Dangers of Zoloft - Drug Interactions / Side Effects Message Board

tzty · 01-17-2004, 02:34 AM

I was reading the posts on Zoloft and felt that I had to interject in here somewhere. I was put on Zoloft years ago by a Neurologist for white outs or brain fogs as I called them. I would be driving somewhere and have no idea where I was. I would be reading an article in the paper and it would be 9:30 and next thing I knew it was 11:30 and I had read nothing, or if I had I had no memory of it. I would get lost driving to work and there was only one road leading towards my job and I had driven that road for the past 10 years or more. I really was scared. It was very freaky and scarey to me and to my family. So when this doctor told me I need to take Zoloft I did. I lost weight at first....loved that part but I felt like I was just there. Eventually I leveled out and even though the weight stayed off I still was depressed. The doctors answer was a higher dosage of the Zoloft. I listened and when I saw a Psychologist he told me I had to stay on it for at least 16-18 months. I was not too happy but I did it. Finally he said I could go off and I weaned off for about two weeks. I just stopped taking it then and did great. I also suffer from SAD(Seasonal Affective Disorder) so when winter hits I get down again. I went back on it for the winter and when spring came I just stopped taking it. No side effects from stopping cold turkey at all. Over the next two years I was back and forth on it. I finally went on it again this past late fall and then my husband said I was having mood swings so far out left field I was driving him nuts. I talked to the Neurologist on my 6 month visit and he told me he wanted me to up it to 50 MG and stay there for a month and then go to 75mg. I was fine with his decision and left it go. Then my husband started investigating Zoloft. The information he found scared me to death. I immediately stopped taking it and went to see my doctor. She was amazed at the findings and publications on this medicine as well. Needless to say I am now on Effexor XR 75 mg at bedtime and I feel alot better.

Zoloft was found to make patients depressed.(Paxil and Prozac do the same thing) It was also found to have put people in psychotic episodes where they would actually do bodily harm to themselves or to someone and in a few cases they actually killed somone. One man killed his wife of 50 years. I was shocked and in total panic after reading the information. It was so scarey that I was in tears. All I could think of was the damages that were done to me and to others.

In a hearing and depostion that was taken by attorneys for a lawsuit the one maunfacturer stated that this Zoloft caused side effects of depression, along with Prozac and Paxil. He also admitted that this was information that was not given out to most doctors only that it was a miracle drug for depression. That it is not uncommon to not disclose all the information or side effects to a doctors office when they go there to peddle their wares. The man admitted that alot of this information is not even given to the drug reps themselves. Some are and some aren't. If a drug shows it may help numerous patients in another area besides depression they then would put that infomation into the doctors hands in hopes of it being used more frequently.

This is the case of Topamax. It is a seizure drug not one for pain or for Fibromyalgia. It is not for panic attacks or for brain fogs/whiteouts or memory loss. Some people have had success with this medicine for some of these problems but it is not FDA approved and the FDA is going after the pharmacutical companies more and more each day.

Another example is the one release recently that they are now using the nicotine patch, in test studies, in a lower dosage to help aliviate short term memory loss and are testing it with older patients for alzheimers disease. This was public knowledge on one of the news sites that I get mail from. I was shocked. Can you imagine giving up smoking for your health and the being told to use a nicotine patch for your memory problem??? Granted it is not in your lungs just the bloodstream but it is still another poison.

On Feb 2, 2004 the FDA is having hearings concerning the handling of these medications and the distribution of it to children and teenagers. The suicide rate is up on these meds from this age group. You have to figure if it can do it to a child or teen it can also do it to an adult. I am anxious to see what they find and how much real damage these meds are. It is so easy for them to just hand them out that sometimes they don't research the meds first. Look at how they are doing it to kids today with ADHD. They give them Ritalin just because a parent asked for it because the child is disruptive at times in school or at home. They do it so they kids are passive and just sit and do nothing, turning them into zombies.

Okay I have said enough. I am sure if you research these meds you will find alot more information on them. Good luck and God Bless.

Bruce · 01-19-2004, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by joyshow

I was reading the posts on Zoloft and felt that I had to interject in here somewhere. I was put on Zoloft years ago by a Neurologist for white outs or brain fogs as I called them. I would be driving somewhere and have no idea where I was. I would be reading an article in the paper and it would be 9:30 and next thing I knew it was 11:30 and I had read nothing, or if I had I had no memory of it. I would get lost driving to work and there was only one road leading towards my job and I had driven that road for the past 10 years or more. I really was scared. It was very freaky and scarey to me and to my family. So when this doctor told me I need to take Zoloft I did. I lost weight at first....loved that part but I felt like I was just there. Eventually I leveled out and even though the weight stayed off I still was depressed. The doctors answer was a higher dosage of the Zoloft. I listened and when I saw a Psychologist he told me I had to stay on it for at least 16-18 months. I was not too happy but I did it. Finally he said I could go off and I weaned off for about two weeks. I just stopped taking it then and did great. I also suffer from SAD(Seasonal Affective Disorder) so when winter hits I get down again. I went back on it for the winter and when spring came I just stopped taking it. No side effects from stopping cold turkey at all. Over the next two years I was back and forth on it. I finally went on it again this past late fall and then my husband said I was having mood swings so far out left field I was driving him nuts. I talked to the Neurologist on my 6 month visit and he told me he wanted me to up it to 50 MG and stay there for a month and then go to 75mg. I was fine with his decision and left it go. Then my husband started investigating Zoloft. The information he found scared me to death. I immediately stopped taking it and went to see my doctor. She was amazed at the findings and publications on this medicine as well. Needless to say I am now on Effexor XR 75 mg at bedtime and I feel alot better.

