found a very interesting article on antidepressants and how they work for all the wrong reasons ,were definately lab rats for these drugs!!!! www.antidepressantsfacts.com/pinealstory.htm

It's a good site. Those drugs are poison.

I always was against drugs but I have to say I wouldnt have felt much better if it wasnt for Imapramine. THis is my saviour.

I dont know why everyon ehere is anti-drugs.

I tried nearly all the diets and took all anti-fungal and candida cleanses possible. I even removed my amalgams and chelated. I took so many supplements I had a cabinet full.

I must admit their was stages I felt slightly better but it was mroe of the hope of things working. I ended up feeling suicidal and lost hope for life.

I was then put on SSRI's such as paxil and felt WORSE. I lost even more hope and cried every day.

Then my doc prescribed me Imapramine and everything is just so much better. I dont know but everything is fixed. No more pains, no more emotional instability, no more stress or fears. No more racing thoughts. NO more depression. I basically just have to take 1 daily and not have to stress about anything else and I have to saviour I was very anti pharmaceutical and didnt agree. I really despised docs but cant beleive the difference it made me. Please think twice not everything is bad and cant beleive everything you read. Just do what makes you feel good and thats all I can say. if you dont like them tht fine but dont stop other people taking something that can potentially save someone from suicide. I know because I was their and cant beleive the change I made. I was so hopeless and TRIED EVERYTHING and thought what else could I do...I really was desperate and had no choice and was scared but am glad. Please just do what you feel is working for you but dont scare other people. I know their is bad things about certain herbs ans suppelents too not just drugs bu tits al based on unscientifcal evidence

Before trying prescription antidepressants I suggest that people try St. John's Wort. St. John's Wort should not be taken if you are taking prescription antidepressants. If you are on any prescription drugs then ask your doctor before taking St. John's Wort. St. John's Wort helped me greatly in the past. i took one or two 300 mg capsules .3% hypericin standardized each night when I was using it. It made me drowsy and helped me sleep better. It decreased my appetite. It helped my mood. I am not taking it now, but may take it again if I feel I need it. One side effect is that it makes you more sensitive to the sun and can sunburn easier, so one should limit their sun exposure while taking it.

anon : imipramine is a tricyclic type antidepressant ,this class of antidepressant does not cause the The major side effects of SSRI'S ,I am glad that you found something that works for you , but the only reason that I posted this info is to inform poeple that antidepressants should be used as a last resort and not a magic cure ,I to have been on 5 different types of antidepressants paxil,celexa,wellbutrine,prozac,and zoloft over a two year period ,I was precribed paxil for anxiety and had never experienced depression untill discontinuing paxil and can honestly say that my depression got much worse after using them .since having my amalgams removed my depression is much better and getting better every day .doctors have to start fixing the problem instead of just treating the symtoms ,they have to get back to basics and do no harm.

Hi there Anon,

I'm glad you brought this up. I am used to talking with people here who have similar opinions to me about the drugs.

I totally believe that you feel you have been helped by the med, and I know that many other people feel the same. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that. Please just keep a few things in mind. First, there was a reason for the depression you had. The med will be masking the symptoms, but not addressing the underlying causes. Depression can be caused by nutritional deficiencies. By mercury. By medical problems. By hormone imbalances. As well as life circumstances. While you are feeling better, you will do yourself a favour by trying to find the roots of your problem so that you will eventually be OK with coming off the med and staying off.

The other thing is that these meds damage the body. Sometimes it takes a while. They interfere with blood sugar metabolism, and they make changes in the nervous system. The brain re-wires itself in order to cope with the sudden influx of a neurotransmitter, in this case both serotonin and noradrenaline.

Coming off the meds too quickly can cause a lot of damage in itself. When you do discontinue, make sure you do it slowly. I quit mine cold turkey over 14 months ago and am still experiencing symptoms. They are going to take a long time to heal. As desperate as I felt, I do believe that taking that drug was one of the biggest mistakes of my life, if not THE biggest.

This stuff is powerful. Please be careful, and take care of yourself. Symptoms occur for a reason. They are the body's way of communicating with us.

Linda.

Thank you both for your response. Im am a little scared about the permanent problems that can be caused like tardive dyskinesia.

What symptoms did you suffer linda?

I tried St Johns wort and it made me stay awake lol. I took 3 daily and felt insomniac and was really on edge and thats when I got my first panic attacks taking this herb. I dont know if it can cause permanent damage but I have panic attacks alot and did blame this herb but I think its the fear of panic attack and symptoms I suffer.

