Paxil

I’d like to invite everyone reading this to join in on a challenge with me.

First of all, I’d like you to take the time to read an article I wrote a few years ago called You Are What You Think. Take note of whether you see yourself in any of the examples mentioned and review the strategies recommended for those thought patterns.

Now, here’s the challenge. Over the next week or so, make it a point to watch for those negative thought patterns in yourself; and, as soon as you catch yourself thinking those thoughts, apply the strategies given. Watch to see what effect it has on how you feel when you shift your thinking to something more positive. Did you feel better? Worse? No effect?

Finally, I’d like you to report back here and leave a comment about your experiences. I am going to insist on one thing, however. If you want to leave a comment, you have to have given it an honest try. No comments about how this could never work unless you’ve already given it your best shot and it failed to help you.

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy

A link between Paxil and brain defects in babies born to women who took Paxil during their pregnancies has recently received much attention in the U.S. media. This link was highlighted in a 2007 study revealing that women who take certain SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)—including Paxil—during pregnancy may be at a significantly higher risk of having a baby with a brain defect.

Paxil Use During Pregnancy

SSRIs are prescribed as a treatment for depression and other disorders, and it may be inevitable that some women are taking Paxil while they are pregnant — whether they know that they are pregnant or have not yet found out about the pregnancy.

In some cases, a woman whose pregnancy is known is being treated with Paxil because of severe depression that has not been successfully treated with a less risky medication or therapy; in such circumstances, the ratio of the benefits vs. risks of Paxil must be considered.

In other cases, a woman becomes pregnant while she is taking Paxil, but she doesn’t know about the pregnancy for weeks or perhaps months. About half of the pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended, and a woman may not be concerned about the Paxil-brain defect connection until she finds out she is pregnant.

Unfortunately, birth defects (including brain defects) are most likely to develop during the first trimester of a pregnancy, when a fetus is in its earliest stages of development. Even so, other birth defects can and do arise later in pregnancy.

Anencephaly

A significant connection between pregnant women’s Paxil use and brain defects came to light in a 2007 report published in The New England Journal of Medicine. This study found that women who took SSRIs such as Paxil during their pregnancy had a 2.4 percent higher risk of having a baby with anencephaly (no forebrain). Anencephaly is a heart-breaking condition for any parent; the baby is severely malformed and unable to function normally. A baby with anencephaly will die before or within a few days of birth.

Craniosynostosis

The same study, which gathered data from a large nationwide review of birth defects from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also found a link between the use during pregnancy of SSRIs such as Paxil and a brain defect called craniosynostosis, a condition in which the skull of the fetus forms too early, preventing the brain from growing properly. Craniosynostosis is a very severe, life-threatening and debilitating brain defect.

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy

In his upcoming book, A Promise to Ourselves: A Journey Through Fatherhood and Divorce, 30 Rock star Alec Baldwin will be speaking out about the depression and thoughts of suicide he experienced following a much-publicized voicemail he left for his 11-year-old daughter Ireland, calling her a “thoughtless little pig.”

The actor talks about how he spiraled even further into depression after his visitation rights were suspended.

An insider who read the book told In Touch magazine, “He writes about how he was serious about suicide. He definitely put a lot of thought into the different ways he could accomplish it.”

Instead of killing himself, however, he sought professional help.

According to the unnamed source, “Alec writes in the book that a doctor told him he’d be no good to anyone - especially Ireland - if he destroyed himself.”

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy

A new study says that women are more likely that men to achieve complete remission of symptoms with the commonly prescribed antidepressant citalopram (Celexa).

The differences in response appeared when researchers analyzed data from 2,876 men and women who had participated in a multi-year study called the STAR*D, which looked at how well the drug helped participants achieve total remission of symptoms. These men and women, who had diagnoses of major depressive disorder, had taken citalopram for several weeks, with their doses increasing over time.

When the data was analyzed, it was found that women were 33% more likely than men to achieve full remission of their symptoms, despite the fact that the women were more severely depressed than the men at the start of the study.

No differences were found, however, in side effects, the amount of time that the patients took the drug or the time it took for them to achieve remission.

