3 Days to Hell! Ambien!

Posted on December 19, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Atypical Benzodiazepines Receptor Ligands

Who would think that a drug that most psychiatrists do not even consider to be a benzodiazepines can be more addictive than a benzodiazepines (benzos for short) drug? What exactly is Ambien (or Lunesta or a host of others for that matter) and why are they so addictive? Are they benzos or not and what is the big deal?

Officially there is a drug class called “Atypical Benzodiazepines Receptor Ligand” and most psychiatrists and doctors I talk to have no idea what that means. So let me spend a little time and explain since I have my pharmacology book handy; it will be easy to read but harder to reduce the complexity. I must also add that all doctors have learned what this is but it is so complicated they simply forget. As a result, doctors prescribe these drugs like candy yet they are worse than Valium, which is a real benzo. So what is the difference?

Let us start with the term “atypical” which will tell you that it is not a benzo but there is something about it that makes it fall into the benzo category. The term “benzodiazepines” represent a class of drugs that are known to be evil–they are not– and I will discuss that later. “Receptor” means a “hole” for lack of better word that sucks up the particular neurotransmitter that is able to fit into it. Think of a receptor like the kids’ toy of cubes and balls and other shapes fitting into the appropriate holes. It is very hard to fit a square object into a round hole. Thus the purpose of the specific receptors is to only accept the kind of neurotransmitters that fit that shape of receptor.

For regular benzos, this is exactly what is happening. They attach to the receptor they fit and behave there doing the job they do with the goal of dampening anxiety. Now let’s look at the most confusing of all terms “ligands.” Ligands do something very nasty. They reshape the receptor to make themselves fit, thereby modifying the neuron itself. This is very bad. Not only do they force themselves onto receptors they do not belong to, but they reshape the neuron to permit them to function as though they were benzos but they are not; they are hypnotics!

What does a hypnotics drug do? It places you into a trans of a completely unnatural state. It does not calm anxiety or reduce depression, it floats you into an outer existence for a while and then drops you back (crash) to reality.

There is also the little matter of “half-life” which causes a lot of problems.

Half life is the time it takes for the drug to have 50% of its active ingredients leave your body. Thus for Ambien it is 2.6 hours per wikipedia where you can find all benzos in their categories and dose equivalences as well. It is not listed how fast it completely leaves the system but one can calculate it pretty quick. Half leaves in 2.6 hours; half of the second half also leaves in 2.6 hours and so forth. When you add it all up, basically the drug is nearly undetectable in 15 hours but it is still in the body to a minuscule level. The problem is that it completely left in less than 24 hours. Most doctors think that having a benzo or alike with short half-life out of your system (less 24) hours is a good thing. I drew you a little chart here so you can see how bad that is.

Time to high and low

Time to high and low

As you can see on my little hand drawn scribble here real benzos–particularly ones like Valium (orange)–have very long half-lives–some longer than a day. That means that if one is on Valium, for example, one never experiences highs and lows because before one can crash by having Valium leave the system, a new dose is taken at night and the cycle begins without any noticeable drop in level.

At the same time, if you look at what happens in the case of a receptor ligand (black), you can see that it peaks in about 1 hour and by 2.6 hours half the drug left the system. If the dose is chosen right for sleep, by the morning–8 hours after taking it–one is supposed to be without any trace of the hypnotics.

But we have a problem. The receptors were modified and want more of the stuff they used since now they have a weird shape and need to get more Ambien to fill up the receptor. Only another ligand can fill that receptor now.

Believe it or not, in as short a time as 3 days a person can get addicted to Ambien and experience withdrawals! The withdrawal itself comes with severe anxiety, lack of ability to sleep, sweating and being cold at the same time, shiver or shake uncontrollably, ready to run a Marathon but feeling totally ill. This is after 3 days of taking this drug.

So, if you are a doctor, a psychiatrist, a hospital nurse practitioner, a PA, anyone with the power to prescribe atypical benzodiazepines receptor ligands, think twice and do not! 

There are more natural ways to get to sleep. It is way better to offer a turkey–serotonin—that puts people to sleep after lunch; it will do so after dinner as well–change light bulbs to pinkish/orange–blue light keeps people awake–take Vitamin A–this is my accidental discovery that A resets circadian rhythm in rats and apparently in me too. Maybe it will work for you as well. Take a walk if you can. Do not watch TV or be on the computer like I am now. Do not read–unless you have pink light and the paper of the book or magazine is not shiny to wake you up. Drink milk–a very good sleeping pill alternative for those who like it–I love it and drink a glass every evening before bed.

If you still cannot sleep, seek out sleep therapies, relaxation techniques and perhaps other, long acting benzos. Yes, they are addictive but no, they will not make you stupid as the current belief is. Do not take any serotonin medications since they are more addictive than benzos only doctors deny that… but I ask them to take one.. and then we’ll talk in the morning 2 days later.