Anon, you don't sound to me like the person who is taking imipramine. I'm a little confused about who is who here, Maybe some of you could give names or nicknames?

3 days of St. John's wort are unlikely to hurt you in any permanent way so I wouldn't worry about that. But SJW is a weak SSRI, so it is common to get the sorts of effects you'd get from the more powerful prescription drugs. Heightened anxiety is a common one. I tried SJW myself, before the prescription meds, and I felt very weirded out and had painful stomach cramps that lasted until I stopped taking it, only a day or two later.

I certainly would not go on to take prescription SSRIs if I were you. If the SJW caused anxiety then it is very likely these will too. I know a lot of people who got worse rather than better when they took an SSRI. In fact I know some who developed psychosis, suicidal tendencies, even homicidal tendencies, and spent time in psych wards. This is no exaggeration. The good news is that they are off the drugs, healing their bodies, and are quite normal and nice people now. A couple of them went on to successfully sue the maker of their drug in a class action suit. Power to the people.

My symptoms? I was on Effexor for 2 months, then switched to Celexa for 4 months. They calmed the anxiety that was part of the depression, that's all they did. I lost my emotions, felt weirded out all the time. Like life was going by as a dream. I got sexual dysfunction. Sugar cravings. Mood swings. Eventually I'd had enough and quit. That was actually when the worst damage was done. In the months since, I have had nervous and adrenal system overload, which means that my system is very sensitive to input and can overreact. Things that can cause this are TV at night, too much reading or using the computer, concentrating on anything for too long, say more than an hour of knitting, loud noises, crowds of people, bright sunlight, and especially heat. As soon as it gets hotter than the low 70s F, I start feeling sick. Also, I was able to work last autumn but had to quit because it was making me sick. I can only do gentle exercise right now, though I used to cycle to the gym for a hard workout with my daughter on the back of the bike. My emotions are still blunted too. Diet and supplements will help with much of this in time, but it really is going to take a lot of time. And the sexual dysfunction is still there, 14 months later. I honestly don't know if that is permanent damage or not. It's going to make being married rather, um, challenging at times.

Magnesium can be great for calming anxiety, do you take any? What is your diet like? Sugar can be a major source of anxiety. I wouldn't look to meds for help with this, I'd look to diet and supplements. They have the power to cure. Wish someone had been able to tell me this before I took those pills <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Linda.

That sounds like me to a T. I cant seem to concentrate on anything long enough and eagerate any response. I get so stressed out its embarrassing. Im guessing its adrenals or something. I dont know how to calm this down. I tried magnesium but didnt help. Many herbs dont work either.

Glad I just read this post. It's weird because when I got ill, which was literally owvernight, having been to the dentist two days before, I was convinced I had a virus which i had picked up from school, Although it did seem very exteme and the two things that I was concerned about straight away was the very slurred speech and the fact that I couldn't move my neck at all. I didn't realise how badly my nervous system had been affected until I noticed I was startle so easily and weird, but from that night, couldn't watch anything on TV which was even slightly disturbing. Felt a bit better after about 6 weeks and tried to back to work. Felt so ill, could only manage one day. Eventually I had to resign. It was I suppose about 2 months after the onset of the illness that things really took aturn for the worst and the anxiety and depression hit me like nothing I have felt before. I can even recall the exact time it came like a bolt from the blue. Linda, I too was put on the anti-depressant road, they made me feel so ill. The doc insisted that I try others. Well I tried about 5 different ones and sometimes literally thought I was going to die. Thats when I started to look for other causes. Like some other people on the forum I was eventually diagnosed with ME, but for me things still didn't seem to fit. I must admit I only knew 2 people with this illness but all they seemed to do was sleep all the time, where as I was and still am suffering from dreadful insommnia. Its such a guessing game and thats what make it so hard. I too tried St, Johns Wart and had a very bad reaction. I have also noticed that if I take anything with valerian in I get a bad reaction too. You would think that the more natural, the less likely you are to get a reaction. My anxiety and insommnia got so bad, I'm afraid I succumbed to the medical alternatives. I'm still on sleeping meds now and I take a sedative if my anxiety is really bad. I'm sorry I went off a bit about the counselling I just feel so frustrated because I've never had to take tablets of any kind in my life before. I did actually go for a short period of counselling, hypnotherapy and acupuncture. Unfortunately none of these worked for me. I could be wrong, there seem to be quite a few teachers and professionals on the forum. And before I get any Anons blasting me, it's just something I've noticed. I'm not saying there's any connection, but it would be interesting to know. Well I think so, but that's just my thoughts. LUV TRACY PS I don't think I've ever asked anyone on the forum this, but I could have and forgotten. The worst feeling I think I get is, it's quite to explain, it's like a kind of agitation, but it's almost as if your body and mind are crying out for something and you just can' t settle on matter what. I've wondered if this could be an effect of dugs or just another Mercury symptom. I am going for the ETDA challenge test on Wenesday, I'll probably a nervous wreck.

