Just a cut and paste job from the website of Dr Douglass.
Image: topnews.co.uk
Bad batch proves shots not safe
Let’s stop pretending: There’s no way in hog heaven these swine flu vaccines are safe.
Need more proof? Look north – at least one Canadian is dead and dozens of others are recovering from severe allergic reactions to the vaccine.
Many of those cases were linked to GlaxoSmithKline’s Arepanrix swine flu vaccine, which prompted a recall of 172,000 doses. But by the time word got out, all but 15,000 had been used.
If you already rolled up your sleeve in Canada – too bad. Just be glad you’re still alive to read about it.
Plenty of victims have suffered from anaphylaxis, a potentially deadly reaction that includes breathing problems, low blood pressure and swelling of the throat, tongue, lips and eyes.
Arepanrix appears to be especially bad — even by the low standards of poorly tested swine flu vaccines.
GlaxoSmithKline’s own data shows that more that 1 in 10 patients experience pain, headache, fatigue, swelling, shivering, sweating, aching muscles and joint pain. And 1 in 10 will develop diarrhea, swollen lymph nodes, fever, feeling sick, bruising and itching.
We’re facing a pandemic all right – but it’s not from the flu. If they succeed in poking everyone, the real health crisis will come from all those bad drug reactions.
Recently, I told you about the patients who developed Guillain-Barre syndrome after their swine flu shots, and some people who even keeled over after getting these “safe” vaccines. (Click here to read “Swine flu swindle in full swing.”)
I mean c’mon – they’re playing us for saps, and we’re falling for it. So far, 22 million Americans have been conned into lining up for these dangerous needles like parents camped out at a store for a hot Christmas toy.
But at least we know the crummy economy won’t dampen the holiday spirits of one group of elites living high on the hog: Big Pharma fat cats and their accomplice docs who distribute these shots like candy canes at a Christmas party.
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Fid
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
SIGNED COPIES HERE OR UNSIGNED FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
The seventh in this series of readers stories comes from Joanne.
Joanne had been prescribed Seroxat for 'gynaecological problems'. What followed was a far more serious battle, one which saw Joanne struggle through the withdrawal problems that occurs for a growing number of people trying to taper off Glaxo's wonder drug.
JOANNE'S STORY
Back in 1997 I was suffering gynaecological problems resulting in feeling really drained and nauseous, my GP at that time refused to believe this was the case as I was only 27 years of age and diagnosed me with anxiety. Ok so I didn’t really know where that diagnosis came from but hey he was the doctor I trusted his opinion. He prescribed Seroxat 20mg but after only a few days treatment I suffered my first migraine and just really didn’t feel well taking this drug so I stopped.
1998 I was again prescribed Seroxat after suffering Akathesia from 3 drugs my GP had prescribed for seasonal allergies and to delay my monthly cycle so I could enjoy a family holiday, this bad reaction was diagnosed as an “ anxious state”, I suppose already suffering a bad reaction the Seroxat side effects mingled with the akathesia I was already suffering, so I remained on it for the next 3 years, although by now I really did have drug induced anxiety daily.
2000 by now I had started passing out with the heavy blood loss but my GP refused to listen and continued the Seroxat still stating it was all anxiety but luckily on one occasion at a routine appointment another GP at the practice actually took some blood samples and got straight back to me as I was in fact badly anaemic, which prompted a scan and Gyne appointment where it was said I needed a hysterectomy due to a large uterine fibroid. After collapsing with blood loss yet again in August I underwent my hysterectomy in September of that year. It was discovered that not only did I have the fibroid I also had a large ovarian cyst, enlarged bulky uterus, abnormal cervical cells and other endo abnormalities, if only I had been listened to in 1997 it could of prevented the hell I was about to incur.
2002 I had become obese, apathetic, unmotivated thanks to the side effects so I decided that now I had never needed Seroxat, to come off it, after all the patient information leaflet stated I could stop taking it at any time as it wasn’t addictive...WRONG….within days I couldn’t function, I was experiencing :
Not to mention my body wouldn’t allow me to eat or sleep for 14 days solid and I was jerking all over, I hate to admit but yes I did try on 3 occasions to end it all, not that I wanted to end my life it was like a thought deep embedded in my mind I just wanted this torture to stop.
In desperation I admitted myself to hospital and Seroxat was reinstated, within weeks the withdrawal subsided .
2004 Still determined to beat this drug I visited my GP who advised to taper cutting out days to reduce, which I did for 9 months before taking my last pill, September 13th 2004, yes I remember that date who wouldn’t after all the hell started all over again, my GP s answer when informed of the hell "what do you want me to do about it?"