Keep your health in your own control. There are way too many MDs out there who think your life is theirs to play with! Actually it is their lives that is in your hands since without you they do not get paid! Treat them like you would anyone else you pay for service, like a grocery clerk! If you don’t like the apple they give you, you complain! Right? At your MD it is not about an apple but your life and health so yes, do complain!

Your suggestions are welcome, as always!

Angela

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Are Migraines Hormonal?

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

The last article on the migraine series is out. This one discusses the connection (if there is any) of hormones and migraines. Here is the start but head to read the whole article by clicking on read more after the introduction here.

MIGRAINES AND HORMONES: BEHIND THE CURTAIN

MONDAY, DECEMBER 15TH, 2014 / Angela A Stanton

Before puberty, migraines are three times more frequent in males than in females but after puberty the tides turn and females are more likely to suffer from migraines than males. An Oxford study found that females are twice as likely to have migraines and that

“brains are deferentially affected by migraine in females compared with males. Furthermore, the results also support the notion that sex differences involve both brain structure as well as functional circuits, in that emotional circuitry compared with sensory processing appears involved to a greater degree in female than male migraineurs.”

The overwhelming belief is that the connection is clear: the hormones kick in for women at puberty and that must be the reason. This begs the questions: 1) Do males have the same hormonal problems before puberty as females do after puberty? If hormones are at root of the problems, then there must be some similarities, right? 2) If female hormones are responsible for migraines, do all females have migraines when they reach puberty? 3) Do migraines cease when hormones stop changing after menopause? 4) What about pregnancy or postpartum, how do hormones impact women then? And finally, 5) Do men stop having migraines after puberty?

Some of the answers to these questions will surprise you and may make you wonder if hormones have anything to do with migraines at all. In this post, I show you that while there are some connections between hormones and migraine they might not be the primary drivers of migraine. The relationship between hormones and migraine is not in the presence of hormonal changes but what those changes require in terms of brain energy, the lack of which causes migraines… read more

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SSRIs and Benzodiazepines. Which is Addictive?

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

I really did not want to write this article because I thought it was a boring topic but then I found out how many people receive SSRIs instead of Benzodiazepines (benzo from now on) because of two primary (and totally wrong) key reasons:

  1. SSRIs suppose to also treat anxiety
  2. Benzos are addictive whereas SSRIs are not

Well…. let me put my 2 cents into this argument because I feel like writing when I am angry. And boy am I angry! So let’s get two factors straight immediately. Anxiety is a break down of adrenaline release system caused by a perceived danger by the dopamine pathways  of the brain. Anxiety is a fear of death. SSRIs on the other hand are created for depression. Depression is the wanting to commit suicide–thus the opposite of anxiety. It works the serotonergic pathways and not dopaminergic and so the two drugs have nothing in common. With this out-of-the-way, I can focus on addiction.

What is addiction? A new study, by Nielsen, a doctoral student working on his dissertation, ran an analysis at the Nordic Cochrane Centre. A meta analysis looking at data, which showed that the symptoms of coming off of the two types of drugs were nearly identical. But what is called “addiction” for benzos, is called “SSRI discontinuation syndrome.” A wonderful name; isn’t it? I know I am cheeky but it is intended. After all, what is a syndrome? A syndrome can even be fatal as in “serotonin syndrome” and so calling the withdrawal from SSRIs a “syndrome” makes it actually worse than addiction. But let’s continue to how addiction is defined by Dr. Lars Vedel Kessing, a clinical professor I am glad and proud to never ever have taken a class from!

His definition of addiction to benzos is as follows:

  1. First, you lose control and the desire to take the drug becomes compulsive. In some sense you could say the drug takes control of you, say Kessing.
  2. Next is the onset of tolerance.The dosage must be increased all the time to get the desired effect and you keep taking more and more of the drug.
  3. Directly related to this is the third symptom; a strong urge to privately obtain more of the drug so it can be taken without the physicians knowledge.
  4. Lastly, there will be a detrimental effect to the individual who will no longer be able to function socially of physically.

The interesting thing is that none of this is true. It may be true for an alcohol addict or an illegal street drug addict but certainly is not true for an ill person taking benzo for health!

I know first hand that it is all wrong since at age 19 I came down with severe anxiety–which later turned into part of the reason for my migraines, which you can read about in my book. I am now over 40 years later, still taking the same benzo and not only did I not increase my dose, I actually decreased it. I am a lot more personable now than I have ever been in my life. I have never ever had any strong urge to get more of my drugs; in fact my goal has been to get less and less over time. And lastly, there are no detrimental effects to me that stop me from functioning in the society. If anything it made me better at being able to function in the society.

Now could I just stop my benzo? Probably not. So is it addictive? Sure it is. Any drug that alters brain chemistry is addictive. So let’s visit SSRIs. I have written much before about SSRIs so if you want to find out how they commit their crime, visit some of my write-ups in this blog. Here is one that even has a drawing in it to help you understand how it works. I now know many people who take SSRIs. Luckily I am not one of them and never ever intend to be one.

