerships with Pharmaceutical companies. This enables the organisation to maintain its independence and avoid any possible instances of compromise.” Many of these groups provide support for Commons All-Party. No declarations of interests are required. The groups may be used as Trojan Horses to wield influence in parliament. Full transparency is being sought.

In a recent meeting of the Council of Europe Health Committee, a representative of the World Health Organisation said he was sceptical of advice from the Pharmas but sensitive to the views of patients’ groups. He was unaware of how their deeply opinions may be compromised.

The scandal has produced some positive results. There is well founded scepticism on the value and perils of happy pills. Victims of SSRIs have banded together. The Seroxat Users Group has grown into a powerful persuasive lobby that is seeking compensation from governments and industry. Strong public and government support for alternatives has cut prescribing and spread the use of self coping techniques. Doctors in Devon and Cardiff are leading the trend of prescribing books not drugs. Regaining their autonomy through commonsense advice is worth a fistful of pills. Prime successes in self-coping volumes are Dorothy Rowe’s Depression—the way out of your prison and Terry Lynch’s Beyond Prozac.

The two major breakthroughs on drug perils came not from doctors or regulators but from television. In 1984, the That’s Life programme claimed that benzodiazepines may be addictive. There was a giant public response. A million Britons were addicted. In spite of new safety guidelines, 18 millions prescriptions were still being written 15 years later.
The second of Panorama’s three programmes on Seroxat provoked a record mail of 69,000 letters and e-mails. Most reported severe withdrawal symptoms and suicidal tendencies.

The reaction from industry and regulators has been resentful and faltering. The UK Committee on Safety of Medicines in December 2003 banned the use of SSRIs except Prozac for under-18 year olds. The mother of a 17 year old girl who took her life on Seroxat asked a recent meeting in the Commons, ‘What is the difference between the brain of a 17 year old and a 20 year old.’ There is none.

The MHRA report on Seroxat was a lamentable document. If dealt with only the conclusions of the Pharmas’ controlled trails and not the data on which they are based.

It seemed implausible in 1932 for Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World to warn of a future when people will enjoy having their liberties taken away, ‘living in servitude in a painless concentration camp….distracted from the desire to rebel by propaganda or brainwashing enhanced by pharmacological methods.’ Not so now.

(this article reproduced with kind permission from http://www.paulflynnmp.co.uk)

For Your Health and For Your Life - Dangerous Side Effects of Paxil You Must Know About

Concerns are growing about the side effects of Paxil. Recent studies have found that the drug is relatively ineffective in children, and suggested that they are prone to becoming suicidal in the early stages of treatment. Some psychologists believe that this is due to the way the drug begins to work in many patients. The first effect most people notice is a decrease in the lethargy and amotivation they experienced during their depression. This effect happens before the depression itself improves, so children may end up with enough “energy” and motivation to act on suicidal tendencies they may have already had.

Side Effects Include:

It is also important to note many people who are prescribed Paxil are suicidal to begin with. However most studies have compared suicide rates in patients using Paroxetine against a control group of depressed individuals not being treated with paroxetine and the paroxetine group was reported to be twice as likely to commit suicide.

Although the manufacturers say there is no reliable clinical evidence that the drug can cause violence or aggression, a wrongful death suit was filed against GlaxoSmithKline in June 2001 by the surviving family of Donald Schell, a Wyoming man who had killed his wife, daughter and grandchild after two days on the drug. During the investigation of the clinical records, it was reported that, although paroxetine is safe and effective most of the time, in a minority of cases the drug can cause unpredictable side effects such as wild mood swings or suicidal thoughts. The jury ultimately awarded damages of $8 million against GlaxoSmithKline.

In June 2004 New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer began civil proceedings against GlaxoSmithKline over allegations that the company had suppressed five internal studies between 1998 and 2002 on the effects of the drug on both children and adults which suggested that, at best, the drug had little more effect than a placebo and at worst induced suicidal tendencies in its users. The company responded shortly later by making the results of the studies publicly available.

