Our Worst Dreams Coming True
The commonly prescribed anti-depressant Prozac has been linked to violence in its users. A recent trend of bizarre school massacres, child murders/suicides by mothers, and other senseless acts of violence motivated investigation into the possible cause. Such research indicates that altering brain chemicals has serious consequences.
Research shows that Prozac and other anti-depressants work by altering levels of serotonin, a normally occurring hormone regulating anger, aggression, body temperature, etc. Prozac, by increasing serotonin levels, is supposed to elevate one’s mood. One unfortunate side effect is to alter the normal sleep cycle, consisting of several stages. Normal sleep includes a necessary stage called REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. During this phase, eye muscles move while other muscles do not; because neurons turn on in the brain to prevent sleepwalking and the acting out of dreams.
Prozac and other antidepressants are known to suppress REM sleep, which has serious consequences.
In her September 13, 2004 testimony to the FDA, Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, PhD, author of Prozac:
Panacea or Pandora? testified:
“The last 15 years of my life have been devoted full time to researching and writing about SSRI* antidepressants. Research on serotonin has been clear … that the most damaging thing that could be done to the … system would be to impair one’s ability to metabolize serotonin. Yet that is exactly how SSRI antidepressants exert their effects….
“For decades research has shown that impairing serotonin metabolism will produce … hostility, violent crime,… impulsive behavior with no concern for punishment, and argumentative behavior….
“Can you remember two decades ago when depressed people used to slip away quietly to kill themselves rather than killing everyone around them and then themselves as they do while taking SSRI antidepressants? ….
“A study out of the University of Southern California in 1996 looked at a group of mutant mice in an experiment that had gone terribly wrong. These genetically engineered mice were the most violent creatures they had ever witnessed. They were born lacking the… enzyme which metabolizes serotonin. As a result their brains were awash in serotonin. This excess serotonin is what the researchers determined was the cause for this extreme violence. Antidepressants produce the same end result as they inhibit the metabolism of serotonin…
“It is believed that the high serotonin levels over stimulate the brain stem leading to a lack of muscle paralysis during sleep thus allowing the patient to act out the dreams or nightmares they are having. Connecticut witnessed the Prozac-induced case of Kelly Silk several years ago. This young mother attacked her family with a knife, then set the house on fire killing all but her 8 year old daughter who ran to the neighbors. As she stood bleeding and screaming for help she explained, ‘Help! My mommy is having a nightmare!”
The introduction of Prozac and other antidepressants on the market brought a trend of violence never before witnessed in this country. Touting these drugs as a prescription for “mental health” is at best, false advertising; at worst, a profound betrayal by those who, in the name of “help”, are in fact hurting Mankind.
* [Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor]
My son started taking Prozac in 1996 and developed Bacterial Meningitis, He was perfectly healthy 12-year-old boy. He died suddenly of Bacterial Meningitis which now shows that this drug Prozac causes? Really!!!! Anyone else know of anyone that developed this Bacterial Meningitis and was also on Prozac and die from it. I know there were 14 kid that died in our state that year. I’m looking to get adtl info to see if they too had been on this d rug. I can tell you it was xmas break and dead of a cold winter and they were not around anyone to catch that type of disease, nor did I know anyone near us in the county, We were staying in to keep warm…..
I have been on Prozac for about four months now, and the strangest thing that has happened to me is experiencing weird and vivid dreams. I have a lifetime history of maladaptive daydreaming, which means that I’m lost in thought almost 24/7 and my daydreams are intricate and long-lasting. Prior to taking fluoxetine, I had so much trouble paying attention in class. I couldn’t focus on lectures for more than a minute, and it felt like I was living my life through a haze. I really didn’t like talking to people because I would just slip back to daydreaming and act with very awkward mannerisms. My therapist diagnosed me with social anxiety and suggest that I try Prozac. Now, I’m way more aware of what’s going on. Reality feels tangible, and though I do daydream, I feel less anxious around people, I’m more attentive to what people are saying to me, and I can carry a conversation without feeling as awkward as before. I feel more at peace with myself now, the only cost being weird and vivid dreams. I wake up thinking that my dreams actually happened, they feel like real memories and I am even getting quite confused with what did happen and what didn’t. I can’t relate to this article much, but this is just my experience and I guess that other people have faced way different things. I just wanted to put this out there so people know that not everybody’s body reacts to fluoxetine like this.
I was 19 years old when a family member died in a car accident and was put on prozac and ativan for it. I never took the ativan, but started taking prozac 20 mg daily. Within 3 months for no appararent reason I started doing irrational things. These “things” I refer to I am ashamed of and still can’t explain. My second month on prozac I got out of bed around 1 a.m. and went to the bathroom opened the cabinet and decided to take one of my mothers old pain pills from a surgery and two xanax. I never thought about it just did it. Beleive me when I say I had no past history of drug use, actually only smoked marijuanna once my freshmen year in high school and never did again at that time. After that night I did again, then again, and again every night without thinking of consequences or anything. I dont blame prozac for my addiction problems, but I’m glad I read this article because I was never able to explain how anti deppressants made me feel and do things i normally would have never done. I’ve been in recovery for 2 years and six months clean since December 15th, 2015, but I wish I and my family would have been imformed of this side effect because it altered my life forever.
I was on Prozac for moderate/severe clinical depression from September 1991 through August 1996. I saw little to no improvement for the depression and I had also developed “Pure O” (the obsessive part of OCD) just before this same time period which was not helped by the Prozac at all. I then developed some very bizarre behaviors in mid to late 1994 which I did not associate with the Prozac until I stopped taking it in ’96. 2 weeks after cessation, the strange behavior disappeared as if it had never been there. It was like it was another person doing these things. I could have ended up in jail had I been caught in the act. The very strange thing about it was that the thought that what I was doing was against the law never crossed my mind. That is not me! I have always been a law-abiding citizen until my bout with the crazy side-effects of Prozac. I wish there was a class-action suit against the makers of Prozac (Eli Lily?) because I would become a member of it immediately.