I find that I am not able to find a single person for whom SSRIs actually work. But I do find that once they start it, they cannot come off of it. It may take years for them to come off of it and then they may have flashbacks for years! So here they were put on a drug that did not work–and I tell you in a moment why they did not work–and now the doctors have created a nightmare of people continuing to take a drug that doesn’t work simply because they cannot come off of it! So is SSRI addictive? You bet it is! Major it is! And it doesn’t work.

As I said I explain why it doesn’t work. Originally when SSRIs were first created, the application was for one purpose: Clinical depression. Not sure what happened to this term since it can no longer be found. I find people who receive SSRI for seasonal and situational (someone dies) depression which then is impossible to get off of and they are stuck for life or suffer withdrawals. It was not meant for their condition. Here is a short list of what SSRIs are now prescribed for (these are from Wikipedia):

Also prescribed for PTSD, chronic pain, and depersonalization disorder plus ADD, ADHD, and similar. The list of damages it causes I will ignore since it is too long but I do want to talk about 2 major problems. One is that it is supposed to be prescribed for clinical depression and that is not even listed. Secondly, those who take this medication often commit suicide. There is a bit of a confusion in there… it is counter intuitive to give a drug to a depressed who is suicidal that will end up helping them to commit suicide. So why are they promoted? What is the point? Do they even work? They don’t actually. Why not? A couple of possible reasons and one certain reason.

Possible reason popped up recently in the New York Times about the possibility of a pathogenic origin since many of the symptom of the depressed appear similar to some illnesses caused by pathogens and the depressed apparently have the marker of inflammation in the body! Thus there may be something physiological that is not in the brain! So why treat the brain?

Another trail of thought in the same paper is that it may have an evolutionary benefit in solving some big problems that requires withdrawal from normal behavior to complete. They call this rumination. They may sound far-fetched to you but way better than SSRI! Robin Williams’ death was a classic example of depression going out the window and there are other reasons. The for sure reasons are many but one of them is that a very few people diagnosed with depression actually get any benefit from SSRIs because their brains do not need extra serotonin. SSRIs force neurons to make serotonin 24/7 regardless if the person needs it or not. Too much serotonin can cause other troubles: serotonin syndrome (can be fatal), IBS and digestive troubles among other things.

Thus for those of whom SSRIs don’t work, they actually cause harm and addiction! It is clear that we know nothing about depression and it is also clear that SSRIs are handed out like candy for an illness we know nothing about. I just about had it with doctors wanting to replace my benzo that works just fine with SSRIs. I placed a permanent ban on my medical record on any form of serotonin and SSRI. I am the happiest person alive with an anxiety problem that is not “being anxious” or nervous. I have never ever had a depressed minute in my life. Have I been upset on some days? Sure. Depressed? Never.

I suggest the medical community review their practices in SSRIs and depression in general because the state of matter today is: they are wrong!

Comments are welcomed as always!

Angela

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Anxiety! Why Do Doctors Think that Being Nervous is Anxiety or Depression?

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

I could not help but create this post. I am pretty much fed up with the entire medical field and its doctors who completely mislead people who suffer anxiety or depression. One of the most critical reasons for my anger is that most doctors and psychiatrists do not practice what they learned in school. They prescribe the same medications for both anxiety and depression! Yet the two conditions are very different, as I already described it in a previous post; here I go a little deeper to drive the point home.

On MedLine, anxiety is defined as follows:

… for millions of people in the United States, the anxiety does not go away, and gets worse over time. They may have chest pains or nightmares. They may even be afraid to leave home. These people have anxiety disorders. Types include

If you click on some of the links on the bottom of MedLine link, you get to the American Psychiatric Association‘s definition of anxiety:

Anxiety disorders are the most common of emotional disorders and affect more than 25 million Americans. Many forms and symptoms may include:

• Overwhelming feelings of panic and fear
• Uncontrollable obsessive thoughts
• Painful, intrusive memories
• Recurring nightmares
• Physical symptoms such as feeling sick to your stomach, “butterflies” in your stomach, heart pounding, startling easily, and muscle tension

Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness. Untreated anxiety disorders can push people into avoiding situations that trigger or worsen their symptoms. Job performance, school work, and personal relationships can also suffer. (emphasis added)

Types of Anxiety Disorders

Panic Disorder
The core symptom of panic disorder is the panic attack, an overwhelming combination of physical and psychological distress. During an attack several of these symptoms occur in combination:

• Pounding heart or chest pain
• Sweating, trembling, shaking
• Shortness of breath, sensation of choking
• Nausea or abdominal pain
• Dizziness or lightheadedness
• Feeling unreal or disconnected
• Fear of losing control, “going crazy,” or dying
• Numbness
• Chills or hot flashes

Because symptoms are so severe, many people with panic disorder believe they are having a heart attack or other life-threatening illness.

