Comments on: A Pill To Forget?

Can A Medication Suppress Traumatic Memories?

[patiencemaso]

The report does not say that this pill erases memories, but that taking it short term (4 pills a day for 10 days, I believe), after an effort to remember the traumatic event and the emotional pain, will help lower the emotional pain associated with the memory. That is worth doing.
They don't suggest going on it for life.
I have a website for trauma survivors and veterans, patiencepress.com, where you can download some helpful information including an article called "PTSD and Holidays" which has helped a lot of people. (My guestbook is broken.)

[pattipace7]

After hearing for decades the war stories of how many of our veterans were being very over-medicated , you%u2019re giving them a new drug to off- label test. First take away five of their most prescribed drugs that are already proven to stop individuals from thinking. Can anyone in the medical field answer this question; why aren%u2019t you working part time at a VA hospital? Our future veterans (our children who are now fighting overseas so your $200 dollar an hour office in the U.S. will never be bombed) need your help now. Let every profession support our troops. How about offering your office and expertise a few hours a month, to our young veterans? The VA medical centers could not meet the needs of all the veterans from past wars.
Since WWI the medical profession and drug companies have benefitted from the many research projects done involving our veterans. It%u2019s time to return the favor and it will cost much less in the end if every veteran gets the chance to resume a comfortable life as a productive member of the society for which they offered to give up their own life to serve and protect. There are enough veterans from past wars that ended up only just a number in a research project .

[jewelcat1]

I can't beleive how many of you people really believe this medication will actually erase memory!! What is the matter with you? A pill will not erase your memory. The researchers are misguiding people. People have taken inderal (propranolol) for years, it has not erased anyone's memory, it is only a beta blocker. I don't know what the researchers are trying to accomplish by fooling people, but you are all falling for it and giving them the notoriaty they are seeking through 60 minutes.

There are scientists out there currently researching on animals to really erase memory at the molecular level in the brain. Those studies show true promise, however their findings are only basic right now, so we are talking years and years away from applying it to humans (check out Suny Downside, pkmzeta or "zip" the memory erasing molecule) I know I sound sci-fi., and I apologize, but this is true, they are doing research there.

I only wish they could apply it to humans now. Especially for people suffering as I do. I agree all don't need it, but many would be cured of their mental illnesses and do away with electo-shock therapy and institutions for the severely ill.

Just think of if they could someday wipe out bad memories of all the mental illnesses they could cure. They would do away with all the psychological medications, anti-depressants and put all the psychiatrists and therapists out of business. After all, insn't mental illness caused by bad experiences and bad memories.

[chelceimac-2009]

To hardegg10, if your most recent post is in response to mine, thank you for your kind words. However, I have not succeeded in overcoming the trauma of my past. I am a strong person, and I am very empathetic to other peoples' problems and distress, but I am still only a shadow of a person. I exist, that is all. I can't live a normal life, I have no life partner, I have no friends, I have no job, I have no social life. I survived and I'm alive, but that is all I am.

[words4u]

i took propranolol for 4 years for high blood pressure and migraines but found out late in the term that the side effects of this drug can be horrible // severe depression // suisidal thoughts // weight gain // mood swings // memory problems // change of personality //breathing problems // ....................................

people need to be aware of this before they begin to depend on this drug for long term use .......

i ask that you please send me an address or phone number of someone i can call or write to see if i have any long term damage still from this drug ..

dave diBona [e-mail] 407/895/9136

[narfull]

Looked up propranolol and found it's a beta blocker marketed as Inderol by Wyeth. Definite side effects (according to Wikipedia):

* Diabetes mellitus or hyperthyroidism, since signs and symptoms of hypoglycaemia may be masked
* Peripheral vascular disease and Raynaud's syndrome, which may be exacerbated
* Phaeochromocytoma, as hypertension may be aggravated without prior alpha blocker therapy
* Myasthenia gravis, may be worsened
* Other drugs with bradycardic effects

Still, interesting discovery that could help many people with severe PTSD.

[hardegg10]

Good for you! You overcame your trauma without all this crazy intervention. It made you a better person. You wouldn't be the person you are today if you had not endured all the pain and anguish from your ordeal. Good for you...but it's not that easy for most people. Reguardless of how tramatic you percieve your event was as compared to other's, REMEMBER-everyone internalizes life's difficulties differently. You are mistaken to think that what worked for you will work for everyone else.
Yes, I am a stronger person because of my traumatic childhood but my poor sister never found her way out. It made me a stronger mother in order to face the challenges of having a very sick and challenged child as well as other family issues. I sit in doctors' waiting rooms everyday with families that don't have the strength or means to "pull themselves up by their boot straps and get going!" Yes, you may have overcome, but I pray that when loved ones come to you for a kind word of strength and encouragement that you will never say "Ah...that ain't so bad! I went through...and I'm fine!" Well, you AIN'T them. You should hold their hands in faith and show them "educated" resources and services that can help.