Zoloft was found to make patients depressed.(Paxil and Prozac do the same thing) It was also found to have put people in psychotic episodes where they would actually do bodily harm to themselves or to someone and in a few cases they actually killed somone. One man killed his wife of 50 years. I was shocked and in total panic after reading the information. It was so scarey that I was in tears. All I could think of was the damages that were done to me and to others.

In a hearing and depostion that was taken by attorneys for a lawsuit the one maunfacturer stated that this Zoloft caused side effects of depression, along with Prozac and Paxil. He also admitted that this was information that was not given out to most doctors only that it was a miracle drug for depression. That it is not uncommon to not disclose all the information or side effects to a doctors office when they go there to peddle their wares. The man admitted that alot of this information is not even given to the drug reps themselves. Some are and some aren't. If a drug shows it may help numerous patients in another area besides depression they then would put that infomation into the doctors hands in hopes of it being used more frequently.

This is the case of Topamax. It is a seizure drug not one for pain or for Fibromyalgia. It is not for panic attacks or for brain fogs/whiteouts or memory loss. Some people have had success with this medicine for some of these problems but it is not FDA approved and the FDA is going after the pharmacutical companies more and more each day.

Another example is the one release recently that they are now using the nicotine patch, in test studies, in a lower dosage to help aliviate short term memory loss and are testing it with older patients for alzheimers disease. This was public knowledge on one of the news sites that I get mail from. I was shocked. Can you imagine giving up smoking for your health and the being told to use a nicotine patch for your memory problem??? Granted it is not in your lungs just the bloodstream but it is still another poison.

On Feb 2, 2004 the FDA is having hearings concerning the handling of these medications and the distribution of it to children and teenagers. The suicide rate is up on these meds from this age group. You have to figure if it can do it to a child or teen it can also do it to an adult. I am anxious to see what they find and how much real damage these meds are. It is so easy for them to just hand them out that sometimes they don't research the meds first. Look at how they are doing it to kids today with ADHD. They give them Ritalin just because a parent asked for it because the child is disruptive at times in school or at home. They do it so they kids are passive and just sit and do nothing, turning them into zombies.

Okay I have said enough. I am sure if you research these meds you will find alot more information on them. Good luck and God Bless.

I have taken prozac for many years and have had no serious side effects. Prozac, like Zoloft, raises your serotonin level which treats depression.

When i first started taking prozac, it became a joke between my doc and me. When i would see him, he would ask me "have you killed anysone today?"

Side effects do vary , because we all react to drugs in a different way.

One thing that contributes to having side effects is taking higher doses. It looks like your doctors got carried away in increasing your doses. I have taken the same dose for many years. Just my opinion.

2manypills · 01-19-2004, 06:26 PM

i took zoloft for 3 years for ocd,i didnt have any problems,it really helped.sometimes people get to worried about the side effects or a few extreme cases,patients will always have to wiegh the benifets to the potential side effects.i tapered off zoloft about 4 months ago and have been taking xanax if i become really stressed.hope things work out

tzty · 01-19-2004, 09:10 PM

Bruce....the highest I was ever on was 25 mg.....but I just went off of it and that was that. I am doing well on Effexor XR right now. I react to so many meds I just hate the thought of any of them. I don't usually get the common reacions, I get the extremely rare ones.....love to be different the doc told me...LOL...but I read and I try....I never shoot meds down till I find how I react to it.....no reaction to Zoloft only worse depression.

abbygirl2 · 02-09-2004, 12:05 AM

I have been on Zoloft for 4 years and have had no negative side effects(except for when I came off it). I thought your article on the dangers of Zoloft quite interesting considering I recently switched from Effexor XR back to Zoloft for similar reasons. The stuff I read about Effexor was pretty much the same as what you said about the Zoloft. I don't think any of these drugs are "safe" to take. There are people who benefit greatly from them, me being one of them. I personally like Zoloft-it is my wonderdrug(so far), I hated Effexor, yet you seem to be doing well with it.
Doctors are too eager to hand this stuff out and I believe there are probably people who shouldn't be on them period. However, It helped me through a very hard time, so I am glad I took it. As far as the nicotine patch goes, I haven't heard anything about that yet but its interesting. I think people with alzheimers disease or severe short term memory loss wouldn't mind taking it. How is it different from any other drug we put in our body. None of these drugs are good for us even though we may need them to live.
Anyway, just my view on things.
night all