In March 2005, the United States Food and Drug Administration ordered the seizure of millions of tablets of Paxil after 3 years of GlaxoSmithKline’s unresolved manufacturing problems. These problems involved Paxil CR, a time-release version of the drug. Some capsules were found to break in two, potentially resulting in the user taking only the active element of the drug without the time-release portion, or vice versa.

In September 2005 the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia issued a warning about the potential for increased birth defects in the babies of pregnant women taking the anti-depressant Paroxetine. Early results from pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline suggest an association between taking the drug in the first three months of pregnancy and birth defects. The risk of cardiovascular defects may double from 1 to 2 per cent in babies of women taking Paroxetine. A recent Dutch study suggests a 60 per cent increase in defects. The TGA is urging women not to suddenly stop taking the SSRI as withdrawal may cause harmful side effects.

Individuals experiencing any of the following symptoms should contact their doctor immediately:

• jaw, neck, and back muscle spasms
• fever, chills, sore throat, or flu-like symptoms
• yellowing of the skin or eyes

When I was forced to share my life with Seroxat (paxil).

If I had of been warned of the dangers of Seroxat use back in 1997, I would never of dared take Seroxat. Glaxo’s updated information leaflet on Seroxat is unrecognisable. There is already a ban on prescribing Seroxat also know as Paxil to under eighteen year olds. Also the ban is extended to eighteen to thirty year olds which was announced on the 13th of May 2006. Glaxo are fighting a losing battle and it won’t be long until we have to wait for a complete ban.

Since the early eighties Glaxo have known about Seroxat’s torturous side-effects in their clinical trials. A high number of innocent people have committed suicide, murder and suffering due to Glaxo and the medicine regulators. Marriages have broken up, couples have split up and families torn apart.

I blame both the medicine regulator and Glaxo for not informing the public that Seroxat is a dangerous drug for all age groups. Seroxat does more harm than good. People say it helps them but in actual fact it upsets the salts stored in your body and your liver function. Also Seroxat raises your cholesterol levels which blocks up your arteries. This leads to poor circulation and eventually heart disease. So this drug does not benefit anybody, it causes serious health problems on top of the life-threatening side-effects.

I endured a whole range of symptoms from Seroxat; panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, paranoia, circulation problems, social phobia, no sex drive, heavy periods, insomnia, skin problems and high cholesterol. I was hooked on Seroxat for seven long years. Two years ago I stopped taking it for good and now I’ve got my life back. I didn’t want to share my life with a drug that was soul-destroying.

I was prescribed Seroxat in 1997. I was amazed how my panic attacks disappeared and I seemed more enthusiastic about life. In 1998, I missed just one tablet by accident, within six weeks I was severely depressed. The only thing that occupied my mind was death. It destroyed my well-being.

A year later in November 1999 in Ireland, my doctor prescribed Paroxetine. He said that it was exactly the same as Seroxat. Less than six weeks later, the nightmare began again. The Paroxetine was made in Cork, Ireland and the Seroxat was produced in the UK. We received a letter from Glaxo stating that they could have slightly different ingredients. This could explain my withdrawal symptoms.

In December 1999, I was admitted to hospital due to an overdose. In October 2003, the same thing happened again. I was told to change back to Seroxat as the Paroxetine was out of stock.

My body had just adjusted to the Paroxetine. Six weeks later, I went downhill fast. I was admitted to a mental hospital. For eleven months, I was tortured mentally and physically. In December 2004, I tried some herbal tablets for just twelve days and the nightmare was over.

In August 2005, I was again admitted to hospital. I was obsessed with jumping off a high building and nearly followed it through on a number of occasions. I went for a cholesterol test and it was unusually high. This was odd as I ate a healthy diet. Seroxat was definitely linked. My circulation was really poor which contributed to my depression. The summer months were just as cold as the winter months.