My love and strength goes out to all of you whom are in search of mental peace. Don't stop looking. May you find it.

[chelceimac-2009]

The President's Council on Bioethics comment in their report that studied the possible use of propranolol, ..."our memories make us who we are and that "re-writing" memories pharmacologically %u2026 risks "undermining our true identity" is typical of governmental bureaucrats not knowing what they are talking about. I suffered continuous childhood sexual abuse from age 6 to 16 while at the same time suffering from extreme physical, then married a man who nearly killed me with his physical attacks. How, in anyone's opinion, can easing the lifetime pain resulting from that trauma "undermine my true identity?" I know who I am; I don't want to live with the mental anguish anymore.

[chelceimac-2009]

I would dearly love to participate in a study for propranolol. I've been under treatment since 1985 when my symptoms became unmanageable, I've gone through dozens of anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, and anti-anxiety medications. I've spent hundreds of dollars on therapy and self-help books, I've tried meditation, yoga, exercise. Nothing has worked, my life has steadily gone downhill since my diagnosis. I now force myself to spend about 10 hours a month outside my apartment. After I come home from an outing, I'm emotionally and physically drained. I do everything I can over the telephone and internet. Please, if there is a way I can try propranolol, write me at [e-mail]

[richmlm]

Regarding a drug "solution" for memory trauma, Dr. Alex Duarte - Ph.D. in nutrition - has said, "Regarding prescription drugs, it's not a question of IF a prescription drug has side effects; all prescription drugs have side effects. The question is how many side effects are there, and how severe are they?"

Gary Craig visited a veterans' hospital in Florida and treated veterans there who had been there for many years - some as long as 20 years - for treatment of post traumatic stress disorder. He charged nothing for this service. Using a method called emotional freedom technique (EFT), he cured each person he treated in a matter of days. EFT does not erase PTSD memory; rather it erases the associated stress.

With the permission of the hospital and the vet's themselves, the treatment sessions were recorded. Video summaries of those actual sessions are available on DVD at http://tinyurl.com/kysz7 . EFT helps hundreds of other body/mind conditions. The web site (link just shown) is searchable for case history summaries. There's also a free downloadable manual.

[hardegg10]

#2 of 3

Re:continued plea to Dr. McGaugh

Never settling for a doomed diognosis, we have overcome incredible odds and now, for the most part, he functions at his 4th grade level. A few different meds were given on a trial basis to help with ADD but nothing offered any help. Keeping an open mind to every kind of therapy known we feel he is truly a wonderful example of what sciences of the mind can help overcome. We have currently had over 200 sessions of neurofeedback therapy since May. And Although we have been pleased at how this has improved so much of his impulsive and behavioral issues we are now concluding that it has made minimal improvement on his extreme degree of ADD/HD. Please Dr. McGaugh, respond with your oppinions or offer me a reference that I may research the possibilities of adrenalin helping to trigger his short term memory.

Thank you

[kf3145]

Could taking Propranolol for so long cause permanent memory loss or can it be regained. I am a 45 year old woman who had been on propranolol for several years off and on due to heart palpataions and for no tramatic reason. After finding that the side effects of the pills was causing my heart to flutter. On my own, I stopped taking the pills and the flutters went away. However, I am now having memory problems, forgetting resent information and short events, problems recalling known words and items and some learned procedures. All my lab work looks normal. Could taking propranolol for so long cause perminent memory loss or can it be regained? If anyone has the answer or any helpful information on this subject please let me know be email [e-mail]

[awmom74]

As someone who suffered a traumatic experience as a child ( I was molested by a family member at age 7) I would GLADLY participate in this study. I am so intrigued by this. My past influences my everyday life. If I could erase that... my life would have so much more quality. This experience did not "make me who I am today" It held me back from becoming a better me. I think this is a great discovery and hope that it can become available to those of us who suffer...

[hardegg10]

1 of 3

Dr. McGaugh, I do hope you are previewing these blogs as I am very interested in knowing more about your adrenalin research. I am the mother of a son that siezured at 1 week with a 3-4 brain bleed. He became hydrocephalitic and was shunted. He was pronounced brain dead and would not have a viable life. The renowned neuro-psycologist Dr. Levine at UNC evaluated him at age 6 with an IQ of 60 and needed every sense repeatedly stimulated for him to remember simple task. With this diognosis we questioned why he remembered some things immediately and other things took incredible repition. We knew stimulating and exciting lessons were retained much easier and music while he's doing homework seems to help. Adrenalin?

See my other blog for continued dialogue

[phnixstar]

It's wonderful that the possibility of changing the effects of memory is possible, and for many NLP practitioners, (Neuro-linguistic Programming) we've known that it%u2019s possible for years and have been able to assist MANY thousands to overcome trauma and/or phobias without the need for pills or years of therapy. I know personally for myself and have had tremendous success teaching others the process as well.