As you can see from the examples above, anxiety has nothing to do with being nervous about something specific at the moment anxiety appears; I have yet to meet a person of anxiety who is “clinically depressed” at the same time! Depression, also by the American Psychiatric Association is as follows:

Depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, the way you think and how you act. Depression has a variety of symptoms, but the most common are a deep feeling of sadness or a marked loss of interest or pleasure in activities. Other symptoms include:

• Changes in appetite that result in weight losses or gains unrelated to dieting
• Insomnia or oversleeping
• Loss of energy or increased fatigue
• Restlessness or irritability
• Feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt
• Difficulty thinking, concentrating, or making decisions
• Thoughts of death or suicide or attempts at suicide

Clinical depression is well defined into subgroups by a UC Berkeley post:

Common Symptoms
of Clinical Depression
There are different forms of clinical depression with different combinations of the following symptoms:

Physical:

• Sleep disturbances-insomnia, oversleeping, waking much earlier than usual
• Changes in appetite or eating: much more or much less
• Decreased energy, fatigue
• Headaches, stomachaches, digestive problems or other physical symptoms that are not explained by other physical conditions or do not respond to treatment

Behavioral/Attitude:

• Loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed, such as going out with friends, hobbies, sports, sex, etc.
• Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
• Neglecting responsibilities or personal appearance

Emotional:

Persistent sad or “empty” mood, lasting two or more weeks

• Crying “for no reason”
• Feeling hopeless, helpless, guilty or worthless
• Feeling irritable, agitated or anxious
• Thoughts of death or suicide

As you can see, anxiety is a syndrome (a condition of unknown causes) whereas depression is an illness (a specific ill structure of the brain). Not only are the two completely different in symptoms, they are driven by different mechanisms. Anxiety is an internal stress response, called a “stressor,” whereas depression is a response to either a physical change of the body or as a consequence of an event.

Yet the very first sentence after a lengthy discussion of all trophies earned by the lecturing doctor in an educational video (there are several but this was the one that got me fed up) says that anxiety is fearing the feature, being nervous about something, etc.

This video I brought up as an example because it is an educational video that is supposed to advance the understanding of someone… be it the consumer or future doctors but it is completely wrong. How can we change this? The answer is not clear since the treatment of all anxiety and depression by medication today is the same: SSRIs, SNRIs, and alike, all stimulating more serotonin and similar hormones that have absolutely nothing to do with anxiety–they may with depression but definitely not with anxiety.

Anxiety! The Truth!

As a person who has suffered anxiety all of my life, knocking me on my shoulders out of the blue on a perfect day, without any trauma or cause, I can tell you precisely what anxiety is. I have no clue what depression is since I have never ever been depressed for a moment in my life. Here is how it started:

I was 19 and was riding the subway in Europe, seated comfortably, reading a fun book. I rode this subway every day of  my life up to that point so I was familiar with every turn, every stop and bump. The subway had to stop to wait until the previous car left the station–a rather common occurrence in rush-hour. That day, in that instant, I felt a hot rod-like electricity shooting from the top of my head to the bottom of my tailbone–that is all through my CNS–central nervous system.  Was I nervous? No; I was reading an interesting romance novel. Was I scared? No, I was sitting pretty in a train; not even crowded. Did I have anything to make me nervous? Perhaps my lipstick may not have been perfect… NO! For crying out loud! I was 19 with a perfect life ahead of me and no worries!

When about 1 month later my then boyfriend–now husband–and I went to the movies and I had to leave as a result of the same hot-rod sensation in my back and the urge to vomit up my dinner, with shaking and sweating, and pounding heart, I knew something was up but as I was only 19, I had no idea what that was, nor did my boyfriend.

About a week later, from a perfectly content deep sleep, I awoke in the middle of the night for the same hot-rod, sick to my stomach, pounding heart, shaking, hot and cold, ready to run nowhere fast. I jumped into the shower taking hot and cold to “snap out of this whatever this things is” but it did not work. So in the middle of the night, my boyfriend–by then fiance–walked me to the nearest hospital–less than a mile away–where I received Valium and I was fine within an hour or so. But we discovered that I lost nearly 30 lbs in the process of my anxiety–I was thin to start with–so this was something serious to be taken care of immediately. After a full examination, the doctors discovered that I had no B-12 in my body, so they gave me intravenous B-12 for 3 months I believe twice or perhaps once a week. I recovered to some degree, regained my lost weight, but not fully recovered in my “hot rod” so a low dose of benzodiazepine (like Valium, Klonopin, etc.) stayed with me for life.

40+ years later I am still taking the same low dose drug for the same reason once a day–I still have a perfect life, husband who I had when I was 19 as a boyfriend, 2 wonderful and successful sons, 2 daughter-in-laws who can knock everyone’s shoes off, one awesome smart granddaughter and another on her way; no financial troubles, taking early retirement to do what I love: science, research, painting, photograph, gardening, and travel. So why do I have anxiety? I am not nervous, never had a better and more comfortable life. Yet I still am on a low dose of benzo. It perfectly controls my anxiety.