It's horrible isn't it Tracy. Good thing you can connect your trip to the dentist with the onset of symptoms. Sounds like classic mercury poisoning, from what I've learned here. Can I ask if you've chelated at any point, and if so, what you did? Maybe you have said here but I've got a mind like a sieve, you know how it goes.

The drugs really can make things worse. I know a lot of people with similar symptoms to people on this list, but their problems were caused by psychotropic meds -- ADs, antipsychotics, benzos, opiates, etc. I think it's unlikely that this would be the biggest part of your troubles, but it may be worth thinking back to the time when you were taking these, and what symptoms they caused. And if symptoms got worse, or new ones appeared, when you switched or discontinued meds. They can also be responsible for ME/CFS, foggy brain, depression, etc, sometimes long after they have been discontinued. If you ever want to pursue this at some point just let me know and I can give you some help there. Unfortunately there seems to be a variety of things happening with you doesn't there, and it must be hard to try to sort out what is causing or contributing to what.

Nice, isn't it, these people who are supposed to take care of us. Dentists put poison in our mouths, and doctors give us poison to swallow. The cure's often worse than the disease.

Dear Linda, hobbies wise, I admit I'm a little stuck, as I suppose a lot of us are. What I mean, probably a lot of us enjoyed hobbies, that at the moment we can't really persue. Most of my hobbies were focused around physical activities such as swimming, cycling, going to the gym. It's funny but I also used to lve reading, but now I can't concentrate long ,except for maybe the odd magazine, which isn't very challenging! I do absolutely adore animals and we've always had numerous pets in our family since I was a child. We now have 4 cats, a dog and 10 Guinea pigs. I love to watch animals being born. It's so frustrating because a couple of months ago I was feeling so much better than now and walked the dog in local fields every day. At the moment I really don't even feel up to that. I have no idea why things suddenly took such a turn for the worst, can't really put my finger on anything. I did try chelating with the stuff that the dentist gave me and I've tried DMSA. Both made me very ill. I don't know really if I should have persevered but I guess sometimes you just get afraid of feelin worse than you are. Anyway hopefully when I got to the Breakespeare hospital on Wednesday I might get some answers. That's where I went to be first diagnosed. So fingers crossed. LUV TRACY

That hospital has been recommended to me, and I've had a bit of email correspondence with them. I don't feel I need to see them right now, but I'm glad they are there in case I ever do. One of the doctors there studied under Abram Hoffer, an orthomolecular doctor who has been in practice for decades, and discovered that niacin and vitamin C can cure schizophrenia. Please let us know how you get on there, and what they suggest you do.

Best wishes,
Linda.

I had many, many tests done there Linda and found what viruses I had, what my immune system was like and loads of stuff. I did a fecal metal test and my Mercury level was off the scale. It's a shame it's such along way for us to go, but hopefully with their help your not just shooting in the dark. I think I am so sensitve to many things, I do need some medical help luv Tracy x

Linda,
Have you had your hormones tested? Your sexual disinterest could be because you have too little testosterone and too much estrogen. High estrogen also causes depression and anger.You used to exercise and then stopped. Aerobic exercise can help to balance hormones.
Effexor can cause menopause in young women so it must cause some hormonal abnormalities.

Some people certainly are helped by drugs but I think that they are a small minority. I took many psych drugs but they never worked well for me and the side effects and withdrawal nearly killed me.

My philosophy is to use whatever works but I think that it's best to try to find the root cause of the illness and try to use drugs only for short term treatment. Of course in mainstream medicine drugs are prescribed for years and doctors rarely look for the causes of illnesses. Most sick people stay sick.

Thanks for the suggestions Anon. Definitely the sexual dysfunction (it isn't just lack of libido, but also physical dysfunction) was caused by the drugs. From the very first pill I took, that is what happened. Unfortunately it stuck with me after the meds. No one knows why ADs cause sexual dysfunction; it is probably related to serotonin overload, but no one knows how. Ginkgo biloba helped a lot with this while I was on the meds; it helps a lot less now. I also take ashwagandha, for this and for cortisol overload.

