Zyprexa and Effexor

Could your antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications be seriously damaging your organs? Read on to learn about two of the medications prescribed for depression and anxiety – Zyprexa and Effexor to understand the importance of understanding "side effects" and other issues related to long-term use of these drugs.

Zyprexa, also know as olanzipine generically, is an “atypical antipsychotic drug” used to typically treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and symptoms of dementia. Effexor, also known as venlafaxine generically, is in a class of drugs called selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SSNRIs) and is used to treat depression, anxiety, and panic and sleep disorders.

Considering that my mother had been on these medications for over a decade, chances are that she has symptoms of side effects. It is my belief that these are the cause of her kidney problems or, at the very least, have exacerbated the problems, as there is nothing else that might point to why she would have developed CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease).

Side effects of any drugs can be readily found online, particularly straight from the manufacturer. To give you an idea of the damage these drugs can cause, the following are some of the “severe” side effects: Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue; unusual hoarseness); abnormal thoughts; chest pain; confusion; decreased urination; fainting; fast, slow, or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills, or persistent sore throat; increased saliva production or drooling; increased sweating; memory loss; menstrual changes; muscle pain, weakness, or stiffness; new or worsening mental or mood changes (e.g. depression, hallucinations); seizures; severe or prolonged dizziness or headache; shortness of breath; suicidal thoughts or actions; swelling of the hands, legs, or feet; symptoms of high blood sugar (e.g. increased thirst, hunger, urination; unusual weakness), and the list goes on and on.

For the purposes of this post, I am going to focus on the side effects that seem to cause kidney issues. First of all, based on the information for professionals, which can be found at http://www.drugs.com/sfx/zyprexa-side-effects.html, there was an increased incidence of dry mouth in patients using olanzapine versus placebo. Anytime there is an increase in dry mouth it means the body actually requires water. The body is actually becoming dehydrated; it’s not just a “side effect”. When asking many people with this condition about it, their answer is typically, “my medication does it to me” and therefore they believe that is the issue and never actually increase their water intake.

The book, "Your Body's Many Cries for Water," addresses the very issue of how dehydration causes a great many illnesses. Another article, which can be found at http://www.naturalnews.com/023441_water_pain_dehydration.html,  also discusses how, in many cases of illness, the cure is water. Many illnesses are mistaken for dehydration and most people could actually be “cured” simply by drinking water; however, this is not a common prescription. Doctors usually reach to their prescription pad before really even looking into the problem.

I have witnessed first hand that many doctors do not "prescribe" something as simple as water and actually imply that a lack of water does not cause any kind of illness. What many doctors who do this are inadvertently doing is discouraging their patients from drinking water, despite its being vital to all of our bodies' processes. Because of my own experiences with conventional doctors, namely in that they would rather prescribe a remedy for a symptom without looking to the root of the cause and prescribing a remedy or remedies for the patient I only see conventional doctors when absolutely necessary. I do believe they have a place in our medical system, but not to the extent that they do right now. Or else, these doctors should incorporate homeopathic and naturopathic treatments with their conventional treatments. Such doctors exist but they are few and far between.

So, number one, I believe kidneys could become very taxed simply because of not getting enough water. Additionally, patients who take such medications becoming more dehydrated from the medication itself causing their her kidneys to worsen.

Two other side effects, which can be found at http://www.prozactruth.com/zyprexa.htm are Acute Renal Failure (the kidneys stop functioning properly to excrete wastes) and an increase in hepatic enzymes (the amount of paired liver proteins that regulate liver processes causing a condition where the liver functions abnormally). Of course this Acute Renal Failure is different than Chronic Kidney Disease in that the former can be "fixed" and the kidney function could return to normal. Common sense tells us, however, that any kind of kidney failure would obviously affect their health over the long term.

Many "official" web pages state that caution should be used when prescribing Zyprexa in:...

Read More (This blog has been moved to Nature's Presence, Are Antidepressants Destroying Your Organs?)