From Ann Blake Tracy
Mon Oct 2, 2006 12:38 am (PST)
The following quote is from an Associated Press article on the death of Anna
Nicole Smith that according to Google hit over 1,200 news reports worldwide
this past weekend. I had written to this reporter over two weeks ago to tell
him what they would find caused Daniel’s death, which was exactly what they
did find this past week – the combination of two antidepressants and a pain
killer:
_____________________________
Smith wants others to learn from her son’s death
“She wants to see exactly what happened in a final report because she wants
to make sure it doesn’t happen to someone else’s son,” he said.
Daniel Smith, who reportedly was hospitalized for depression and back pain
before he traveled to Nassau, had been prescribed the antidepressant Lexapro,
Wecht said. He said he had not determined whether Smith had also been
prescribed Zoloft, the other antidepressant found in his system.
The two drugs can be lethal when taken together or in sequence, according to
Ann Blake Tracy, the Des Moines, Iowa-based director of the International
Coalition for Drug Awareness.
“The residue can stay there for some time, and if they’re prescribed one
after they’ve taken another, they can end up in trouble,” she said.
________________________________
Now those of you who have followed my research, heard me speak, or read
articles I have written over the years are aware of how concerned I am about
deaths like Daniel Smith’s. I go absolutely ballistic when I hear of a doctor
giving two of these drugs together or giving them back to back or weaning
someone off one while starting them on another one. And I cannot believe how little
warning there is given to patients if they take over the counter cough or
cold meds with dextromethorphan in them or even dramamine for motion sickness
that the combination with their antidepressant could cause Serotonin Syndrome
which can prove fatal in a 24 hour period.
What is Serotonin Syndrome? It is a condition in which serotonin levels
become much too high. It is generally caused by mixing two serotonergic
medications together. Daniel did not have a chance with three – Zoloft, Lexapro, and
Methadone! Since the main function of serotonin is constriction of smooth
muscle tissue (which all the organs, veins and arteries are) when one dies of
Serotonin Syndrome it is generally caused by multiple organ failure as the
organs clamp up and shut down.
Tragically for many years a Google search for
Serotonin Syndrome would produce our web site where it discusses my book
explaining how deadly and dangerous this is and little to nothing else on the subject.
Most of my information came from Dr. Kirk Mills who I consider a leading
expert on this condition. Thankfully there is now a little more on the net about
this deadly and generally fatal condition. The following quote from a study
lists the symptoms:
“Mental status changes are the most frequently reported symptoms [confusion
(51%), agitation (34%), hypomania (21%), anxiety (15%) and coma (29%)]
associated with serotonin syndrome. Other commonly reported features include motor
abnormalities, cardiovascular changes, gastrointestinal problems and
miscellaneous changes such as diaphoresis [sweating] and fever.”
Now, those of you who have been on these drugs know all too well just how
very often these drugs produce those side effects! So how often are patients
going into high levels of serotonin that could become dangerous?
I believe it
is far more often than most realize. All the drug companies have ever wanted
to discuss is low levels of serotonin, not what happens when the serotonin
levels become too high. Do they really think the drug is going to put the brakes
on when it reaches the “normal” level of serotonin?
For those of you whose loved ones have suffered the mental status changes
leading to tragedies that resulted in more than one life lost you understand
firsthand that for Daniel and his family this tragedy could have been even
worse. Spinning the wheel of toxic reactions generated by high serotonin is like
playing Russian Roulette – you do not know which you are going to get. That
is one reason why it is so difficult for people to understand all the many
toxic reactions these drugs can produce whether they manifest as
mental/behavioral or physical it is the same toxic reaction.
Our prayers go out to Anna Nicole, Howard Stern and all those who loved
Daniel as yet another family suffers yet another senseless loss to these very
deadly drugs. This should make it all too obvious that the black box warnings we
got on antidepressants in the last couple of years are not nearly enough!!
As a society we continue to use these drugs with absolutely no education about
how they work and the cautions that need to be taken – the same mistake we
have made with drug after drug after drug until we finally know enough about
them to pull them from the market. In the meantime too many innocent victims,
literally used as guinea pigs, are left in the wake.
And once again I ask how many must die before we wake up to the nightmare
produced by this group of drugs? How many Daniel’s, Matt’s, Candace’s, Julie’s,
Mark’s, Aaron’s, Jacob’s, Conrad’s, John’s, Tracy’s, Andrea’s, etc., etc.,
etc., who could have made this world such a much brighter place, must we lose
before we stop this wholesale slaughter?
Ann Blake Tracy, Ph.D.,
Executive Director, International Coalition For Drug Awareness
Author: Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? – Our Serotonin Nightmare
& CD or audio tape on safe withdrawal: “Help! I Can’t Get
Off My Antidepressant!”
Order Number: 800-280-0730
Anna’s child died and his death has been in the press because she is a public figure. How many people have died from this deadly combination of drugs, and had a coroner claim it was a suicide, or something besides what it really was – murder by big pharma???
Jenny Hatch