Last time I saw my doc to get a blood test, I asked if I could have estrogen and testosterone checked. He said that don't check estrogen unless they suspect cancer. LOLOLOL how utterly useless is that. I really really want to find a naturopath in my locality but I'm beginning to think there aren't any.

I havent read the whole thread (dont have energy and cant concentrate to do it really) but I just wanted to ask: does anyone of you have any experiences with Paxil? I started taking it 16 months ago and some weeks ago I tried to stop taking it. I think I might have done it too fast because I got symptoms and decided to start again with a little dose and gradually taper off. It's now my 5th day on 5 mg and I feel just horrible... depressed, fatigued, anxious, like I am about to cry etc.. I dont know if I did the right thing with starting it again.. any experiences?`Thanks

Paxil is notorious for causing withdrawal problems. You have to take it very slowly, and support your body with good diet and supplements.

How long ago did you stop Finn? Upon discontinuation, there is a window of about six weeks, during which time the drug can be safely reinstated. If you are within that time frame, then you did the right thing by reinstating. Go back up to a dose where you are not feeling any withdrawal symptoms; this may need to be the original dose. Then when you are ready, make cuts of no more than 10% of each previous dose, giving yourself a couple of weeks between cuts, or however long it takes for you to feel as good or better than you did before the previous cut.

If you feel you need more support with this, let me know and I can give you the URL of the forum I belong to where people go to discontinue their drugs. It can be done, you just need to be careful <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Regards,
Linda.

Hi Linda

I stopped about 3 weeks ago. Do you mean the paxilprogress site?

Great stuff Finn. You should be able to reinstate the drug. Probably the original dose. You should feel better almost instantly after doing that.

This site is called Withdrawal and Recovery. The list owner has been helping people off their drugs for 23 years. Unfortunately there's a bit of a wait to get membership at the moment because it's a busy place.

I certainly hope so.. Now its day 5 and I feel absolutely awful. Fatigue and anxiety are such a nasty combination and my whole body feels very tense and nervous. My original dose was 10 mg but for the past months I took it only when I remembered.. like the every other day or so.. so I guess a good dose could be 5 mg daily.

You need to go back up to a dose where you're not feeling the anxiety, fatigue, depression etc anymore -- these are withdrawal symptoms. If you are getting these with 5mg then 5mg is too lilttle.

I wanted to be free of my drug too, but I discontinued too fast. The symptoms I listed above? I can't imagine you'd want to have those too. Paxil really is devilish stuff, probably the worst of all the ADs.

If you have increased your dose and are still feeling rough, then I would suggest applying to join Withdrawal and Recovery. There is help there for people who have discontinued their meds too fast, and unfortunately plenty who have had the Paxil experience.

Best wishes,
Linda.

You see, my situation is a quite complicated because I have CFS as well so it's hard to know which is causing which here. The fatigue would probably stay anyway. And I had the anxiety even when I was taking the higher dose so... its really hard to know what is the best thing to do.

What is the url of that site? Thanks

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Withdrawal_and_Recovery/

To find out if your estrogen level is chronically high , you can get the type of salivary ovulation monitor that has a slide and a mini microscope. Most women only exibit a "fern " pattern three days a month whereas those of us with high estrogen have it every day

Linda,
Did your pschiatrist tell you that antidepressants would basically neuter you and if not have you considered filing a lawsuit against him or her?

LOL I wish I could sue. I would need a lot more documented evidence than I've got. My own doctor doesn't seem to believe that an AD can cause the types of symptoms I have had since coming off mine. These people are so steeped in pharmaceutical propaganda that they're unlikely to listen to what the actual patients are saying, especially since we tend to be seen as crazy if we are on psych meds.

About getting hormones tested, that's something I may look at in the future, if I feel I need to. At the moment I hope that the things I am doing will restore any balances in my body that have been lost. Chelating mercury seems to be going well, and hopefully soon I should find out whether getting a job will lift the depression. It did during the 6 weeks I worked last year. When I quit that job (it was making me sick -- overstimulated), I had 2 days of feeling really good, and then BANG, the old black dog was back just the same as ever.

