Subject: Re: Diabetes Type 2 and Paxil (Paroxetine)
Date: Sat, 08 Sep 2001 11:48:06 -0700
From: Malcolm Graham
BCC: Carol Pettit
Newsgroups: alt.support.diabetes

While this is certainly a possibility and may warrent further investigation, this is not the area that is of interest to me. My current research has led to me to a side-effect of Paxil that reduces the amount of glutathione in your body cells which in turn leads to glucose matabolism problems and type2 diabetes. In order words, while depression can be a contributing factor to the onset and diagnosis of diabetes, the use of Paxil to control depression seems to have a direct impact to the onset of diabetes independently of whether you already had it or not. In addition, the most frequently prescribed medication to treat depression of people with diabetes is Paxil. My analysis of this situation is that this, in turn, depletes body cell glutathione levels, which inhibits the uptake of glucose by body cells, which leads to the increased production of insulin by the pancreas, which, in turn, leads eventually to pancreatic burnout and the need for insulin injections. So the indications are that diabetics shouldn't take Paxil for depression. I find myself asking if depletion of glutathione levels leads to diabetes, would increasing glutathione production help control diabetes? Hence my interest!

Carol Pettit wrote:

Just a thought...could it be that people who are being treated for depression are seeing a doc more regularly than many of those who are not and therefore more apt to be tested for diabetes? Particularly since diabetes can cause depression. Seems reasonable that if someone is depressed, there would be a bg screening in the lab tests given to determine whether there was an underlying medical reason for the depression.
Carol P

Malcolm Graham wrote:
I'm currently researching whether there is indeed a connection. I find myself asking: Is there a connection between the increased use of antidepressants and the increased diagnosis of type 2 diabetes?