While it was unclear what might account for the differences in response, further studies are focusing on hormonal differences, which might play a role.

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy

According to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on September 1, following up with patients who try to commit suicide is an effective way to save lives.

The report said that research had found that phone calls and other regular forms of contact after patients were released from the hospital dramatically reduced their risk of further suicide attempts.

The WHO report recommended that, because of the obvious benefits and low cost, health professionals should offer social support to vulnerable patients.

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy

A new study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine suggests that women who exercise during pregnancy may be more likely to have a positive body image and less prone to having depression, both during and after pregnancy.

Danielle Symons Downs and colleagues at Penn State University surveyed 230 Pennsylvania women throughout pregnancy and during the postpartum period about their depression, exercise habits and how they felt about their bodies.

They found that women who exercised more prior to pregnancy had greater satisfaction with their bodies during the second and third trimesters and less depressive symptoms in the second trimester.

“If someone is depressed and not very happy with how their body looks, especially with regard to the physical changes that occur during pregnancy, it can influence depression later on,” said Downs.

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends that healthy pregnancy women get 30 minutes of moderate exercise all, or at least most, days of the week.

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy

About 5% of Americans aged 12 and older suffer from depression, according to a National Center for Health Statistics study; and, among these, 80% say depression interferes with some aspect of daily living - such as work, household chores or social situations.

A 5% rate of depression, while less than expected, still translates into a large cost for the U.S. economy with “almost two-thirds of the estimated $83 billion that depression cost the United States in 2000 resulting from lowered productivity and workplace absenteeism.”

The authors also report that not enough people are seeking help for their depression. For example, among those with moderate or severe depression symptoms, less than a third had seen a mental health professional for assistance.

People don’t get treatment, say the authors, because they don’t realize they have a treatable illness, they don’t believe treatment works or they’re afraid of the stigma surrounding the illness. There is also a lack of insurance coverage for mental illness, say the authors.

Other findings include:

* Higher rates of depression among those aged 40-59, women and non-Hispanic blacks.
* Women were more likely than men to be depressed.
* Non-Hispanic blacks were more likely to be depressed than Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanic whites.
* The poor were more likely to be depressed than those living above the poverty level.

The findings, which appear on the CDC website, came from analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), which was conducted in 2005-2006.

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy

A comprehensive literature review published in the journal ecancer suggests that antidepressants may help fight cancer in several ways, including stimulation of the immune response.

Antidepressants may be helpful to cancer patients in other areas as well, such as sleep, appetite, pain and depression.

Antidepressants work by affecting levels of chemicals called prostaglandins, which are believed to regulate every cell in the body, including those involved in mood and immunity.

According to the report, an ideal anti-cancer agent would inhibit prostaglandins in such a way as to shut down the formation of cancer; and, antidepressants appear to have this ability, as well as the ability to mitigate some of the more unpleasant symptoms associated with cancer treatment.

The report also notes that, paradoxically, adjusting prostaglandins may be responsible for both pro- and anti-cancer activity. The implication of this is that antidepressants may also be capable of triggering or accelerating cancer. While studies thus far have not confirmed that antidepressants can promote cancer, breast cancer has been reported in three men taking a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (includes drugs such as Prozac, Zoloft and Celexa).

“Overall,” says study author Dr. Julian Lieb, “the positive effects of antidepressants in cancer therapeutics outweigh the negatives.”

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy

Many people often have misunderstandings about what antidepressants are capable of.

First of all, they are not pick me up pills; they don’t artificially bring on a feeling of happiness, euphoria, or unrealistic well-being. Nor do antidepressants insulate you from life, make you not care about vital things, or make you oblivious to sorrow or loss.

What antidepressants do is avert depressed persons from sliding into the blackest depths of depression when something awful happens. They can still feel wounded, pain, and apprehension, but they feel these the way people normally do when they don’t have depression. They also can help depressives sleep soundly, increase their energy, and improve their ability to concentrate.