This depression was affecting my relationship with my spouse. We nearly broke up over Seroxat withdrawal. But my spouse didn’t want to be beaten by Seroxat. He was concentrated on getting me better without Seroxat coming between us. He is a very patient and understanding person. He never blamed me for trying to kill myself, he knew Seroxat was responsible. Unfortunately, he had to watch me twenty four hours a day, as I was a danger to myself. This put a terrible strain on our relationship. He lost his trust in me through this terrible time but we defeated Seroxat in the end. I was very lucky to have his support throughout Seroxat withdrawal.

We tried everything to get me better, we tried fish oils, st. johns wort, sam-e, 5-htp, threelac, nothing worked, all it did was drain our bank account.

At the end of November 2005, we both got our lives back after we researched Japanese detox foot pads. They draw out all the toxins from your body. The pads contain bamboo vinegars and a few other important ingredients. You put each one on the soles of your feet before you go to bed. You leave them on until you get up in the morning. Then you wash your feet as they will have some residue. The first time I used them, when I woke up, all my symptoms disappeared. I actually felt better than I ever felt in my life. I have had no more panic attacks or suicidal thoughts and my cholesterol levels are back to normal. These pads saved my life. Make sure you stop taking all/most medication before using these detox foot pads as the pads will have to work much harder in order for your body to recover properly. As you know prescription drugs are a toxin. If you want a healthy body, stop taking all prescription drugs as they don’t help you, all drugs have side-effects which affect the body.

Steps to fight Seroxat for good:

· detox foot pads

· drink at least 2 litres of mineral water daily

· balanced diet

· exercise daily

· vitamin C ( body does not store it, so you need to add it)

· garlic tablets (good for your heart)

· vitamin B complex ( only if you aren’t eating enough fruit & vegetables)

· stop taking all antidepressants and the birth control pill (I am not a doctor, this is from my own experience, I strongly advise you to consult your doctor before thinking about coming off any medication!)

Try to eliminate fizzy pop, as it’s the worse type of food to put in your body. The sugar content is far too high. Cut down on eating cakes, biscuits, sweets, chocolate, ice-cream and processed foods. Try to buy fresh rather than frozen foods. Keep away from tinned foods unless it’s tinned tomatoes.

I want to help people not to be dependent on seroxat withdrawal as quickly as possible. I learn’t the hard way! The more people depend on Seroxat, the more Glaxo are making. If you have any questions concerning the above information, please email us and we will try and help. Don’t be beaten by Glaxo! Seroxat is going to be banned in the next couple of years. Glaxo will be the sufferers!

Remember, you will get through this.

All the best.

Susan

I’m 23 and I live in London. I started taking Seroxat nearly 5 years ago.

It was originally prescribed to me to stop me having panic attacks. I wanted to come off it for quite a few years but when I stopped taking it, I was so ill that I had to start taking it again.

Doctors kept telling me it was impossible to be addicted to them, so I didn’t know what was wrong and I carried on taking them.

I suppose it’s not the doctors’ fault, it’s the drug company I blame because they don’t acknowledge that there’s a problem. I wouldn’t have started taking Seroxat if I’d known.

It’s taken me nine months to wean myself off it completely and that’s been pretty much nine months of feeling ill for the majority of the time. It’s been far worse than anything that I had before I went on the tablets.

Research

I basically had to draw up a withdrawal programme with my current GP, who’s been great. I was on two 20 milligram tablets a day. At the start of the year, I cut down one day a week to half a tablet.

So, on Monday, I’d have half a tablet, then one tablet each day for the rest of the week. I’d do that for two weeks. Then it would be Monday and Tuesday on half a tablet and I went on like that until I got to the stage where I was on half a tablet every day.

But even those small reductions in dose were making me feel bad. So, I switched to a liquid version of the drug in August. You squirt it into your mouth with a syringe, which tastes pretty bad. But at least it made it easier for me to cut back the dose.

I’ve done an awful lot of research on the internet and I’m certainly not the only one having problems. There are lots of chat rooms and message boards and probably 80% of comments about Seroxat are about the problems people are having when they’re coming off it.

Permenant flu

I feel Seroxat has stolen years from my life “Helen”

It’s not totally one-sided. Some people have said they haven’t had any problems. A lot of people acknowledge that the drug has been quite helpful to them and it’s reduced their depression or their anxiety.

