Lexapro Side Effects: Drug Inserts and Physician Comments versus Reality

It is a fact of life in medicine that drug side effects appear to be underestimated both in drug company pre-approval studies, and then in the anecdotal experience of pharmacists and physicians. Being anti-drug oriented as I am, I have noted with dismay how physicians usually fail to acknowledge side effects resulting from the drugs they prescribe, preferring instead to view the adverse effects as coincidental, unrelated, or psychosomatic. This is a serious problem. Obviously looking the side effects square in the face and being very clear about the frequency of unwanted effects would be bad for the pharmaceutical company’s sales. In reality drugs have many side effects. That’s one of the main reasons I am in natural medicine, and would never consider going back to standard drug oriented practice.

Let me give you a good example of just one drug which illustrates this phenomenon. Lexapro is the latest and greatest psychiatric drug which is indicated for mixed anxiety and depression syndromes. It has been prescribed over 8 million times in this country alone. Physicians and pharmacists are fond of saying that its side effects are minimal to non-existent. Is that the truth? Surely not everyone has such severe side effects that they must discontinue taking the drug. But numerous people have had severe problems with it. Check out the website  http://www.prozactruth.com/  for a huge number of individual case reports about this and other psychiatric drugs and read these testimonials. They will definitely make you wonder whether any possible benefits are worth the risk. Many people felt like they were on “speed” from the very first dose. Others felt like “zombies”, some developed suicidal and homicidal impulses, and many completely lost their libido, ability to climax, and erectile function. Other very common complaints were a very severe headache, again starting from the very first dose, a significant weight gain of from 10 to 30 pounds, and insomnia. In one very sad case a 22 year old young man who was given the medication for back pain and had absolutely no history of depression ended up committing suicide on the drug. More and more warnings about suicidal tendencies from these drugs are being raised, and the labels now carry a boxed warning about increasing “suicidality” as a possible side effect.

We are pretty much brainwashed in this country as far as our attitude towards pharmaceuticals. We are lead to believe that new drugs are the answer for all of our stubborn medical problems. I wrote this article just to caution my readers about these three points. First, drugs are dangerous and constitute a two edged sword. Very few of them exert curative effects. Thus when looked at objectively, the risk reward ratio often doesn’t add up. Second, drug side effects are underreported in drug company sponsored studies, on drug package inserts, and in anecdotal comments by pharmacists and physicians. Drug side effects can be serious or even fatal. Third, real world experience tells the true story about how safe or effective pharmaceuticals are. Have a healthy skepticism towards accepting a quick prescription from your doctor for anything, but especially for psychiatric symptoms and for new drugs. I think it’s always wise to get the opinion of a natural medicine physician before committing to take a prescription drug. There are effective natural alternatives for treatment of every human disease.

Deaths in Elderly Patients on Antipsychotic Drugs
The chain of events in the world seems to bring me many opportunities to support my contention that the drug centered approach to medical care in this country is hazardous to our health. Recently I received a physician’s advisory from the FDA warning me that there are more than the expected number of deaths in elderly patients with behavioral disorders who are prescribed anti-psychotic drugs like Zyprexa, Abilify, Risperidal, Geodon, Clozaril, or Seraquel. In studies that totaled 5106 patients, the indication is that theses drugs cause a 1.6 fold increase in deaths. This means there are one and one half times more deaths in the drug treated patients than in the placebo treated control groups. Most of the deaths were either heart or infection related.

Despite none of these drugs being “approved” for dementia related behavioral problems in the elderly, all of these drugs in fact are being used for this purpose in this group. If you have loved ones who are in nursing homes or whose behavior is being chemically controlled with the use of anti-psychotic drugs, talk to the doctor about alternatives, and get a natural medicine evaluation for additional ideas.