Psychiatrists tell me that “oh but it affects your memory“… really? I got my PhD in 3 years in a very mathematical field (almost got my PhD in math actually!) graduating at age 53. Whatever  memory it many have affected was obviously not important. They also say that it does not affect short-term memory but only long-term. But it seems to me that I surprise my family how I recall little details of long time ago events, including colors, scents, etc. I am not one of those special persons who can recall the day of the month and year but getting pretty darn close! And I seem to remember more as I get older! So no, after 40+ years of benzo use, neither my long-term nor my short-term memory suffered.

On the other hand, I know people on serotonin drugs whose memory goes into decline on the spot even after a single pill but that is ignored–financial motive?

As a result of the perceived (or so motivated by ulterior motives of big pharma) bad effects of benzodiazepines on the brain, doctors prescribe serotonin drugs, as listed above, for anxiety. Serotonin not only has nothing to do with anxiety, it can also be deadly by causing serotonin syndrome and definitely can make your brain-cells shrink! It can also make one suicidal and jump out the window. I suppose calling serotonin enhancing drugs “safe alternative to benzo” is premature at best and down right incorrect at worst–oh but yes all benzos are generic whereas SSRIs and SNRIs do still go by brand name… sorry; I cannot stop being cynical!

Anxiety is a Darwinian evolutionary process of alertness that was necessary in the caveman’s life. The fact that we are not living in a cave and the anxiety stress response is still with some of us is a genetic oops that may in time be resolved by genetic modification. In fact, those who are predisposed to migraines suffer from anxiety. The connection of anxiety and the ensuing insufficient nutritional sources in the brain causing migraine is very well described and explained by several articles and a book. Anxiety causes trouble in one’s life but I do not know a single person with anxiety who is also clinically depressed and I certainly know that only a small percentage of clinical depression sufferers benefit from depression medications; only about 30% of depression sufferers are helped by serotonin enhanced medications.

If you have anxiety, please show this post to your doctor! Serotonin will hurt you and not help you! A low dose benzodiazepine that is long acting, meaning it starts up slow and leaves the body slow, does not give you severe highs and lows and will not make you crazy or jump out the window–the right low dose will not even make you sleepy. It will make you feel well-enough to do whatever you wish.

Is it addictive? You bet. Exactly the same way as sugar or caffeine is addictive… which soft drink do you prefer? And latte or black?

Comments are welcome, as always! (I don’t bite; I am not on serotonin!)

Angela

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Do You Know the Anatomy of Migraine is Now Known?

Posted on November 17, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Part 2 of a 3-part series on migraines was published today and if you really want to understand migraines, I recommend you read part 1 first and then read part 2, which is a bit more comprehensive and scientific.

I copy paste here the beginning to capture your interest but please read the rest on the page where it is posted:

What is the anatomy of a migraine? Do migraines have an anatomy, a location map, in the same way heart disease does? Sure, migraine happens in the brain and we feel the pain in our head if there is pain – not all migraines come with pain, but does the pain guide us to a causative anatomy of the migraine the same way a heart attack does to the heart? No, it does not; at least not in the same way a blocked artery points to the cause of heart attack. The symptoms of migraines correspond to no specific regions of the brain, except in the case of the aura migraine, which points at the visual cortex. Only about 15% of those with migraines have auras. For 85% of the cases, we do not have the anatomical location of the migraine understood. Most science seems to consider aura and non-aura migraine different in nature and cause. Are they? Maybe not.

Most migraines are not connected to the symptoms we feel (nausea, dizziness, IBS, RLS, anxiety, nausea, vomit, etc.) and because of the variety of symptoms, there is nothing to guide us, such as a scan of the arteries for heart or a stroke. Another contributing factor is that there are no pain sensing nerves in the brain. All pain is felt by the trigeminal neuron receptors that are located on the meninges of the brain. That is, the pain we feel as migraineurs is disconnected from the actual location that causes migraines. To find the anatomy of a migraine, we need to go beyond the symptoms and the pain of the disease, beyond the visible disturbance of the eye in the aura, to the underlying cause for these symptoms.

For much of recent history, migraine research has revolved around two discrete theories of migraines: vascular and non-vascular mental illness. The two schools of thought were merged into what is now called neurovascular disease. But the latest findings suggest that there is more to migraines than neurovascular disease.

Migraine as Vascular Disease

For much of the 20th century, migraine was considered to be a vascular disease. This meant that migraine pain was caused by cranial blood vessel dilation or constriction. Still today we can see many over-the-counter migraine drugs that constrict blood vessels with caffeine in order to constrict the vascular structure of the brain (and the heart and the rest of our body). Alternatively, many doctors still prescribe beta blockers that reduce blood pressure and loosen arteries for easier blood flow and reduced constriction. If migraine is a disease of vascular nature, what causes the cranial vasodilation changes, particularly if these changes do not affect the heart or other parts of the body? This is the first clue that migraines are something more than just vascular in nature.