But I feel Seroxat has stolen years from my life. I’ve felt more like an 80 year old than a woman in her ‘twenties’ recently. I’ve had nausea virtually every day and insomnia every night since I started cutting down my dose.

Other withdrawal symptoms I’ve suffered are headaches, muscle pains, trembling, like having permanent flu really. The worst thing, though, is the head shocks. They’re like electric shocks zapping through my head that really throw me off balance.

The withdrawals have had a pretty serious impact on the rest of my life. I should be going into my final year studying for a Masters degree.

Responsibility

I flushed all the remaining tablets and liquid I had down the loo “Helen”

But I’ve taken so much time off for illness in the last nine months that they’ve told me I’ll have to take a year out and finish it next year. I’m already in lots of debt and I’m not sure whether I can afford to do that, so I’m very angry.

I took my last dose of Seroxat at the end of August. I flushed all the remaining tablets and liquid I had down the loo.

Although I’ve been feeling rough since then I’m determined not to start taking it again. I hope I can start living a normal life now.

I’m glad I kept the video diary of my withdrawals for Panorama. Not because I feel proud that I’m on television and people are going to see what is going on with me, because I don’t really want that.

But I think I have a responsibility to make sure that people can see that you can’t always believe everything you’re told by doctors or drug companies.

GlaxoSmithKline strenuously denies claims of serious side effects and insist that the drugs are a safe, effective treatment.

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GLAXO SMITH KLINE is facing a potential criminal prosecution for allegedly failing to inform British health regulators about the suicide risks associated with Seroxat, its blockbuster anti-depressant.Officials at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) launched an investigation into Glaxo because of concerns that Britain’s biggest pharmaceutical group had withheld important data from clinical trials.

This showed that Seroxat could cause an increased risk of suicide and “self-harm” if prescribed to depressed teenagers.

The MHRA and the Committee on Safety of Medicines only received full details of the trials in May last year. Within two weeks, the MHRA announced a ban on giving Seroxat to children under 18 — the first regulator in the world to take such a step. Shortly afterwards, the US Food and Drug Administration issued similar, though less categorical, advice to doctors.

The MHRA investigation is expected to report its findings shortly. This weekend the MHRA said it “treats very seriously any failure to comply with the law. Last year, the MHRA announced that it would investigate Glaxo to make sure the company had complied with its legal obligations under UK and European law.”

Drug companies are obliged to report new evidence that changes the balance of risks and benefits of using their products.

Depending on its findings, the MHRA could choose to prosecute either Glaxo as a company or go after named individuals. If found guilty, the penalties could include fines or imprisonment.

The MHRA action comes when Glaxo is still reeling from allegations last week that it had “engaged in repeated and persistent fraud by misrepresenting, concealing and otherwise failing to disclose” important information about the safety and efficacy of Seroxat, which is known as Paxil in America. The company must defend itself against a lawsuit from Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney-general who first came to prominence after taking on the abuses of Wall Street banks during the technology boom.

Jean-Pierre Garnier, Glaxo’s chief executive, insisted the firm had provided regulators with all trial data. “We are a high-integrity company,” he said. “We know what the rules are and we follow them. We have a policy of publishing our negative data to the authorities.”

The British case rests on some of the same evidence as that of the New York lawsuit.

Garnier said it could be dangerous to change medical advice based on a single clinical study. “Sometimes you have to wait for all studies to come in before you have some sort of conclusion.”

Britain’s biggest drugs firm has revealed their research that shows a leading anti-depressant can cause children to attempt suicide (but what about adults??, in my opinion, it can cause adults to attempt suicide).

In an astonishing u-turn, Glaxo-SmithKline finally published full details of nine scientific studies and two clinical reviews which expose the dangers posed to under-18s who take Seroxat.

Children on Seroxat are twice as likely to have suicidal thoughts than those on a dummy pill, it emerged.

Alarmingly, one study showed six youngsters on Seroxat wanted to kill themselves, compared to just one taking a placebo pill.