For three months I could hardly get out of bed due to muscle weakness, I would lay in bed shaking ,scared and helpless but not knowing what I was afraid of, I thought I would lose my mind. Every morning at 5am the racing anxiety would start, pacing up and down was all I could do to keep my sanity, I wanted sleep but by body was in adrenal overdrive. Imagine living your worst nightmare times it by 10 and it may just give you an incite into the terror that raged through me, only I was in my own room with nothing scary. Needless to say I lost my job, I had to go bankrupt due to no income and worse of all no Gp would listen to me let alone offer any comfort or support, no validation that this was drug induced, zero, zilch nothing, I was on my own and with a disabled son to care for too.
I have no idea how I survived the first 2 years of intense withdrawal, had it not been the support of close friends going through the same ordeal, I probably wouldn’t have.
2010 Six years off this drug now, totally drug free I am still living with the damage Seroxat caused me. I know I have nervous system damage and neuro receptor injuries and still have to live with debilitating symptoms daily. Yes things have improved very slowly but I am still a very long way off feeling as well as I had pre Seroxat, symptoms I still live with are;
Anxiety
Apathy
Panic
Days of depression
Depersonalisation
Dizziness
Disorientation
Feeling intoxicated
Gastric problems
Monophobia
Allergies and chemical sensitivities
Mood swings
Headaches and Brain fog
Confusion
Akathesia
Parathesia
Heart beat irregularities
Oesophagus spasms
Chronic fatigue
I am still unable to return to work or even have a social life, I cannot go out far on my own and have to rely on family to take me grocery shopping or to town. I am still unable to give my son the proper care he needs.
This drug has taken 12 years of my life to date and no one is held accountable. I receive no financial help, I feel like an outcast of society.
It makes me sad to know there are thousands of human beings worldwide in this situation thanks to GSK and their defective drug, they lied, maimed and killed for what? PROFIT! At our expense and suffering.
Susan was found by her father at her apartment a few days ago. She had suffered from a complete kidney failure and was rushed to Princeton Medical Centre in New Jersey.
We spoke briefly on the phone and Susan told me that her kidneys failed, she added, "26 years on Lithium has finally taken it's toll."
Susan will be having chemotherapy treatment later today to try to get her kidneys working again.
I'm sure you would all like to wish her a speedy recovery and hope that she is back in front of her computer again doing what she does best.
For those of you who wish to make contact with Susan directly please email me and I will give you her telephone number.
Get well soon Susan
Fid
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'THE EVIDENCE, HOWEVER, IS CLEAR...THE SEROXAT SCANDAL' By Bob Fiddaman
SIGNED COPIES HERE OR UNSIGNED FROM CHIPMUNKA PUBLISHING
I've always been astounded at medicine regulators from around the world. The FDA and its inability to act upon reports of bad medicine...not to mention the revolving door that exists between ex pharmaceutical employees and FDA officials. The MHRA fair no better, a backward system of reporting adverse drug reactions, a Chairman, who is an ex-employee of GSK, who thinks the whole Seroxat scandal is "nonsense" and a Head of Licensing being former World Safety Officer at GlaxoSmithKline. GlaxoSmithKline's lawyers even called upon the services of ex-MHRA employee, Rashmi Shah, to be their star witness in the UK Seroxat litigation.
Health Canada, the Canadian drug regulator, lay low whilst the MHRA and FDA come under attack from writer's such as myself, Evelyn Pringle, Ed Silverman and countless patient advocates.
One would think that Health Canada would like it to remain that way. Surprising then that a recent document that landed in my inbox shows quite a controversial step, one that, to my knowledge, has not been covered by any of the mainstream media.
In a public communication published on the Health Canada website yesterday, they announced "Endorsed Information on Important New Restrictions on the use of rosiglitazone (AVANDIA, AVANDAMET and AVANDARYL)"
Avandia has been the subject of much controversy over the years and it's licence was recently suspended in the UK following a recommendation by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
The EMA decided that the benefits of Avandia no longer outweighed its risks, risks that included increased risk of heart problems, including heart attacks and heart failure.
The FDA have not suspended the licence for Glaxo's diabetes drug, opting instead to "restrict its use."
Meantime, Health Canada have been in consultation with GlaxoSmithKline and their announcement yesterday appears odd, to say the least, the most striking of which is this:
Before starting or renewing a prescription for AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL, doctors will complete the PATIENT INFORMED CONSENT PROCESS.
o Discuss other diabetes treatment options and the benefits and risks of AVANDIA®/AVANDAMET®/AVANDARYL® therapy with patients
o Ask patients to read the Consumer Information for AVANDIA®, AVANDAMET® or AVANDARYL®
o Ask patients to read and sign a form (see Informed Consent Form at the end of this Public Communication) indicating that the patient understands the heart-related risks of the medication and has discussed other options to treat their diabetes with their doctor.
