Hallucinations Zoloft 02/08/2006 Texas Postpartum: Mother Has Hallucinations & Suicidal Behavior on Zoloft: Quits Drug & Recovers Summary:

Paragraphs 17 & 18 read: "Drug companies are taking notice.  Pfizer has begun labeling Zoloft with warnings about suicide and other companies are following suit. In the United Kingdom, anti-depressants are outlawed for teens and adolescents because of the suicide risk."

"As for Amy Philo, she weaned herself off the drug she was taking [Zoloft} against doctor's orders and her hallucinations stopped almost immediately. She's now expecting another baby in September and feels better prepared this time.  And she’s happy her baby  C.H.A.A.D.A. is growing, too, so that other women can be helped."


http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/wfaa/latestnews/stories/wfaa060802_kd_chaada.2698424.html


Mother starts anti-depressants awareness group

10:00 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 2, 2006
By YOLANDA WALKER / WFAA-TV 

http://www.chaada.org

http://www.blockcenter.com

DALLAS - Three weeks ago, Valeria Maxon of Mansfield allegedly drowned her one year old son in a backyard hot tub.

In 2004, police say Dena Schlosser cut off her baby girl’s arms in McKinney.

A Tyler jury found Deanna Laney guilty of stoning her two young sons to death.

And in 2001, Andrea Yates confessed to using a bathtub to drown her five children in Houston.

They are all Texas cases of mothers accused of murdering their children.

Shortly after giving birth to Isaac, Amy Philo of Frisco believes she could have been the next mom to make news.

"I had an hallucination where I was walking past the stairs to put the baby down and I like look over and I see myself throw the baby down the stairs," Philo said.

She described, in disturbing detail, images she experienced about taking her son’s life and her own.

"I could visualize myself literally like walking in front of a moving truck on the highway," she explained.

Isaac is now two-years-old, and Amy is mentally sound.

Recently, she announced another new arrival.  Her new “baby” is called C.H.A.A.D.A., or “Children and Adults Against Drugging America.”  It’s a national organization with about 150 members, so far.

Through an awareness website, members communicate about anti-depressants on the market including Paxil, Cymbalta, Effexor, Prozac and Zoloft.

Amy was prescribed one of the drugs after having a panic attack shortly after her son’s birth.  She believes her anxiety was brought on by abnormal thyroid levels.

"Thyroid I'm finding is the number one cause of depression," said Dr. Mary Ann Block of Hurst.

The doctor went on to say that treating a woman “with an anti-depressant when what she really has is a hormone imbalance, should be criminal in my opinion."

Dr. Block says depression is really a symptom of something else, and doctors need to spend more time in the examining room with patients instead of being quick to prescribe drugs.  She is known nationally for her views on anti-depressants, and she is writing a book entitled, Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression .

Drug companies are taking notice.  Pfizer has begun labeling Zoloft with warnings about suicide and other companies are following suit. In the United Kingdom, anti-depressants are outlawed for teens and adolescents because of the suicide risk.

As for Amy Philo, she weaned herself off the drug she was taking against doctor's orders and her hallucinations stopped almost immediately.  She's now expecting another baby in September and feels better prepared this time.  And she’s happy her baby  C.H.A.A.D.A. is growing, too, so that other women can be helped.

 

E-mail ywalker@wfaa.com