Migraine as Non-Vascular Mental Illness

The second prominent theory in migraine research attributes migraine pain to alterations… more

Questions and comments are welcome! This article contains lots of scientific evidence and is written on a bit more scientific language. Please feel free to ask if something confuses you!

Angela

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Did You Break a Nail? Oh My. Here is an SSRI Drug For You!

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

No I am not joking; I wish I were. Today SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) are used for just about everything: ADD, ADHD, Menopause, Pain, Migraine, Fibromyalgia, depression, insomnia, OCD, sexual dysfunction, and the list goes on. It is as if we hit the jackpot and found a miracle cure for every ailment possible!

I wrote on this blog several times about SSRIs before. One article is about how it is used for migraine and why it is so dangerous, so you should read that article for refresher but I explain here what it is and what it is not a bit more in detail from a different angle. I am using here the same drawing though that I drew before to show how SSRI works.

This image is taken from the previous article that I drew in a highly simplified form. The goal of SSRI is to induce the neurons that manufacture serotonin neurotransmitters to produce more endlessly. The “reuptake” is a sensor that would allow the neuron to know how much serotonin it already made and once the serotonin level reaches the reuptake, it would send message to the neuron that there is enough; it would inhibit the neuron from making more. SSRIs plug the reuptake by something that is not serotonin so the neuron has no clue that it has made a ton of it already. It just keeps on producing it. There are many problems with this that is explained in the previous article.

One of the things that got me really upset was while watching TV tonight there was an advertisement  for a menopausal drug that was saying that it helps with hot-flashes. This would have been fine but then they said the following: “in a non-hormonal way.” This made me pop off the sofa to see what exactly this magical non-hormonal drug was that takes away hot-flashes! Based on the list of adverse effects warning, I knew immediately that it was some kind of serotonin but not sure yet what  kind. As it turns out it is not estrogen hormone alright but it is a hormone! It is serotonin hormone.

You see, while serotonin is in the body, we call it hormone. When it is in the brain, we call it neurotransmitter. They are exactly the same chemical elements only their functions change based on their location. They are definitely hormones though. There is a  trick about SSRI and while the TV ad could have said it is “not a hormone,” by saying it is “not hormonal” it lied. While it is not hormone itself, its job is to create extra hormone. It is like me telling you that I am not selling my house; my real estate agent does. The fact is I will end up with a sold house and in the case of SSRI I will end up with a ton of hormones I did not have before. So is it hormonal? You bet it is! And it is a dangerous one at that.

But let me ask you this: Given the many illnesses SSRIs claim to be able to treat today, would we not all be healthy by now? How come people end up with suicidal thoughts, kill themselves, end up with headaches, serotonin syndrome (toxicity), and develop additional illnesses all the time? And what exactly are we going to do with all the serotonin we manufacture as a result of SSRIs that are so good for us. One of the side effects of too much serotonin in the brain is serotonin syndrome. In the 2012 Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ national Poison Data System (NPDS): 30th Annual Report you can see all drugs that poisoned people for whatever reason and how many died. In this report there were 47,115 serotonin syndrome cases reported and 89 people died. This is reported by the 15% of doctors who actually recognize a serotonin syndrome when they see one. Doctors don’t seem to be aware of the phenomenon of serotonin syndrome. If we add the 85% of cases that were missed by doctors, we are talking about an epidemic.

It is an epidemic because while doctors prescribe SSRIs left and right for just about everything, they can not diagnose an overdose. Why are they not cognizant of the overdose? It is possible to get a serotonin toxic level buildup from a single SSRI tablet! And why are they so prescription happy of SSRIs the first place? Why is this generation so lacking of serotonin that we must force the brain to make more? Are we doing something to take all of the neurons that normally make serotonin in our brains and bodies and tearing them out?

Actually we are doing some things that indeed may reduce serotonin in our brains: we are not supplying the neurons with the proper nutrients to create serotonin. So when we force them to create serotonin without energy and we actually hurt the neurons.

We should call this the serotonin generation since we take in more serotonin than vitamins or supplements that were the fad of the earlier times. Today the fashion is SSRIs. But SSRIs are not toys. They are extremely hard for you to stop taking because your body doesn’t know how to stop making the serotonin when the plug is removed. It is in hyper serotonin mode and will have a hard time adjusting to the new environment of “go to sleep.” Plus our brains were so over flooded with serotonin that it has numbed our senses for many discomforts such as pains, hot flashes, sexual behavior, OCD, PTSD, ADD, ADHD, depression, you name it, that without all that numbing “feeling drunkenly good,” we crash and start hurting and act bizarre. We cannot just stop an SSRI. Depending on how long you have been taking one, it can take years to stop taking it and sometimes many years later you get “flashbacks” as I was told by some SSRI stoppers. They are extremely addictive drugs.

They make us stay close to the toilet too since they make us run–often initiating IBS, anxiety, and similar illnesses.