The drug was also linked to distressing side effects including hostility, insomnia, dizziness, tremors and emotional irritability.

Damning findings

Campaigners say the damning findings were suppressed for up to a decade while thousands of teenagers and children as young as six continued to be given the pills to ease depression.

At one point, doctors had even hailed Seroxat as a “wonderdrug” to help people overcome shyness.

The firm is facing a major lawsuit amid allegations that drug regulators were duped into thinking Seroxat - which is worth £2billion a year to Glaxo - was safe for children.

A number of youngsters are known to have committed suicide while taking the drug, but it was not until last year that doctors were banned from prescribing it to under-18s because of the suicide risk.

Some estimate that more than 50,000 under-18s in the UK were prescribed Seroxat between 1990, when it was licensed here, and last year when the ban was imposed by Government medical regulators.

Anguished parents

Anguished parents have complained that their children became suicidal while on Seroxat then showed horrendous withdrawal symptoms when they tried to come off it.

A civil lawsuit has been filed against Glaxo in the US by New York State attorney general Eliot Spitzer, who claims the firm suppressed at least four studies on the drug.

More than 3,000 UK families have also started legal action against Glaxo seeking compensation for their ordeal. They include a number of parents whose children committed suicide while on

Seroxat. Full details of the controversial studies were published on the Internet only after the medical establishment turned on Glaxo.

In an unprecedented attack, the respected Lancet medical journal last week accused the drugs giant of losing touch with its basic humanity over the Seroxat scandal.

‘Suicidal thinking’

In an editorial, the journal said: “GSK appears to be floundering in the semantic depths.

“While it has been earnestly parsing the meaning of ’suicidal thinking’ and ‘publicly’, it appears to have forgotten what lies behind those words - people. The time has come for these matters to be revealed in a bright and public light.”

The Lancet said the safety and efficacy of Seroxat in children had been tested in “at least five studies sponsored by GSK, only one of which has been published”.

It revealed that, although the results of this trial were mixed, they were heralded in a memo as showing “remarkable efficacy and safety in the treatment of adolescent depression”.

The Lancet also poured scorn on Glaxo’s argument that trials data was made public. This was done at scientific meetings attended only by specialists and published in the letters pages of medical journals.

Medical authorities here are investigating whether Glaxo complied with legal requirements to make all relevant clinical trial data on the drug available.

Too little too late

Last night. a leading consultant psychiatrist who was among the first to question the safety of Seroxat, said the publication of the Glaxo-funded Seroxat studies was too little, too late.

Dr David Healy, of the University of North Wales, said: “If the data had been out there from the start, we could have avoided some of the problems we have seen with Seroxat.

“If people had been aware of the evidence from the trials and seen the risks, they could have reduced the risks of adverse events happening. Parents could have been told to keep a closer eye on their children.”

The nine studies were made available to the Government’s regulators, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority, only in May last year.

The details lay behind the decision to ban doctors from prescribing Seroxat to under-18s. A spokesman for GlaxoSmith Kline last night said it had already communicated the trials data to the medical community in the normal way through meetings, letters and papers over the last decade.

Medical regulators

Medical regulators were also given the data as soon as the risk of suicidal thoughts became clear.

But he added: “We thought in the interest of transparency and given the interest in this area that we would publish all the documents on the website.

“We have made no attempt to hide results or mislead regulators or the medical community. Studies individually show no consistent evidence of a problem in terms of the safety issue.

“It really was not until the nine studies had been completed and we had combined it with further review in 2003 that we saw there was a potential signal.”

Claims, Benefits: “Natural” treatment for depression, arthritis, and liver disease.

Bottom Line: Some studies suggest that SAM-e might be an effective treatment for depression, with fewer side effects than antidepressant drugs. But the real benefits and risks of SAM-e are still unclear. People with depression or joint pain should seek medical advice before trying SAM-e. If it works, it’s a drug, and should be regulated and prescribed like one, as it is in Europe.