The way antidepressants work is interesting. There are two chemicals, serotonin and norepinephrine, that have to do with the transmission of impulses between nerve cells in the brain and seem to be allied with depression. It would appear as if depressed people use up these chemicals at an accelerated rate than other people. Antidepressants help to retain these chemicals, apparently leading to feelings of reduced anxiety, more security, increased self-worth, assertiveness, and resilience.

There are a mixture of types of antidepressants, but they fall into a number of straightfoward categories. These are tricyclics, MAOIs, and lithium, and the newer medications: hetereocyclics and Prozac and Prozac-related drugs.

Until rather recently, tricyclics were the normal treatment for depression. These medications include imipramine (Tofranil), amitriptiline (Elacil), Vivactil, Norpramin, Pamelor, and Sinequan. Still in conventional use today, 40 to 70 percent of depressed patients improve substantially with tricyclics.

Although they are quite efficient medications, there are some negatives to their use. They generally take several weeks of constant administration to be successful, which is difficult to handle when people are sincerely distressed. Also, it is relatively easy to take a disastrous overdose. In general, tricyclics should only be used on a short-term basis. They are not addictive, but they must be used with care, especially with people who have cardiovascular disease.

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (ie. MAOIs) include Marplan, Parnate, and Nardil. They are a different class of drugs and cause a different reaction in the brain. These drugs are helpful from some people who do not respond to tricyclics. These drugs can have disagreeable side effects, but the main disadvantage of MAOIs is that they can also cause a stroke if certain foods containing the compound tyramine (cheese, red wine, pickles) are consumed while they are being used.

Lithium is generally the treatment of choice for bipolar disorder (the cycle of manic highs with depressed lows). In the correct dose, lithium reduces by about 50 percent the chances of another manic episode within a year. Mood swings become fewer, shorter, and less harsh. The success rate for lithium treatment is 70 percent, and 20 percent of people become symptom-free. It is generally seen as a maintenance drug. Once the patient is on Lithium, they are on it for life.

One of the most well-known drugs on the market today is Prozac. It has been followed into the marketplace by many other new antidepressant medications like Zoloft and Paxil, two near cousins, Effexor and Serzone, and some more distant cousins, notably Wellbutrin, Desyrel, and BuSpar.

Unlike tricyclics, which affect the levels of both serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain, Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil affect only serotonin. Hence they are known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, meaning that they prevent or slow down the reabsorption of serotonin. Effexor and Serzone affect both serotonin and norepinephrine, and the others have more complex effects. All, however, have been shown to be effective in the treatment of depression. The choice of which of these medications to use for a particular person has to do with their dosage and side-effect profile. Paxil, for example, seems to have a soothing effect on anxiety that Prozac lacks. Effexor has the reputation of being more energizing than Prozac.

Compared with tricyclics, the side effects of Prozac and its cousins are usually small. Tricyclics can give you dry mouth, make you constipated, and actually slow you down, whereas Prozac has none of these problems and gives you a little more energy. However, there are some side effects with the newer antidepressants which should be mentioned. Most notable among these is a reduction of interest in sex and complications maintaining an erection. Although the male performance problems usually go away after a few weeks, many people on SSRIs report a continued diminished interest in sex, which can certainly add to marital problems.

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy

Today when I went to my monthly appointment for counseling and doctor visit, I made the request to change my medication from cymbalta to something more cost effective.  The doctor worded it as cost prohibitive but whatever, it cost too doggone much.

So, he asked what other drugs we had tried and since the file was thicker than most phone books, we started a discussion based on my memory.  I told him that I had taken paxil when I was pregnant with my children and as far as I could remember it worked alright when I was pregnant but not so well afterwards.  And, I mentioned that I took prozac for many years on end.

So, he asked if I had a preference and since my memory serves me that one of the side effects of prozac is lack of appetite, I decided to go that route.  I know that sounds crazy but prozac really did help me for twelve years or more and I know the paxil didn’t do as well when I wasn’t pregnant.

So, prozac it is.  It will cost me much less ($5.17 a month versus $60 a month for cymbalta) than the cymbalta but the true test will be my mood, my cranky, aggravating disposition.

buy paxil antidepressant free prescription pills
FedEx overnight shipping free prescription online pharmacy