There is the usual 'Talk to your doctor' utterances to make the patient feel like they are talking with God.
Now, the informed consent form appears to waiver patient rights to sue GlaxoSmithKline should Avandia cause any of the problems mentioned above.
My doctor has recommended one of the following medicines to treat my diabetes (please check one of the boxes below, as appropriate):
□ AVANDIA □ AVANDAMET □ AVANDARYL
Please read this Patient Informed Consent (“Consent”) and the individual Consumer Information for AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL and discuss any questions or concerns with your doctor before you sign this Consent.
Do not sign this Consent and do not take AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL if there is anything you do not understand about the information you have received.
I am aware that:
AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL are medicines used in addition to diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes when all other diabetes medicines taken orally (by mouth), either alone or in combinations, have not lowered blood sugar enough or are not appropriate.
Rosiglitazone, the active ingredient in AVANDIA and one of the active ingredients in AVANDAMET and AVANDARYL, may increase the risk of serious heart problems, including:
• heart failure
• angina (chest pain)
• heart attack (myocardial infarction)
• fluid retention (with or without weight gain)
AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL should not be used if I have or have had heart problems.
There are other options to treat my diabetes, as explained by my doctor.
There are other risks associated with AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL that are outlined in the individual Consumer Information for AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL and I have been given the opportunity to ask and discuss any questions or concerns about those risks with my doctor.
I understand that in order to be prescribed AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL, I am required to sign this Consent.
My doctor has explained the above to me, I have been given time to read this Consent and the individual Consumer Information for AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL carefully, and to discuss it with my doctor. I now authorize my doctor to continue/begin my treatment with AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL
Patient or Legally Appointed Guardian signature lines are below. AVANDIA/AVANDAMET/AVANDARYL are not recommended for use in people under the age of 18.
Patient (and Legally Appointed Guardian if applicable) Name(s)
A few days ago, the Daily Express ran an article which stated that cancer expert Professor Peter Sasieni recommended phasing out smear tests in favour of HPV testing. The opening statement in Victoria Fletcher’s article ‘New Cancer Check To Phase Out Smear Tests’
“SMEAR tests for cervical cancer should be phased out for all women, a top expert said.”
According to the Express Professor Sasieni, a scientist at Queen Mary, University of London, recommended smear tests should be phased out as soon as possible saying:
“Smear tests should be phased out starting as soon as possible with this being completed in five years. What further research are we waiting for? It is clear there are a number of HPV tests which are as good as cytology (smear tests) and in the long run are better.”
The sixth in this series of readers stories comes from Ruth. Once again, this story echoes similar withdrawal stories sent into me and also the many thousands that are available on the internet.
RUTH'S STORY
My story starts in 1997
I had suffered from panic attacks for years but it was only in certain situations and apart from this affliction I was well. After a particularly difficult house move my panic attacks got worse so I went to my doctor. I was told that I suffered from panic attacks because I had a chemical imbalance in my brain, she went on to liken it to being diabetic and explained how the serotonin I needed was similar to a diabetic needing insulin. It seemed quite feasible to me, I had no reason to disbelieve her, she was the expert.
I took Seroxat for 7 years it made a slight difference to my panic attacks and my doc told me I would probably have to take them all my life. Again this was something I did not question as some people do have to take drugs forever.
What I did not really notice was how I was changing, Firstly I had little emotion, things did not seem to get to me anymore, I also piled on the weight, lost all interest in sex, and started to become very dissatisfied with my lot! I was irritable, aggressive and just not the person I used to be. My doc thought it was the menopause and decided to up my Seroxat from 20mg to 30mg. I did not like this plan so instead of upping my dose I broke the 30mg tablets in half in half. This was December 2004 just before I went to America on holiday. I went on holiday feeling terrible, disorientated, anxious, full of panic and feeling quite low. I continued in this state for a few months but started doing some research into Seroxat on the internet.
In March 2005 I went to see another GP in the practice and told her I wanted to stop taking it. She told me to take half the dose for a month and then half the next dose till I got down to 5 mg and then stop, that is what I did and it took me 3 months.
Within a few days I started with flu symptoms. I was freezing cold one minute then very hot the next, I also started experiencing what I now know to be the zaps! this was very unpleasant but I was still working and still functioning although my moods were very unpredictable.
