Sobering Thoughts

“John”, a personal friend of mine, called me this morning with the sad news that last night his eight year old son was diagnosed with autism.

The doctor’s “solution” was the antipsychotic, Prolixin (generic name: fluphenazine).

Fortunately “John” already knew that this is a very dangerous drug. His mother was prescribed the drug before and as a result developed tardive dyskinesia (a sometimes permanent impairment resulting in involuntary movements of the tongue, lips, face, trunk, and extremities); a common effect of antipsychotics (also called major tranquilizers and neuroleptics).

“John” was furious! How could a doctor, a person that we are supposed to be able to trust, say that an eight year old child, with a growing body and brain be given an antipsychotic! No problem, the doctor backed down and suggested Cymbalta (duloxetine) – a drug that is known to increase suicidal thinking or behavior in children.

So what is a parent supposed to do in this situation?

For starters, get informed. Learn all you can about what the doctor is telling you and especially about the medications that are recommended. Doctors are not always right. They are like you and me in that they listen to sales pitches from the pharmaceutical companies. We, as consumers, listen to commercials on the radio and TV; doctors get visits from sales reps from different pharmaceutical companies, which by the way offer them incentives to use their particular drug. So it is really our own personal responsibility to open our eyes and ears and really do the research. After all, we are the ones that have to live with the consequences, not the doctors.

Here is a list of questions that I would want answers for:

1. What is the cause of the illness?
2. Is a drug going to fix the cause of the illness or is it going to suppress or “manage” the symptoms?
3. What are the known side effects of the drug? Physical and mental.
4. Are there alternative treatments that don’t require medications?

You may sometimes get the answer that the cause is unknown or you might get the answer that it is a “brain chemical imbalance”.

If the cause is “not known”, then a drug is likely going to be used to suppress the symptoms, not cure or fix anything. Consider the side effects, which by the way are very real — not just “might happen” to you but could very likely happen to you – and put that on your list of pros and cons.

If the answer is a “brain chemical imbalance”, my next questions are:

1. How do you know?
2. Is there an objective test that shows a brain chemical imbalance?
3. Are there standards for how much of each chemical is supposed to be in my brain?

I already know the answers to these questions, by the way: there is no proof of any brain chemical imbalance – no doctor will ever be able to prove to you that you have such a condition.

So here is the point: not all drugs are necessary. Some drugs are there to suppress or “manage” symptoms but in fact they can make the original problem a lot worse — and that would of course require more drugs.

There are many alternative solutions out there and some are very simple.

So be responsible for your own health and do your research. Learn what there is to know about your illness or the drugs prescribed.

Here are a couple of links to help you get started in your research:

http://www.cchrint.org/psychdrugdangers

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm111085.htm