Putting Pain Sufferers Health at Risk

In its infinite wisdom, FDA is planning to consider Cymbalta for pain relief -

-FDA Panel to Consider Pain Indication for Antidepressant (excerpt)
Patients in the duloxetine arms were more likely to discontinue treatment because of adverse events, including nausea, sleep disturbances, dizziness, dry mouth, somnolence, constipation, and fatigue. Most of the events were dose-dependant.
Duloxetine use also appears to be associated with an increased risk of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a skin disease that usually results from a drug reaction, as well as another form of the disease called toxic epidermal necrolysis. The FDA reviewers recommended that, if duloxetine is given the chronic pain indications, it should carry warning labels about the increased skin disease risks.
The FDA also has concerns about duloxetine's risk of serious liver toxicity, already included in the drug's labeling.
No deaths were reported during the trials.
The safety findings aren't new or unexpected and are very similar to duloxetine's current safety label, the FDA reviewers said.
The drug also carries a boxed warning for suicidality in children, adolescents, and young adults taking antidepressants for major depressive disorder and other psychiatric disorders.
"...duloxetine is not universally tolerated nor free of safety risks," wrote Eli Lilly staff in the company's briefing documents posted on the FDA's website. However, the safety profile is "well-characterized" and not any different for chronic pain patients than it is for other patients who are already using the drug.

Consider that you do encounter much higher risk with these and may other drugs used for pain relief. Lyrica for example depletes your platelets and they don't mention that in the TV ads.

You might want to learn more about natural pain relief.

from Natural Health News Search

Natural Health News: FDA and Drug Risks

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No Difference in Psych Drugs for Depression

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SSRIs Can Lead to Cataract

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Suicide & Death Can Lurk In Each SSRI Pill

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SSRI Drugs in Pregnancy Linked to Heart Abnormalities

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Flying High on SSRIs

Now that the FAA has lifted the ban on pilots using SSRI antidepressants, perhaps you'd like to read this commentary excerpt from another natural health advocate -

"Dr. Peter Breggin, a court certified psychiatric expert and author of numerous books on psychiatric drugs, reveals how GSK not only concealed negative studies, but also manipulated data about Paxil-induced suicidality so that actual suicide attempts in clinical trials were underreported, while attempts by subjects taking a placebo were inflated. According to Dr. Breggin, drug companies settle almost all lawsuits out of court in order to seal incriminating scientific data. “This deprives the FDA, medical profession and public of critical information on drug safety and efficacy,” he says.

There were 39,000 adverse event reports submitted to the FDA’s Medwatch, according to award-winning investigative reporter, Robert Whitaker. And that number is said to represent only about 1% of the actual number of adverse events. “So, if we get 39,000 adverse event reports about Prozac,” Mr. Whitaker said in an interview for Street Spirit in August 2005, “the number of people who have actually suffered such problems is estimated to be 100 times as many, or roughly four million people.”  Complete article

Paxil and Effexor: Higher Risk of Miscarriage

Study Links Antidepressant Use and Miscarriage
A 68 percent increase in the overall risk of miscarriage in pregnant women using antidepressants
Scientists at University of Montreal report Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal that women taking the drugs most often prescribed to treat depression and anxiety — including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and the older tricyclics — had a significantly higher risk of miscarriage than a matched control group of women who did not take antidepressants. The study is the first of its kind to analyze which antidepressants and which doses are most likely to be associated with spontaneous abortion. Led by Anick Bérard at the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Montreal, the research team also documented that two SSRIs, paroxetine (Paxil) and venlafaxine (Effexor), are associated with the greatest risk.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1992988,00.html

From Natural Health News: One of 38 related articles
http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com/2008/03/fluoride-is-not-cure-for-mothers-or.html

Did you ever consider that poor nutrition, the no-fat/lo-fat diet, and hormone imbalance might also be a factor that your health provider is overlooking in regard to your mood? Consider "Health Forensics".