It was March 2005 when I took my last tablet, by September I was still experiencing flu symptoms and zaps but now terror had entered the mix coupled by a crushing depression. I had to give up my job. To be fair I thought it was just me not coping with life and that maybe my Gp was right when she said I had to take them for life, I was very ill and terrified I could not even go to my doctors as I was scared she would have me committed. I was convinced I was losing my mind.
January 2006
By this time I was experiencing problems with my balance, bad headaches, diarrhea, terrible anxiety. I could not sleep and could eat only a little, my weight dropped by two and a half stone. The only good news was that I found a forum called Paxil Progress which I joined and then I realised what was happening to me. I also found out that I had been ill advised with regards to stopping it. I had stopped far to quickly (thanks to my doc) but could not reinstate it as I had been off too long. So I had to tough it out and tough it was. It was like a living nightmare!
My ordeal was like an awful dream I would wake up every morning feeling terrible and it never let up, I would go to bed at night and hope that tomorrow would never come.I did feel suicidal but somehow my love for my husband and children kept me alive. I still cannot believe that a drug could make someone feel so bad the memory of that time of terror will live with me forever.
My withdrawal symptoms
Extreme dizziness
Tinnitus
Blocked right ear
Headaches
Anxiety
Akathesia
Tingling in limbs
Zaps
Weight loss
Terror
Agoraphobia
Bowel problems
Inability to sleep
Crushing depression
Crying spells
Over the last few years I have seen various doctors at my request. My balance is still causing me problems. I have been told I have visual vertigo. A neurologist did confirm I was suffering from Seroxat withdrawal but could not offer much in the way of help. I even went for CBT and they said they could not really help me. So now in 2010 over 5 years after my last pill I am still nowhere near well. I am much better than I was but I still suffer from episodes of anxiety, my balance problem is ongoing, as is tinnitus, and days of bad depression.
I am very angry at the total lack of help from the medical profession who start us on these drugs then cannot offer any help when the suffering starts. I am angry that GSK did not fully inform doctors of the withdrawal problems.
When my GP said you may have to take them for life I wonder now if she knew something!
Continuing with stories sent into me by readers of my blog, this, the 5th in the series.
It is with stories such as this one and the previous four that the public know about the pitfalls of taking Seroxat.
The MHRA don't accept anecdotal evidence, they prefer to use the tired and very much outdated yellow card system, a system that is about as much use as a blind lifeguard!
The MHRA are the 'independent' body set up to regulate the drugs you and I take. Furthermore, they are in place to ensure that patients are given all the relevant information from the manufacturers of the drugs we take.
This is clearly not happening. Lee's story is testament to that.
LEE'S STORY
I was put on Seroxat when I was 19, have made three attempts to come off it and am currently coming towards the end of an extended taper, which will be my fourth attempt.
In my teenage years, I wasn’t coping very well. I started to feel sick in the mornings and was reluctant to go to school. In spite of that, I was still achieving high marks and was showing myself to be competent in areas such as drama and public speaking and was known by many as one of life’s young high-achievers. Yet, I started to develop a fear around going to the toilet and eventually got to the stage where my nervousness around it always made me want to go and pee.
At 19, having got through the incredible pressure of A-levels and my first year at one of the UK’s top universities, I started to fall to pieces and became very sad and anxious. I was referred to a psychiatrist by my GP who offered nothing other than a prescription for Seroxat which I was told would make me better. I was only with the psychiatrist for a short time, during which she told me in no uncertain terms that I was ‘emotionally retarded and overly intellectual for my age’. She didn’t ask me anything about what was really going on in my life and I was afraid to divulge anything personal such as my recent prolonged questioning of my sexuality as she was quite a stern doctor. Effectively, I was told to take the tablet and go away; no other support was offered. It was essential that I got well and got back to ‘normality’.
I always remember my mum, who I love very much, at the time being hesitant about my taking the pills as she had known several people who had had their lives ruined by benzodiazepine addiction. She was reassured that this relatively ‘new’ medication was in no way addictive and was completely different from the tranquiliser generation of drugs. How cruelly ironic that reassurance was. That was just over 13 years ago and since then, I have made three absolutely horrific attempts to withdraw – one when I was 24, the second when I was 26 and the third when I was 28. I am currently 29 months into a barbaric and life-crushing fourth withdrawal.
