THE DANGERS OF PROZAC: Part 2

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THE DANGERS OF PROZAC: Part 2

By Gary Null, Ph.D. and Martin Feldman, M.D.

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Depression. People who are overstimulated may end up suffering from depressionas well. Eli Lilly knew that Prozac caused depression and reported the relationship to theFDA, according to Dr. Breggin. "Lilly admitted on paper, in its final statement aboutthe drug's side effects, that it commonly caused patients to get depressed. Then it gotscratched out at the FDA... It just disappeared from the label."67

The result is that a drug intended to relieve depression may have the opposite effect.As Dr. Breggin states, "[People] start taking the drug and in the beginning they feelbetter... Maybe the drug gives them a burst of energy. Stimulants will do that. They makepeople feel energized. Then they get more depressed. They may get suicidal feelings. Theydon't know that Eli Lilly once listed depression as an effect of the drug. And so they endup thinking they need more Prozac, and their doctor agrees."68

In a related area, doctors at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have reportedthat five patients developed apathy, indifference, and loss of initiative when they tookfluoxetine or fluvoxamine, another antidepressant. The doctors noted that the mechanismsproducing these side effects bore a clinical resemblance to "those of frontal lobedysfunction," in which patients may "display apathy, flatness of affect and lackof emotional concern, childishness and euphoria, socially inappropriate behavior, anddifficulty in foreseeing the outcome of an action."69

 

Sexual dysfunction. Prozac can induce sexual dysfunction because it affects thelevel of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that connects receptor sites and fires nerves. Menwho take the drug may not be able to get an erection or to ejaculate, and women may havedifficulty obtaining an orgasm.

In one study, 45 of 60 men who took Prozac experienced retarded ejaculation orejaculatory incompetence, suggesting that "such sexual dysfunction is a more commonside effect of fluoxetine than is reported in the Physician's Desk Reference."70 Another study found that 8.3 percent of Prozac usershad problems achieving orgasm.71 Other reportsdocument cases of prolonged erection and loss of ejaculation or sexual stimulation as aside effect of Prozac.72, 73 Cases of sexualdysfunction may subside when the drug is discontinued.74

Dr. Breggin adds, "Again, when Lilly studied this matter for the FDA, they foundonly a small amount of people were having sexual dysfunction. Then after the drug wasapproved, they found out that they were wrong and that a very large percentage of peoplewere having this particular problem."75

 

Tardive dystonia and tardive dyskinesia. Some Prozac users have charged that thedrug causes tardive dystonia or tardive dyskinesia (TD), two forms of neurological damagein which the muscles tense up or move involuntarily. These disorders can producebizarre-looking postures and movements. Consequently, people who are taking Prozac torelieve mental illness may in fact appear to be mentally ill. What's more, the symptomsmay continue after they stop taking the drug; in some cases the condition may bepermanent.

Doctors have reported a variety of neurological symptoms in people taking Prozac. Thesesymptoms including acute dystonia and reversible dystonia.76, 77, 78In two cases, patients developed complex movement disorders while they were takingfluoxetine. This disorder was marked by rhythmic palatal movements, myoclonus and possiblydystonia in one patient, and myoclonic jerking and rapid, sterotypic movements of the toesin the other.79 Another report says that four patientswith idiopathic Parkinson's disease experienced an increased amount of motor disabilitywhen they took Prozac.80 However, a review of 23patients with Parkinson's disease who took Prozac found that 20 of them did not experiencea worsening of their condition. The researchers concluded that fluoxetine in doses of upto 40 mg per day does not appear to be linked to an increase in the signs and symptoms ofParkinson's disease.81

Many psychiatric drugs, such as Haldol and Thorazine, have been found to cause tardivedyskinesia in about 20 percent of long-term users. The manufacturers' prescriptioninformation for these drugs includes appropriate warnings. But that is not the case withProzac's package insert, which warns that users have developed dystonia and dyskinesia butnot that the drug may cause permanent damage to the nervous system.

Generally, when psychiatric drugs cause permanent disorders such as TD, it is afterpatients have used the medication for a year or longer. With Prozac, however, thecondition appears to set in much more rapidly. One woman in Texas who sued Eli Lillyclaims she experienced permanent damage within two days of taking two Prozac capsules aday. Another user began to experience severe muscle spasms in her arms after she tookProzac for eight days; she still had TD and a diminished ability to function two yearslater