DID YOU TAKE YOUR PROZAC OR HAVE A STROKE?
SSRIs Up Risk of Brain Hemorrhage
by Megan Brooks
October 21, 2012
From Medscape
Dr. Pinna says…
Here are some common names of SSRI’s
citalopram (Celexa, Cipramil, Emocal, Sepram, Seropram)
escitalopram oxalate (Lexapro, Cipralex, Esertia)
fluoxetine (Prozac, Fontex, Seromex, Seronil, Sarafem, Fluctin (EUR))
fluvoxamine maleate (Luvox, Faverin)
paroxetine (Paxil, Seroxat, Aropax, Deroxat, Paroxat)
sertraline (Zoloft, Lustral, Serlain)
PROZAC is the most famous and the most commonly used.
SSRI stands for “SELECTIVE SEROTONIN REUPTAKE INHIBITOR”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
NOBODY! NOT YOUR DOCTOR, NOT THE PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES,
NOBODY ON THIS PLANET HAS A CLUE AS TO WHAT THESE DRUGS DO!
“They raise “Serotonin” levels.”
So what?
“It makes you feel better.”
Except more people commit suicide taking them—especially teenagers.
“SEROTONIN” is a molecule which affects every part of your body,
from your brain to your intestines to your sexual organs.
SEROTONIN is a basic part of your entire nervous system. It is one of the
three “switches” that turns organs and your brain on and off.
About fifty years ago the pharmaceutical industry and research
scientists were trying to discover how cocaine works. They
noticed that Serotonin was involved.
Big Parma said: “Hey! If we can mimic cocaine we can make a
fortune!”
Slowly they made molecule after molecule and they marketed
these molecules to doctors to cure “Depression.”
When they arrived at PROZAC they had a winner!
After that, the medical profession went crazy prescribing
SSRI’s.
“Oh, you’re crying all the time and you don’t know why?
Take this and you’ll feel better.”
Doctors gave out and still give out, SSRI’s like candy.
I never wrote prescriptions for these drugs because
I felt that I would be prescribing a different form of cocaine.
My patients did well with counseling, group therapy and
help from their church. Complex cases were referred to
psychiatrists who immediately prescribed SSRI’s.
DEPRESSION is almost invariably caused by frustration.
Any animal who cannot get what he wants becomes
depressed. Often, illness will be the reason for being
frustrated in the sense that the desired state is good
health. In this case, achieving the best state of health
possible under the circumstances is the cure.
The use of SSRI’s is declining as we find more and more
evidence of severe dangers, as shown in this article.
Having a hemorrhagic stroke after taking SSRI’s.
Although the risk is very low, who needs to have a stroke
while being “cured” of depression?
ARTICLE FROM MEDSCAPE
A meta-analysis of relevant research shows that treatment with a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) is associated with an increased risk for brain hemorrhage.
Nonetheless, “clinicians who treat patients at high risk for intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) should probably use a different class of antidepressants, which do not modulate the serotonin pathway,” Daniel G. Hackam, MD, PhD, from the Stroke Prevention and Atherosclerosis Research Centre, Western University in London, Ontario, Canada, told Medscape Medical News.
“Such patients include those on oral anticoagulants, patients with a history of alcoholism or chronic liver disease, and patients who have had a previous hemorrhagic stroke,” he said.
The meta-analysis was published online October 17 in Neurology.
“Best Current Evidence”
The authors of a linked commentary congratulate the authors for their “thorough review of the evidence and succinct summary of findings.”
Emer R. McGrath, MB, and Martin J. O’Donnell, MB, PhD, from the National University of Ireland in Galway, say the analysis represents “best current evidence of an association between SSRI use and risk of ICH.”
Dr. Hackam and colleagues synthesized the epidemiologic evidence concerning SSRI exposure and the risk for central nervous system (CNS) hemorrhage. They reviewed and pooled data from 16 observational studies (cohort, case-control, and case-crossover designs) involving a total of 506,411 participants that compared patients receiving SSRI therapy with a control group not receiving SSRIs.
In adjusted analyses, the researchers found that people taking an SSRI were about 50% more likely to have ICH than those not taking an SSRI (relative risk [RR], 1.51; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.26 – 1.81) and about 40% more likely to have intracerebral hemorrhage .
In a subset of 5 studies, SSRI exposure in combination with oral anticoagulants was associated with an increased risk for bleeding compared with oral anticoagulants alone .
When all studies were analyzed together, increased risk was seen across cohort studies.
Absolute Risk Low
But Dr. Hackam said the findings should be viewed with caution. “Because these types of strokes are very rare, the actual increased risk for the average person is very low,” he noted in a statement. In absolute risk terms, the researchers estimate 1 additional intracerebral hemorrhage episode per 10,000 persons treated with SSRIs for 1 year.
“Overall, these results should not deter anyone from taking an SSRI when it is needed,” Dr. Hackam said.
“In general these drugs are safe, and obviously there are risks to having depression go untreated. But doctors might consider other types of antidepressants for people who already have risk factors for these types of strokes, such as those taking blood thinners, people who have had similar strokes already or those with severe alcohol abuse,” he added.
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