Thanks for the advice guys <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If you look at the list of side effects for tricyclic antidepressants Mikey, you find that they are similar to those of SSRI drugs. If anon feels better on imipramine , it might be the placebo effect.Double blind studies on antidepressants show they have little if any positive effects and loads of dangerous if not fatal side effects.According to your link, they produce permanant brain damage.They also cause severe adrenal exaustion.
Because of genetically based differences in cytochrome-450, different people excrete antidepressants at very different rates just as people excrete mercury at different rates.If anon suffered no side effects, he or she probably excreted imipramine well so it never built up to dangerous concentrations.The people who excrete it slowly often have 20x the prescribed amount in their blood and are the most likely to be damaged. Unfortunately doctors prescribe the same dose to everyone.Those who don't excrete these antidepressants often have heart arrythmias which can be fatal . I think this is what killed Anna Nicole Smith's son.When people die or develop health problems from prescription drugs, their deaths are rarely linked to these drugs.

hi anon : I am not a doctor or claim to be one , I just know what hell I and many friends have been through with these drugs ,I admit that there are times when these drugs should be used ,but many doctors prescibe them at a drop of a hat ,anti-depressants are now the most prescibed drug in the united states

i was on prozac for only a couple of weeks and i went through pure hell. I had every side effect on the list,i had to take lorezepam for the anxiety, codeine for the severe headaches it caused, i couldnt sleep, eat, walk, think, see properly, it was horrendous. i believe i dont excret drugs very well, i still have one pupil dilated now and its been nearly 2 yrs, i think my adrenals got worse than they were already. i know people on them and they are fine and working for them. i went straight in at 20mg, it was far too much for me im very small, i should have been started at 10mg or less. prozac contains fluoride, i didnt know it at the time,it wasnt the happy pill its made out to be.more like suicide pill.

Hi guys im still on Imipramime and can say that its def no placebo effect. Please dont beleive everything you read. not everything is true.

I had tried so many SSRI's and no it affected me badly but this one is still going well. I do take multivitamins as well but im really doing great. I would like to stop the meds but the doctor thinks another 2 monthes of being good on the drugs should be enough for me to stay well even after I stop them...im quite excited.

Anyway all the best everyone to your road of success with chelating <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />.

some people are depressed about something in their life, maybe a death or marraige breakup and antidepressants can really help them get through it, they act like a cushion, i know tons of people taken them and said they helped, but for people like us where we are poisoned they arnt going to help but just put more toxins in our bodies, i wish i knew this at the time, i just listened to a stupid NHS doctor.

You are basically a sample size of one and you can't say if the effects are placebo effects.Double blind studies suggest they produce placebo effects.. I know several people who developed an irregular racing heartbeat in addition to numerous other effects such as hypoglycemia ,muscle rigidity and twitching.As Mikey's link points out , even people who feel better often have only temporary improvement followed by permanent disability because these drugs hyperstimulate and kill neurons.In fact many of the symptoms we associate with mercury toxicity might actually be caused by using antidepressants for the depression caused by mercury.

Antidepressants are a multi billion dollar business which is why they get such good press.It's too bad that people pop them because of a relationship break up or death in the family . Who has'nt been through these experiences and once you get on the pharmacuetical merry go round , you often never get off until you are in a box under the ground ,an event that will be hastened by pharmacueticals. Mikey's link talks about some health problems caused by antidepressants and refers to a couple of books on the subject.The people I know that took them either were'nt helped or got temporarily better and then more depressed .

I agree, my sister started out with Prozac and now she is on 4 other drugs as well. I think if we got rid of mercury, we could eliminate alot of antidepressants too.

Sandi
xoxo

i was in my doctors surgery the other day i noticed his coffee mug had SEROXAT on it, he must have been promoting it. What a world i have bought my kids into!

before finding the doctor that I am with now ( which is very good) I was sitting in the waiting room and I had counted 3 drug sales reps in and out of the doctors office within a 45 min time peroid ,I'm pretty sure they weren't selling jelly beans

Leastaways, we're seein it, and we can spread the word to those with eyes to see an ears to hear.
Ah'll prolly be burned as a heretic here, but right now, astrologically we are enterin the time of a big Pluto influence, in fact , its crossin galactic center, which only happens round about every 250 years. What all this means is it's time for secrets an lies to be exposed an thats why there is huge interest in stuff like the 911 truth movement , the Princess Diana scandal, (plus the fact her preganacy at time a death was revealed just tother day), reawakened interest in the Kennedy assasination,... not to mention the chemtrail operations, mercury poisonin...
Anabody who's a scorpio will be feelin it especially hard as it's the ruler a that sign.