So next time a doctor tells you to take SSRI and it is not addictive, feel free to chuckle and laugh until you fall off the examining table. Because they are more addictive than the feared benzodiazepines! And not only addictive but they modify the brain’s anatomy such that the brain forgets how to live without them. In every which way they are the same as benzodiazepines and worse! They can kill you! Do yourself a favor and do not EVER start taking SSRIs!

Comments are welcome as always!

Angela

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FDA: Epidural Steroid was Off-Label Use? Really? It Was NEVER Approved for That?

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Oh I thought I can take a day off from typing up blogs but wow!!! Things come at me from friends and colleagues with the speed of light. I am outraged! So here is a new killer article for you!

Who ever in his or her mind would have thought that epidural steroid injections that many insurance companies request to be given prior to surgery were never ever FDA approved procedures?!

Oh my!! Now there is big trouble! Because they were not approved!

There is big trouble on two fronts and let me list them in order of importance where off-label use is number one!

  1. Off-label use of any drug should be illegal! We now have seen several examples where off-label use of a drug hurts people. I have written about off-label use before but let me cover it again in the quick. When the FDA approves a drug, it has extremely strict guidelines for everything, including label which must contain what it is to be used for; how it is used; each dose has a separate label; all adverse reactions must be listed. Nothing can change on this label unless the FDA says it must be changed and when the FDA says it must be changed that is bad news! There is an inconsistency in the labeling of FDA that allows an innocent appearing sentence: “your doctor may prescribe this for causes other than listed” or something similar. This is an under-the-table permit for off-label use. But this is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the drug is not permitted to be used for anything that is not included on the label and on the other hand it permits the drug to be used for things that are not on the label. I wonder why lawyers are not yet chewing at this sentence from all angles? Is that possible they have not noticed the logical inconsistency? Lawyer? Not noticing? Nah….
  2. The steroid injections used in epidural form to be injected into the spine are now black-boxed by the following strong statement by the FDA:

Injectable corticosteroids are commonly used to reduce swelling or inflammation. Injecting corticosteroids into the epidural space of the spine has been a widespread practice for many decades; however, the effectiveness and safety of the drugs for this use have not been established, and FDA has not approved corticosteroids for such use

Let me rephrase this making my point: Injecting corticosteroids epidural has been a widespread practice for many decades but FDA has not approved corticosteroids for such use. Wow! They have killed two birds in one swell swoop!

On the one hand they admit to allow an FDA non-approved process to happen and sort of encouraged it for decades??? For decades??? As a widespread practice? And on the other hand they have strict guidelines that will not allow a dot to be changed on the label and all drugs must be approved by the FDA prior to use?

Am I missing something here?

Will someone please tell me why we need to have the FDA? Does it have any reason to exist and oversee the safety of our drugs with such double standard? They look the other way for decades over illegal use of a procedure that ended up hurting people? Oh yeah. Let’s talk about the kind of injuries:

[04-23-2014] The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning that injection of corticosteroids into the epidural space of the spine may result in rare but serious adverse events, including loss of vision, stroke, paralysis, and death.

Oh I am tickled to tears to know that after decades of people getting hurt the FDA finally puts a new label out–not that it prevents its use even though it admits it does not show any benefit yet either: “the effectiveness and safety of the drugs for this use have not been established” so my question is dear FDA: Why are you letting a drug that is so dangerous as a result of its procedure to be continued?

Those of you who are told by your insurance companies that you should try an injectible corticosteroid epidural before other procedures, please print this article and hand it to your medical provider along with a note that the medical provider and your insurance company must sign: in case I get injured you are all responsible in court! I think you will not be forced to have that injection after all!

And if you are an attorney, please do yourself and the rest of all a huge favor and start a class action lawsuit! This is your chance!

Comments are welcomed and encouraged!!!

Angela

 

Posted in Fibromyalgia, Interesting reading, Migraine-Blog, Must Read, This & That, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Dehydration & Salt Deficiency May Trigger Migraines!

Posted on November 4, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

I have started a blogging assignment on migraines and later hopefully on other illnesses as well that connect to hormones. I published part one of a three-part article on migraines, what causes most and what to do when one gets them or prevent them in general. Because migraines connect to hormones (in the brain we call them neurotransmitters), I will be writing these special articles on the blog HormonesMatter. To be sure you understand, migraines are not caused by hormones directly; the lack of hormone development is the one sending the pain signal.

Please visit my article and also browse among the many other articles by members of the blogging team. The blogging team is made up from varying levels of professionals, from those who fell victims of some drug to MDs and PhDs. Most of the articles link to scientific literature that you can find. In mine there are some as well plus also a video on how the cells drink using sodium-potassium pumps in their membranes to “drink” and maintain a healthy productive life. Each cell is precious so handle with care!

Comments both here and there are welcome!