Full Article, Wellness Letter, January 2004:

Update on SAM-e

Among the hundreds of dietary supplements on the market, a few stand out as worthy of intensive study—and one of these is SAM-e. Not an herb, hormone, vitamin, or any other kind of nutrient, SAM-e (S-adenosylmethionine) is a synthetic form of a chemical produced naturally in the body. It is essential to a great number of chemical processes, including maintaining cells, manufacturing substances used by the nerves, and influencing emotions and moods.

Among other things, SAM-e supplements are sold as a “natural” treatment for depression, arthritis, and liver disease. SAM-e is said to be as effective for pain relief as aspirin, but without aspirin’s potential to irritate the stomach lining. It’s said to be more effective than anti-depressants—and since SAM-e requires no prescription, you can be your own physician. In Europe, on evidence that would be considered inadequate here, SAM-e is sold as a prescription drug for depression, arthritis, and liver disease. In the American and Canadian marketplace, it is unregulated, like all supplements.

Scientists have not neglected SAM-e, and in 2002 the U.S. Public Health Service issued a massive review of 90 studies of SAM-e. Nothing new came out of this huge effort, though ads from manufacturers may state otherwise. This government survey was not a clinical trial—just a summation of trials, no matter how brief or poorly designed. The bottom line: More research is needed, including clarification of what an effective dose might be.

What you should knowIf you’re thinking of trying SAM-e, we recommend caution for the following reasons:

• So far the possible benefits and long-term risks remain unclear.

• Though its marketers boldly claim that SAM-e has no side effects, people taking high doses have reported headache, stomach upset, insomnia, and dizziness.

• If you are suffering from depression, you should seek medical advice before you dose yourself with anything. Depression is treatable but requires professional care.

• People with bipolar disorder should avoid SAM-e because it may bring on manic episodes. It’s not a good idea to use SAM-e to treat any form of severe depression. It can interact with anti-depressants.

• SAM-e will not repair liver damage brought on by heavy drinking—contrary to claims.

• People with Parkinson’s disease should avoid SAM-e.

• If you have joint pain, you might decide that SAM-e is worth a try, but don’t give up conventional treatments, and be sure your doctor knows you are using this supplement.

• The most important problem: SAM-e is converted into homocysteine in the body. High homocysteine levels appear to raise the risk of heart disease.

• SAM-e may claim to be better than conventional drugs, but it is certainly not less expensive. Dosages of anywhere from 200 on up to 1,000 milligrams daily are recommended by manufacturers. This can cost from $2 to $18 daily, and you have to take it over the long term. This is great for those selling SAM-e, but it may not be so good for you.

• Because there is no regulation of supplements in this country, you don’t know what you’re getting. A recent test by ConsumerLab.com, for instance, found that one expensive brand contained only 30% of the claimed amount.

Even if SAM-e were an effective drug—and it’s far from certain that it is—you can’t count on getting a reliable product with a standardized dose. And nobody yet knows what the right dose might be.

Parting thought: SAM-e is not a “natural” product and not a dietary supplement. How the FDA can allow it to be sold as such is a big question. If it works—and that’s only a guess—it’s a drug, and should be regulated and sold as such.

SAM-e 200mg, 20 Tabs Jarrow SAM-e 200mg, 20 TabsJarrow Formulas SAM-e 200 pharmaceutical grade, stabilized SAM-e is a full 200mg elemental SAM-e from 400mg of SAM-e tosylate disulfate. SAM-e 200 is manufactured under low temperature and low humidity and is enteric-coated to ensure a biologically active product. SAM-e is a chiral molecule and therefore consists of two forms: (S,S) SAM-e and (R,S) SAM-e. The biologically active form is the (S,S) structure, while the (R,S) structure is biologically inactive. Jarrow Formulas SAM-e is made naturally by microbiological fermentation and then specially processed to preserve 68-80 (S,S) SAM-e, the highest active level available. SAM-e (S-Adenosylmethionine) is an amino acid derivative that has been clinically proven to benefit brain and joint function. Found in all living cells, SAM-e is also called activated methionine (an essential amino acid) since it is formed by the combining of ATP with methionine. SAM-e has undergone dozens of trials involving thousands of patients.