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"Mood stabilizers increase risk of suicide"


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Not to cause a ruckus, but this shit pisses me off. I hate all the contradictory med info floating around. "It may do this", "It may do that" - it may make your fecal matter stand up and do the mambo but I'll still take it if it works. Nobody knows what kind of reaction they are personally going to have with a med until they try it. But this is good for people to be aware of. Just not to freak out over or to use as an excuse to not take meds.

Link to full article on PsychCentral

Thursday, Jan. 31 (Psych Central) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) noted on Thursday that they have found that the risk of suicide and other suicidal behavior doubles for patients taking any of the 11 drugs used to treat diseases such as depression and epilepsy.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it analyzed 199 studies involving 43,892 patients who took one of the prescription drugs. Some of the medicines also are approved for depression, migraines and other conditions.

The agency found patients treated with one of the drugs were about twice as likely to report suicidal thoughts or behavior compared to those who received a placebo.

The risks were higher for patients being treated for epilepsy rather than another ailment.

The medications in question include Pfizer

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May I point out that Lithium is the sole drug proven to decrease completed suicides.

I don't have time to read the whole article, but while this headline is striking, it doesn't address how many would have been saved by taking the drugs vs. not being treated at all, and it doesn't address the use of multiple drugs and timely pdoc intervention that might actually lower the suicide rate. Also, having increased suicidal ideation, while distressing is not the same as a completion, and what other condition the med was intended for.

For example, controlling mania, while having some increase in depressive symptoms may be a reasonable tradeoff.

a.m.

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I remember reading where anticonvulsants have a marked increase in depression anyways...and that was some time ago... (on crazymeds I believe)

It's not news if you educate yourself first!

...But this is why I take a mood stabilizer with an AD (ooo wait, lamictal is in there...heh)

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Super Gwen,

(sigh..) Yes, I agree with your comments and it is just one more example that not enough research has been completed to provide better "treatments" for us. For many, they just do not work as well as they need. Or they even cause additional functional problems. I haven't researched anything in a while but I've read that nationwide, efforts have increased in research and efforts to treat Bipolar Disorder, but I'm not sure of other illnesses.

I too get mad and scared, actually. My Pdoc. told me that she thinks it will be close to twenty years before the treatments are much much more effective. I don't know if she is right or not.

Just like people with other chronic illnesses, the best thing for me is to accept where I am now and do what I can to better my days.

Truthfully, I have come out of a long, really bad place and I feel no where near like I did before the life-altering phase of this illness, I feel so much incredibly better now that I do appreciate the drugs now but I agree that "they" don't seem to know what they are doing!

Thank you for bringing this topic. I do wonder about how much better I'm going to get. But today, I'm trying to stay in the day and at least at some point, do something that I really enjoy. Right now I'm working on ridiculously tiny basic goals. Gosh, again, I've gone way of topic. Sorry.

Sadly,

Sunshine Outside

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I too get mad and scared, actually. My Pdoc. told me that she thinks it will be close to twenty years before the treatments are much much more effective. I don't know if she is right or not.

Just like people with other chronic illnesses, the best thing for me is to accept where I am now and do what I can to better my days.

Heh. 24 years ago, when I was diagnosed with Type I diabetes, it was all "oh you'll go blind and have bits chopped off" and all that crap.

Apparently they STILL say that. But better insulins and treatments have come out, and after 24 years of *horrid* abuse (heavy drinking, smoking, poor blood sugar control) the worst I've had is cataract surgery and some extraneous nerve issues.

Think of how treatments have progressed in just the last TEN years...shit. I think 20 years out is pessimistic.

Accept where you are now,yes; I have for 24 years--I've accepted that I will be blind and have bits chopped off. But except for readers I see GREAT and if I quit smoking and drinking I'd feel GREAT too!

I'm not worried about curing diabetes tomorrow (i.e., great new bp drugs) when I can get by as good as I can today. Cuz hey--we could be where we were 20 or so years ago! Ick!

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Good point, CNS. (if I took it right)

I can look at the glass as half full instead as of half empty.

More to the point, I think, is to change my thoughts so that I will feel positive about the new research and treatments, and as you mentioned, have much improved over the last ten years.

Thank you of reminding me/us of that. It feels better!

But Goddamnit, they better fix this fucking shit!!! (just kidding) ;)

My Best,

Sunshine Outside

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