Could be a GOOD time for our kids if enough good people stand solid an stick to our truth an demand it from the powers that be. Just depends on how we weather the ensuin storms. Yup, ol 'Pluto will be bringin stuff outta quite a few closets. It's prolly behind all the conflict we got goin on right here in the forum.
We just gotta try an stay in the light a truth as much as possible , heck, might even catch on!
Oh yeah, an if we all support each other here with good intentions, that goes some ways towards alleviatin depression , yup, Ah'm on topic.

Stay in the light, I love that...and to fight oppression, that should be a common goal, thanks for sharing Elvis.

Sandi
xoxo

The problem is that most people look at you as if they are sizing you up for a straight jacket if you tell them that anti depressants don't cure depression and can cause permanent brain damage as well as tics and seizures or that they are being poisoned by little pieces of metal in their mouths. After all, they think the ADA would have banned anything harmful. They believe this even though there are so many commercials on TV that say anti depressants don't work 70% of the time and encouraging people to participate in trials of new drugs . Depression lifts spontaneously in a significant percent of people and many are succeptible to the placebo effect, so by admitting antidepressants fail 70% of the time, are'nt thay admitting they are worthless 100% of the time?

Dr joseph Glenmullen MD of Harvard university wrote a book called Prozac Backlash about the dangers of psychiatric drugs , not just prozac.

Very refreshing attitudes here guys, what a pleasure to read. I see people coming onto the Withdrawal and Recovery list all the time whose lives are in ruins because of these poisons. Often the original "problem" wasn't even depression, but insomnia or a touch of anxiety. Drugs are switched and swapped, prescribed in cocktails (untested by anyone as to their combined effects), and discontinued inappropriately. If the patient's condition deteriorates, then a higher dose, or the addition of another drug, is often the recommendation. You'd be utterly disgusted at some of the stories I've heard.

Yes, most people would look at us as if we'd come from another planet for saying these things. But by saying them, there's always the chance that we will reach some people who will benefit. Sometimes it's just the spark they need to go away and learn the truth themselves. And the more people who know and accept the truth, the more there are to spread the word to others <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Nice team work, whole bunch of us doin some own thinkin. Feels good.

I'm glad that it's working for you. Like many people on this forum I have had bad experiences with drugs but they work well for some people. However, I think that only a minority of mentally ill people are really helped by drugs. Most of us have been forced to find alternatives to drugs and conventional medicine to try to improve our health.

I feel very strongly that the drug companies are using us as lab rats , I have been a lab rat in the past ,but no more !!!!

The drug companies are'nt using you as a lab rat mikey, they are using you as an ATM machine . Are'nt antidepressants the most profitable drugs on the market now?

Anon,
Is your real name Lilly Eli or Eli Lilly?
You have only been on the antidepressants a few months so you might feel better because your adrenals have not yet burnt out.
Drug companies lie about the aide effects of antidepressants and all their drugs.For example , Eli Lilly says that they only produce sexual side effects in about two percent of people taking them whereas the real figure is about sixty percent.
Drug companies claimed that psychoactive drugs such as thorzine only caused tardive dyskinesia in 3-5% of patients , and these were mostly elderly patients. In reality , tardive dyskinesia occurred in 40% of young patients.
Tardive dyskinsia occurs in a far greater percentage of the people taking imipramine and other antidepressants than the drug companies admit and its' symptoms are often suppressed by the drugs and don't show up until you stop the drugs. Tardive dyskinesia is usually irreversible and not only causes bizzare twitches , it causes chronic pain fron chronically contracted rigid muscles.Many believe their tics and chronic tension are psychological rather than neurological so they dont report their symptoms to their psychiatrist.Mercury toxicity is similar in that many people including several on this forum think that their twitches and muscle tension especially in the jaw and neck are caused by stress not toxicity.
When drug companies test antidepressants, the trials last only about six weeks whereas the brain levels dont reach their maximum ( except in people who are slow excreters) for six months. Once a drug is approved there is basically no surveilance of its' effects.
These drugs , even taken for a couple of months, produce permanant personality changes , and since structure determines function , they must be causing brain damage.
The damage may not be obvious in some people until later in life when their brains' reserves are depleted.People exposed to large amounts of neurotoxic mercury should be more succeptible to neurological damage from antidepressants.

good point anon , never looked at it that way before ,I was more focused on the health issue ,so yes we are being screwed in two ways