Ocular Side Effects of Drugs: An Introduction

into bodies, of which they know less,

for diseases of which they know nothing at all."

Voltaire

Introduction

Unfortunately Gabapentin, which is an antiepileptic drug, can cause glaucoma as a side effect (1). This drug is also being used for psychiatric problems. Ref. 2 implicates "common psychotropic agents" as producing "ocular adverse effects". In other words, these drugs are toxic to the eyes.

This article is not going to be popular. I am the messenger who brings the bad news. Legend has it that a King had a messenger killed who brought the bad news.

Other Side Effects

The medical literature is replete with terrible side effects of psychiatric drugs (3). Many of these side effects have nothing to do with the eyes.

Antidepressants

"Self-poisoning is a common method of suicide and often involves ingestion of antidepressants."

Hawton K, Bergen H, Simkin S, Cooper J, Waters K, Gunnell D, Kapur N.

Centre for Suicide Research, University of Oxford, Department of Psychiatry, Warneford Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 7JX, UK. keith.hawton@psych.ox.ac.uk

The above quote is from Ref. 4.

Other Side Effects

Unfortunately psychiatric drugs can also be toxic to the heart (6).

Various Psychiatric Drugs

"All psychotropic medications have the potential to induce numerous and diverse unwanted ocular effects."

Richa S, Yazbek JC.

Department of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross, Beirut, Lebanon. samiric@idm.net.lb

The above quote is from Ref. 2. Ref. 8 reports the use of medical marijuana for glaucoma and other conditions. Ref. 9 details various problems from psychiatric drugs including glaucoma. Ref. 10 details problems from the older psychiatric drugs.

Alternatives

There are many alternatives to drugs. One example of alternatives is orthomolecular medicine. Orthomolecular medicines have side effects too, but these side effects are beneficial. One example is vitamin A. Vitamin A can come in the form of retinol or in the form of beta-carotene. It is good for the eyes as well as for other things.

Conclusions

The body needs to be fine tuned. When you give the body a drug, it is like hitting the body with a hammer. Nutrition can often be used to fine tune the body and the brain.

There are many alternatives to psychiatric drugs. Psychotherapy, psychosocial rehabilitation, group therapy, orthomolecular psychiatry, etc. are all alternatives.

References

1. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2009 Jun;18(6):483-91. Adverse events with use of antiepileptic drugs: a prescription and event symmetry analysis. Tsiropoulos I, Andersen M, Hallas J.

2. CNS Drugs. 2010 Jun 1;24(6):501-26. doi: 10.2165/11533180-000000000-00000. Ocular adverse effects of common psychotropic agents: a review. Richa S, Yazbek JC.

3. Rechallenge with lamotrigine after a rash: a prospective case series and review of the literature. Aiken CB, Orr C. Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2010 May;7(5):27-32.

4. Br J Psychiatry. 2010 May;196(5):354-8. Toxicity of antidepressants: rates of suicide relative to prescribing and non-fatal overdose. Hawton K, Bergen H, Simkin S, Cooper J, Waters K, Gunnell D, Kapur N.

5. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2008 Jan;23 Suppl 1:43-51. Fatal toxicity of drugs used in psychiatry. Flanagan RJ.

6. Clozapine rechallenge following clozapine-induced pericarditis. Crews MP, Dhillon GS, MacCabe JH. J Clin Psychiatry. 2010 Jul;71(7):959-61.

7. Association study of the GSK-3B gene with tardive dyskinesia in European Caucasians. Souza RP, Remington G, Chowdhury NI, Lau MK, Voineskos AN, Lieberman JA, Meltzer HY, Kennedy JL. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2010 Jun 2.

8. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2007 May 15;64(10):1037-44. Medical marijuana and the developing role of the pharmacist. Seamon MJ, Fass JA, Maniscalco-Feichtl M, Abu-Shraie NA.

9. Am J Emerg Med. 1994 Mar;12(2):212-6. Emergencies caused by side effects of psychiatric medications. Tueth MJ.

10. Aust Fam Physician. 1985 Aug;14(8):744-5. Drugs affecting the eye. Taylor F.