Just after I started to take Seroxat, I felt almost a mini type of euphoria. After several weeks of being afraid to leave the house before the meeting with the psychiatrist, I was suddenly feeling very brave and was cycling on my bike quite happily around the university town where I had returned to live and study. I was so grateful to this ‘wonder drug’ for making me better. I still had the issues around peeing but they weren’t as severe and I started to develop an unusually rare carefree attitude – not worrying about my marks, drinking alcohol a lot more, experimenting with sex – generally enjoying my life, all of the time making the association that the ‘wonder drug’ was something I needed to enable me to have a quality of life. I had already become psychologically dependent.
In my 3rd year of university, I moved abroad for one year as part of my degree and I started to think that I wanted to come off Seroxat. By this stage, I’d been on it for just over a year. I deliberately missed two days of my regular dose of 20mg and I noticed I was feeling incredibly afraid and dizzy and almost fell down some stairs at a French railway station. I panicked and thought to myself: I should not mess round with this drug that I clearly need. I made no association with the fact that I was hooked.
In my final and 4th year of university, I had exams looming and the pressure was starting to build again. I saw my GP at the time who said it would be best if I was increased to 30mg ‘just to get me through’ and I gladly took it and did little or no revision for my final exams and ultimately came out with a very poor degree. I had developed a sense of safety from all that was potentially harmful, ie stress and pressure, and made a clear understanding that Seroxat was giving me the freedom to become the carefree person I needed to be. Yet, throughout, I was still experiencing periodic anxiety and I felt physically sick if I ever missed one of my ‘happy pills’.
I was determined to get off the medication and I tried for the first time when I was 24. I had just completed a post-graduate diploma and I had followed the GP’s advice of ‘miss every other day, snap the tablet in two, play around with the dosage etc and be sure to eat three square meals a day. Oh, and a break a sweat three times a week. ‘I thought it was going to be that simple. It wasn’t and after I had got to the stage of becoming suicidal after a period of four months withdrawing, I put myself back on it as I literally couldn’t function – couldn’t eat, couldn’t leave the house, was in terror all the time and literally wanted to die. I made a clear understanding to myself that I was ‘fundamentally ill’ and Seroxat was the only thing that saved me.
Things got back on an even keel, I won a prestigious journalism traineeship and I decided to try to withdraw again. Got the same useless advice from a different GP and ended up going into complete meltdown while on a trip to Spain which resulted in my needing to take an emergency flight home to my parents’ house and suffering incredible pain until I was prescribed the drug again by a different GP. This second withdrawal saw me lose my job, my home and my burgeoning career in journalism.
I wanted to try again and so I asked my GP to refer me to a psychiatrist to help me get off this stuff that I was clearly addicted to. I naively thought proper support would be out there. I was referred and the psychiatrist was very pleasant and kind although he said he didn’t believe in withdrawal but would try and support me nonetheless. In his opinion, we could give it a try but I would probably have to accept that I needed medication for life as I was ‘one of those types of people.’ I tried a third time – this time trying to cross-taper with another drug, mirtazepine in order to ‘soften the blow’ of coming off Seroxat. This was disastrous and I ended up being prescribed an even higher dose of the drug ‘to get me stable’.
And so we arrive at my current and hopefully my last withdrawal attempt which I started a couple of months after turning 30. This has been the most soul-destroying experience to date. I have lost my career as a management consultant, all potential to earn income, important relationships and most significantly, any desire to stay alive. Since getting down to 19mg, I have become physically very ill with persistent nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, dizziness, painful limbs, paresthesia in fingers, stultifying headaches, inexplicable changes in body temperature, frequent urination. I might have been able to cope with these had it not been for the horrors of the psychological symptoms: constant fear, insomnia, daily suicidal thoughts, obsessive thinking, agoraphobia, complete anhedonia and very powerful depression. I have genuinely got to the point, where I am now at 7mg, that I have lost my will to live and I don’t seem to be able to envisage a life for myself in the future. That is what hurts me the most.
I force myself to continue each day. I have a psychiatrist who is literally unable to do anything for me; he believes I ‘need’ medication and really struggles with the idea that a prescription drug can do this much damage. He comes up with a host of several different ‘diagnoses’ which I feel have limited me to the role of ‘lifelong patient’ which I had never wanted for myself. I have a GP who knows what Seroxat can do to people but he has no resources to offer me apart from moral support. I am also working with a psychologist who appreciates the difficulty of this but has no significant experience of working with someone whose whole life has been ruined by this.
What I find so hard about this whole thing is the way it stops me from feeling human and no matter how much I talk about it to others, I can’t describe the pain I am feeling which ultimately makes me want to die. I feel so ruined by this.
Often when I think it would be better off if I was dead, I try to hold on to the belief that maybe one day, I will be free of this poison and I might actually find a reason for living.
Our stories need to be heard; this injustice cannot go uncovered.
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