Daily Mail – “Internal bleeding. Strokes. Birth defects. The long term effects of antidepressants are terrifying”

Doctors still routinely reassure patients that the side-effects of antidepressants are largely mild and short term – these include drowsiness, dizziness and weight gain that become obvious in the first few weeks and can normally be reversed by trying another type of pill. Yet there is growing evidence that long-term use is linked to more serious health problems including bleeding in the gut, low sodium levels in the elderly (which can lead to falls) and increased risk of stroke. Recently it’s been claimed that some antidepressants may increase the risk of birth defects.

Jane Feinmann
The Daily Mail
January 12, 2010

Just a few years ago, Yasmin Miller would have been horrified by the suggestion she might take antidepressants for the rest of her life. But today, the 37-year-old can barely imagine a future without this daily chemical boost.

Yasmin’s ‘perfect’ life as a corporate tax adviser was shattered when, in 2003, she developed severe depression. Although incapacitated by the illness, she needed convincing that a pill could make a difference.

‘I was gobsmacked when my GP suggested antidepressants, because I thought they were addictive,’ she recalls. ‘But now I’ve changed my mind: depression is just like epilepsy or diabetes or any other illness where you need to take a daily pill for life in order to stay healthy.’

Just 20 years after the launch of the ‘sunshine drug’ Prozac, Yasmin is one of hundreds of thousands of young women who can’t imagine life without antidepressants.

But some experts are warning of disturbing parallels with the ‘mother’s little helper’ scandal of the Seventies and Eighties, when thousands of women became addicted to widely prescribed tranquillisers, including Valium.

Read entire article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1242502/Hooked-happy-pills-Internal-bleeding-Strokes-Birth-defects-The-long-term-effects-antidepressants-terrifying.html

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