For those that don't choose to become practitioners, there are two books I'm familiar with that teach about trauma (as well as many other things) and give the process to overcome it (actually trauma and phobias). The first is Heart of the Mind by Steve and Connierae Andreas and the second is The New Technology of Achievement put out by Nightengale-Conant and features the NLP Comprehensive Trainers.

You can also look under Robert Dilts' website www.nlpu.com. Click on the word Encyclopedia at the top and then click on the letter T (for Trauma). It will bring you to an explanation of trauma and the NLP applications. On page 1478 it HAS the NLP Trauma Process. If you don't want to do the process on yourself, search for NLP Directories on a search engine. One that just came up for me is:

http://nlp-practitioners.com/practitioners-directory/index.htm

I always tell folks, if you do this, the worst that can happen is nothing and the best that can happen is something. What have you got to lose? And what you could save is a whole lot of time and money!

[maryp9]

But then the President%u2019s Council on Bioethics condemned the study in a report that said our memories make us who we are and that "re-writing" memories pharmacologically %u2026 risks "undermining our true identity."

"This is a quote. 'It risks making shameful acts seem less shameful or terrible acts less terrible than they really are,'" Stahl reads to Logue.

"A terrible act," she replies. "Why should you have to live with it every day of your life? It doesn't erase the fact that it happened. It doesn't erase your memory of it. It makes it easier to remember and function."

Isn't it interesing that an agent that, when used properly OR when misappropriated, can cause temporary nerve paralysis (I speak of Botox, and I speak as a licensed aesthetician) is fine, fine if it can tweak a physical appearance... but something that can ease emotional trauma to the psyche is case for worry and lawful prohibition? I see a serious (but not atypical) case of "disconnect" here between governmental judgement and "compassion." br
br
As a sufferer of depression and GAD, this was a slap in my face. I can't imagine how our veterans, and any survivor of physical and/or emotional trauma, are feeling, especially when they see that they are could be supported by science (the true measure of medicine in this culture) but our [Attorney General?] wouldn't want to interfere with the formation of the soul.

[carasoul]

Jo8088, I will keep your daughters in my prayers. I would also like to add that if therapy made your daughters worse, then they were not seeing the right therapist or the right kind of therapist. I was sexually, physically, and emotionally abused from the age of 4 until the age of 16. While I would like to say the abuse no longer has an effect on me, it does and always will, however, I now decide on the effect it will have. I have dedicated my life to working with individuals that have suffered this kind of trauma. The fear I have regarding the pill is that people will take this as an easy fix, but will not work on the underlying issues that the pill will not fix. For years I blamed myself for my abuse, never realizing I was a child in the hands of mad men. To deal with this kind of trauma takes an individual who is trained to work with the trauma, and it takes a lot of hard work and patience on the part of the individual who has been abused. I know your daughters are very lucky to have a mom like you, who cares about them, as I missed out on that (my mom died when I was 7). Having a support system in place is a start in the right direction. Look up VOCA programs in your area to find a therapist for your daughters who are trained to work through abuse issues. VOCA (Victims of Crime Act) in some states offers free therapy. Good luck to your daughters and if they are you want to email me, my email is [e-mail]. Many blessings to you and yours.

[pattipace7]

After hearing for decades the war stories of how many of our veterans were being very over-medicated , you%u2019re giving them a new drug to off- label test. First take away five of their most prescribed drugs that are already proven to stop individuals from thinking. Can anyone in the medical field answer this question; why aren%u2019t you working part time at a VA hospital? Our future veterans (our children who are now fighting overseas so your $200 dollar an hour office in the U.S. will never be bombed) need your help now. Let every profession support our troops. How about offering your office and expertise a few hours a month, to our young veterans? The VA medical centers could not meet the needs of all the veterans from past wars.
Since WWI the medical profession and drug companies have benefitted from the many research projects done involving our veterans. It%u2019s time to return the favor and it will cost much less in the end if every veteran gets the chance to resume a comfortable life as a productive member of the society for which they offered to give up their own life to serve and protect. There are enough veterans from past wars that ended up only just a number in a research project

[jay021548]

I WONDER IF THIS PILL COULD HELP PEOPLE WITH OCD?
SOMETIMES THERE THOUGHTS PROCESS IS A PATTERN OF CONTINUE WORRY IF THE DID SOMETHING WRONG?

[enieshoff]

As a physician who routinely treats traumatized patients, I was incensed by the perverse arguments of the Bush administration ethicists, and fully intend to ignore such morally offensive blathering in my practice.

Their desire to prevent research using this extremely promising treatment strategy belies the same underlying zealotry that would have us limit the availability of morphine for patients in pain, for fear of fostering addiction - a scientifically disproven myth.

Presumably they belong to the same fringe element that shrieked at a glimpse of a breast on television, while simultaneously shrugging off routine portrayals of vicious murders in primetime. Indeed, "no child left behind" re: such misplaced values.

God save us from these modern Puritans and this latest manifestation of their savage moral illness. Any defenders of their arguments should answer first, what would Jesus do?

Most sincerely