- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
3 Years ago my 90 year old mother caught pneumonia and the doctor prescribed antibiotics and paxil. It completely unhinged my mother who had terrible nightmares and could see that she was losing her mind. Her mind had been one of the very sharpest I had known, for 90 years. But after Paxil she suffered the manic anguish of the damned 22+ hours a day. That is what she called it and that is what it was. Horrible Horrible. Everyone except my brother thought her brain was completely fried. But wonder of wonders, he figured out that it must have been the paxil, and he took her off it, and after 4 weeks she started to improve. He stayed with her 2-3 months before the effects were clearly gone. btw - she weighs under 90 pounds.
The dosages of these drugs are not calibrated for seniors. !! They have a very different metabolism, and must be carefully monitored.
My mother is completely back to normal (she'll be 94 in April), refuses to take the elevator, and has more energy and direction and SPUNK on the phone, over and over again, than anyone I know. And I talk with a lot of people on the phone.
Calvin Arnason
