DOD Whistleblower Tells Senator Donnelly that the VA's 1st Line of Defense for PTSD is a Drug that's KNOWN for Causing Suicides & NOW that Drug is KNOWN for Causing Alzheimers.WTF.... The DOD Knew I'm in SHOCK..... Have to go to Dr's but will blog more soon.

Senator Donnelly,


**************told me it will cost taxpayers 300k per vet w/Alzheimers ...so the "risk management types have now concluded use of meds not sustainable. So did iGet intel that SSRI's are a leading cause of Alzheimers & Studies manipulated &/or NOT funded cause of lobbyist interference because it was OK when the Vets were killing themselves by taking SSRI's but now that it will cost the taxpayers 300K each to care for them when then get Alzheimers the govt NOW wants them off of them? Someone please reassure me I'm wrong? Also please tell your member of Congress to tell the DEA to declassify pot so the Vets have "easy access" the plant might not be the solution for ALL & it might just be a way to relieve the Vets of pain BUT something has to happen quickly. Too many lives have already been lost.

Thank you,

Sharyn Bovat

From the VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for PTSD perspective, these SSRIs, as well as the SSRIs fluoxetine and paroxetine along with the serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) venlafaxine are first-line recommended treatments.

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 http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treatment/overview/clinicians-guide-to-medications-for-ptsd.asp

Sad Fact
Bush era about 200 Vet suicides per year (stat not verified) 
right now every 10 days 222 Vet suicides (this stat VERIFIED)

http://ahrp.org/americas-medicated-army-new-studies-linking-ssri-to-suicide/

America’s Medicated Army + New Studies Linking SSRI to Suicide

America’s Medicated Army by Mark Thompson, is an unusually balanced, informative, insightful article that sheds light on the spiraling use of antidepressant drugs and sleeping pills in the military. The fact that the article was published in TIME Magazine (June 2008) a major mainstream magazine with international circulation, is an indication that the drug-induced suicide problem within the military is a major problem.

TIME reports:

“For the first time in history, a sizable and growing number of U.S. combat troops are taking daily doses of antidepressants to calm nerves strained by repeated and lengthy tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The medicines are intended not only to help troops keep their cool but also to enable the already strapped Army to preserve its most precious resource:soldiers on the front lines. Data contained in the Army’s fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of U.S. troops taken last fall, about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope. Escalating violence in Afghanistan and the more isolated mission have driven troops to rely more on medication there than in Iraq, military officials say.”

The Pentagon does not keep statistics about the use of prescribed mind-altering drugs. But it is estimated that 20,000 troops in Afghanistan and Iraq were taking SSRI antidepressants -such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft -and / or sleeping pills such as Ambien.

The latest Army report reveals that in one month, January, 2009,  the number of suicides by deployed soldiers was 24-six times as many as killed themselves in January 2008, the year in which the suicide rate surpassed all other years. There were 128 confirmed suicides plus another 15 suspected suicides in 2008.

“This is terrifying,” an Army official said. “We do not know what is going on.”

Actually, it is becoming ever clearer what is going on:
“Last year the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urged the makers of antidepressants to expand a 2004 “black box” warning that the drugs may increase the risk of suicide in children and adolescents. The agency asked for – and got – an expanded warning that included young adults ages 18 to 24, the age group at the heart of the Army. The question now is whether there is a link between the increased use of the drugs in the Iraqi and Afghan theaters and the rising suicide rate in those places.”