Things you need to know if pregnant and on SSRI's or other anti-depressants.
A letter from PatriotCentral.net

On 08/26/01 I contacted Dr. Tracy to report some very disturbing information. I had been participating in a Depression Forum hosted at Babycenter.com. This is a website designated for pregnant women and new mothers.

I was amazed at the number of women who were pregnant and on SSRIs and other anti-depressants. When I told my story and addressed concerns about pregnancy, nursing and use of SSRIs, I was threatened by Babycenter.com. I was contacted in email writing and told if I did not stop posting my concern that I would be removed from Baby Center.

Upon doing some research, I found out why Babycenter.com was so upset with me. See Baby Center is owned by Johnson and Johnson who owns several pharmaceutical companies. One company is Janssen Pharmaceuticals- the makers of Risperdal (an antipsychotic) and second Ortho-McNeil- the makers of Topamax (commonly used in psychiatric "cocktails"). The response you are about to read was the one Dr. Tracy wrote after I contacted her.

I must warn you not to dismiss Racquel's concerns so quickly. Let me give you a little information about serotonin and pregnancy. Serotonin has been my area of expertise for the last 11 years. I am the Executive Director of the International Coalition for Drug Awareness and author of the book Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? - Our Serotonin Nightmare. For nine years I have testified as an expert witness in court cases involving these so called "medications." A few cases I have worked on that you should recognize: the Mr. and Mrs. Phil Hartman murder/suicide, the Columbine High School massacre, the last four school shootings in a row, a large number of mothers who have killed their children, etc. (check the website at www.drugawareness.org for an extensive list of these cases).

First of all, do you have any idea how many nurses come to me regularly because they are so upset that your doctors are giving you these drugs?! They see the damaging effects to both you and your babies and as woman and professionals are alarmed by them. One in particular who specialized in high risk pregnancies was concerned about how often she sees SSRI users and the malnutrition she noticed in the SSRI users. But when you interfere with the metabolism of serotonin [which is how these drugs work] you are likely interfering with many other aspects of metabolism. During pregnancy you are busy building the greatest construction project of all - another human being.

Surely you must realize how important it is to metabolize all nutrients
properly in order to utilize them to build that little body. There are critical pieces of information that most doctors do not know about serotonin and therefore have not shared them with their patients. ALL WOMEN should know that serotonin was originally give to induce labor. Those with elevated levels of serotonin (which the SSRIs produce) have been known for decades to spontaneously abort. Does that help you to understand why studies on these drugs have shown a higher miscarriage rate with their use?

Dr. Felix Sulman who did the initial research on serotonin found that serotonin is a stress neurohormone and that those with increased levels suffer from migraines, hot flashes, irritability, sleeplessness, pains around the heart, tension and anxiety that would come from out of nowhere (you will see a new study on our site where researchers were surprised to find that those suffering from anxiety had EIGHT times HIGHER levels of serotonin even though drug companies are marketing drugs that increase serotonin as the "answer" for anxiety), difficulty breathing, horrifying nightmares, etc. All of these are listed side effects of these serotonergic medications. Why? Because the drug companies blew this whole serotonin theory.

The research for decades has been clear on this issue. Serotonin is HIGH in depression, anxiety, etc., not LOW. What was low was the metabolism of serotonin - the one main thing the drugs reduce even further in order to produce their effects. Does this help you to see why Dr. Candace Pert, past head of the brain chemistry department at NIH for 13 years and one of the two discoverers of the serotonin binding process that made all these drugs possible, came out three years ago and stated about these drugs, "I am alarmed at the monsters I created!"? Never has a discoverer of a group of drugs come out so strongly against them! I do not understand why these drugs are still on the market save the approximately $8 million per day they each bring in for their manufacturers. Nor do I understand why someone would want to stay on a drug about which the discoverer has made such a damning statement.

Does this mean I think you should all jump right off your drugs? ABSOLUTELY NOT! I my opinion they have the worst withdrawal of any group of drugs we have seen to date. Just a few months ago the World Health Organization sounded a warning on the terrible withdrawal from these drugs and just yesterday the Paxil makers had a suit filed against them for the horrible withdrawal it causes. I have even had to put out a tape that details the "how to's" of safe withdrawal from these drugs because coming off them has proved to be so very dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. And I have found that most doctors do not have any idea how to get their patients off serotonergic meds. Why would I say that? Because they call me asking how it can be done safely. Do not attempt it without knowing what you are doing!

I know a fellow whose mother was on amphetamines while she was pregnant with him. At the time she thought it was safe for her to continue taking her "medication." Her son was born with severe hypoglycemia - low blood sugar. At a very early age he began taking the drug he had become addicted to in the womb - methamphetamine. He is still on it and I don't know if he will ever be able to break the cycle. His son is developmentally disabled and his wife understands that the drugs are the reason. This is an upper middle class family. The father is a dentist. What a legacy that mother unknowingly left for that young man and his future family! What horrors they have faced ever since as a result!

What legacy are you leaving for your children when we know that the SSRIs are the closest we have ever seen in action to LSD or PCP? Perhaps a generation from now we will have those answers. (We still are not sure what LSD does to a fetus.) But a generation from now will be a generation too late for those answers for your babies.

There are MANY other answers to depression and anxiety that are safe and natural. I BEG you to look at them and learn what you are dealing with - where your depression stems from be it low blood sugar, caffeine addiction, etc. - for the sake of your babies. I see people come out of the worst depression and anxiety all the time with simple and safe methods. The answers to what you are going through can be so simple. These drugs are not your only choice!

Also please take a moment to sign the petition demanding a Grand Jury Investigation into serious misconduct concerning Prozac on the part of Eli Lilly. Click Here.

Dr. Tracy's website: www.drugawareness.org

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