Angela

Posted in Fibromyalgia, Interesting reading, Migraine-Blog, Must Read, This & That, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Aspirin, Heart-attack, & Stroke

Posted on November 3, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Aspirin is on TV nearly every day as a the first line defense for preventing heart-attacks. Interestingly, a few months ago, there was a 60-Minute program discussing how new discovery shows that Aspirin doesn’t actually help women in the case of heart attacks but rather help with stroke and for men it helps with heart but not with stroke. This was an interesting story and I wondered why, after this information, Bayer was continuing to advocate Aspirin as heart attack prevention aiming at women.

Well, I suppose my question was answered: Bayer was not supposed to advertise Aspirin for women and actually not even for men who had no heart attacks before!

On May 2nd 2014  the FDA came out with new regulation preventing Bayer to claim that Aspirin provides protection, can prevent, or even help a first heart attack. In other words, Aspirin is not a first prevention medicine anymore. How life changes! And how few listen and pay attention! If you go to visit your doctor today and ask, I bet he/she will tell you to take an Aspirin every day, the baby 81 mg one, to prevent a heart attack once you are over the age of 50.

I hear doctors tell me all the time that everyone over 50 should take a baby Aspirin! Well I guess not! You can read the argument and the final decision with the many case studies that showed no effect of Aspirin on those with first case of a heart attack or prevention of them. Aspirin apparently neither prevents nor helps a heart attack as long as the person does not have a history of heart attacks!

Here is a quote from the FDA’s new regulation:

FDA has reviewed studies on the use of aspirin for the prevention of a first cardiovascular event (primary prevention) and did not find sufficient support for the use of aspirin for primary prevention in these trials. FDA is currently awaiting results of additional clinical trials that are underway and are estimated to have reportable results in the next few years. These clinical trials may provide new evidence that could be the basis for changing the current uses (indications) for aspirin….

FDA recently denied a request submitted by Bayer HealthCare, LLC, requesting a change in the prescribing information for health care professionals (professional labeling) for aspirin to allow marketing of the product for prevention of heart attacks in patients with no prior history of cardiovascular disease.

After the 2003 advisory committee meeting, FDA was aware of several ongoing studies for primary prevention in patients with diabetes and diseases of the arteries and veins located outside of the heart and brain (peripheral vascular disease). We opted to wait for the outcome of these studies. The results of these studies were published over the past several years.  They did not demonstrate a significant benefit for primary prevention….

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) national initiative, the Million Hearts Campaign, is focused on increasing appropriate, secondary prevention aspirin use in individuals who already have heart disease or stroke.  The CDC, in its Million Hearts Campaign, agrees with FDA’s position.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) recommends, as does FDA, the use of aspirin for secondary prevention.  Specifically, NHLBI recommends using aspirin to lower the risk of a heart attack for those who have already had one, and to keep arteries open in those who have had a previous heart bypass or other artery-opening procedure such as coronary angioplasty.

Should you throw your bottle of Aspirin away? If you never had a heart attack, yes, throw Aspirin out. It causes stomach problems, insults GERD further–can create GERD in fact–and its most important benefit that we thought was true is not true. So throw it away until you have a heart attack. Can you prevent heart attack without Aspirin? Absolutely! Eat right, exercise, stop eating sugar, drink more water, be happy. You will less likely to have a heart attack if you have a healthy lifestyle.

When should you take Aspirin? If you already had a heart attack or a stroke, do have Aspirin with you. Depending on what other medications you may take, you may not be able to take Aspirin also unless you are experiencing a heart attack. Thus its use is limited as of now. But stay tuned, things may change! We live in a dynamic world!

Comments are welcome as always!

Addition!

As a comment I received an article that just published by JAMA that is the leading medical research journal. A friend sent it (thanks Roald!) and I thought that for those of you interested in a more technical and scientific data that is most recent will appreciate a longitudinal study that was stopped prior to reaching mid-time of the clinical trial because it showed that there was absolutely no benefit of aspirin on heart or stroke or hypertension or anything on a large population tested in Japan. So Aspirin a day? Nah.. forget it… go for a walk!

Angela

Posted in Fibromyalgia, Interesting reading, Migraine-Blog, Must Read, This & That, Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Do You Have Migraines?

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Angela A Stanton, Ph.D.

Fantastic news to migraineurs who read (or will read) my Fighting the Migraine Epidemic book!!!

I now have received support for the book from 2 companies whose products we often use to keep our body’s hydration protocol high as per my book. Both companies loved the book, are supporting it, and we are now in figuring out how to work together: perhaps they will support some discount to those who read the book by a code or similar.

I know that one of the two companies is starting a medical website and I will be on helping them with that and the migraine book will be a focus. So if you know someone with migraines, please send them to join the migraine group I run on FB since whatever special I receive will only go to those who have my book.

The group’s name: “Migraine Sufferers who Want to be Cured“; a closed group with messages only seen for those who are members.  Please join us if you or someone you know has migraines!

Happy Sunday to you too! ❤

Comments and questions are welcome!

Angela

Posted in Fibromyalgia, Interesting reading, Introduction, Migraine-Blog, Must Read, This & That, Thoughts, Why Me | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment