Shared Transformation Issue 9
DANGEROUS MEDICATIONS
Most people I know who have consulted doctors for mental, emotional or physical psychospiritual
symptoms have been prescribed psychoactive (mood-changing) drugs. A multitude of the possible adverse reactions
to these medications are very similar to Kundalini symptoms. While the naturally occurring Kundalini manifestations
are healing and transient, their "evil twin" symptoms of chemical poisoning can result in permanent (and
sometimes fatal) physical damage.
In my own case, two different physicians (a general practitioner and a neurologist) offered me antidepressants for my physical symptoms. The first prescribed trazadone (also known as Desyrel) for my breathing and swallowing difficulties. (These symptoms later vanished by themselves; I learned they were typical manifestations of heart and throat chakra openings.) I was given "a very low dosage" to be taken before bed, since the doctor told me the only side effect I might encounter would be "slight drowsiness." She assured me that this was a very safe medication, and that in her many years of practice, only one man had complained to her of an adverse reaction to this drug.
The night I took my first trazadone tablet, I was jolted awake an hour later with my whole respiratory system in revolt. All the mucus membranes of my nose, mouth, throat and sinuses had swollen so much I was nearly suffocating, and blood was pouring from my nose! It took hours for these effects to subside. The next morning when I reported this incident to my doctor, she advised me to discontinue the medication. (Even had she instructed me to continue it, I would never have touched the stuff again.) The second antidepressant prescribed for me two years later was desipramine. This was when I sought help for my excruciating back pain. My neurologist told me this drug had been found useful for alleviating chronic pain. He said the only side effect I might encounter would be "dryness of the mouth" and when I asked him if the medication was addictive, he answered "Not at all." This time I didn't take his word for it. I checked in four reference books that list uses and warnings for prescription drugs. Not one mentioned any pain-relieving properties, but all four said that desipramine should never be abruptly discontinued, as this could produce severe withdrawal symptoms. To me, this is a working definition of an addictive drug! Each book gave a somber enumeration of "minor" to "major" side effects, many of which were substantially more serious than a dry mouth. Most of the tricyclates carry the same risks. Brand names for these antidepressants include Norpramin, Pertofrane, Tofranil, Janimine, Elavil, Endep, Aventyl, Pamelor and Vivactil. The possible side effects are as follows:
Agitation, anxiety, blurred vision, chest pains, confusion, constipation, convulsions, cramps, diarrhea, difficulty in urinating, dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, enlarged or painful breasts (in both sexes), fainting, fatigue, fever, fluid retention, hair loss, hallucinations, headaches, impotence, heartburn, increased skin sensitivity to sunlight, insomnia, loss of appetite, mood changes, mouth sores, nausea, nervousness, nightmares, nosebleeds, numbness in the fingers or toes, palpitations, peculiar tastes in the mouth, restlessness, ringing in the ears, seizures, skin rash, sleep disorders, sore throat, sweating, tremors, uncoordinated movements or balance problems, unusual bleeding or bruising, vomiting, weakness, weight gain or loss, or yellowing of the skin or eyes. So many of these symptoms are commonly reported Kundalini manifestations, and might be overlooked as serious warning signs by someone going through a Kundalini awakening.
The tricyclate antidepressants are known to be antagonistic to spiritual emergence. They may arrest the process in an unfinished stage of emotional clearing, prolonging or prohibiting psychological resolution. Author of Toxic Psychiatry, Peter Breggin says that research indicates that these potentially devastating drugs are "hardly much better than placebo." When they do work, they produce "lethargy and disinterest, that feeling of being 'zonked.' They also tend to produce generalized mental dysfunction and... render the mind unable to generate higher psychospiritual responses." And they have been known to trigger or aggravate psychosis in those whose psychic balance is fragile (which happens in many phases of spiritual awakening).
Armed with all of this information, there was no way I was going to dose myself with this chemical invitation to iatrogenic (medically-induced) disease. Besides all the obvious reasons for avoiding them, these medications rarely take effect until they have been circulating in the system for 3-4 weeks. I don't want to put any foreign substance into my body that I have no real need for (I was not suffering depression in either case), and that I can't safely stop taking when or if I suffer a bad reaction to it. As frequently prescribed (and perhaps even more dangerous) for those experiencing the mental torments of awakening, are the antipsychotics. This class of neuroleptic drugs includes Thorazine, Stelazine, Prolixin, Vesprin, Haldol, Navane, Trilafon, Tindal, Taractan, Serentil, Orap, Quide, Repoise, Compazine, Dartal, Clozaril and Mellaril. Some of the most life-threatening potential drug reactions to these are nearly identical to Kundalini symptoms: Spasms of the neck (if severe, can lead to death by asphyxiation), difficulty swallowing, protrusion of the tongue, mask-like faces, drooling, tremors, pillrolling motions, motor restlessness (an inability to remain physically still), agitation, insomnia, shuffling gait (I experienced something akin to this for several weeks at the beginning of my Kundalini awakening). A very disturbing neuroleptic-induced disorder is TD (tardive dyskinesia). (The tricyclate antidepressants are also suspected of triggering this disease.) This pathological condition is permanent and incurable. The TD symptoms, which can mimic kriyas, often begin with slight undulations of the tongue. This later develops into rhythmic, involuntary movements of the face, mouth or jaw, such as puffing of the cheeks, puckering of the mouth, chewing movements, sticking out the tongue, and so on. Sometimes these automatic movements also involve the hands and feet. The drug manufacturers advise physicians to terminate use of medication if any of these symptoms appear. But it might not dawn on those who were experiencing kriyas before taking these meds that the drug and not the Kundalini is creating these symptoms. Peter Breggin describes an unusually severe case of TD in a woman who was "grossly disfigured and disabled" and could "no longer control her body." He tells of her "extreme writhing movements and spasms involving the face, head, neck, shoulders, limbs, extremities, torso and back -- nearly the entire body." From this description, one might conceivably identify her as someone in the most intense phase of Kundalini kriyas. But Breggin goes on to say that the woman "had difficulty standing, sitting, or lying down, and the difficulties worsen as she attempts to carry out voluntary actions." In my experience, and in everything I have studied about Kundalini, the automatic movements of the kriyas become most pronounced when one is relaxed. They subside or vanish altogether when there is a need to perform "voluntary actions." It is also possible to negotiate with the energy and ask it to tone down under special circumstances. In Energies of Transformation, Bonnie Greenwell tells of a woman who successfully asked to be freed of kriyas while she was driving. We might gather from this that although the symptoms bear a superficial similarity, the kriyas are signs of neurological stimulation, but TD is an indication of neurological destruction.
Other serious reactions to the neuroleptic drugs include allergic reactions, blood abnormalities, cardiac arrest, catatonia, cerebral edema, endocrine disturbances, grand mal and petit mal convulsions, hypotension (abnormally low blood pressure), intestinal paralysis, liver damage, psychosis, skin disorders, urinary retention, and something called Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS), which has a fatality rate of 12-20%. Symptoms of NMS include muscle rigidity, irregular pulse or blood pressure and altered mental states, all of which likewise can be encountered during a Kundalini process. If all this isn't bad enough, these medications can also produce strokes, heart poisoning, bone-marrow poisoning, and suicide due to drug-induced despair.
These antidepressants and antipsychotics are as indiscriminately prescribed as once were Valium
and Librium, the "mother's little helpers" of the 50's and 60's. If you are currently taking these or
other psychoactive medication, don't rely completely on your doctor for information. Many physicians are misled
by drug companies and underestimate the real dangers of these chemical concoctions. For a much more comprehensive
overview of the hazards of these prescription drugs, I very much recommend reading Toxic Psychiatry by Peter R.
Breggin, M.D. (St. Martin's Press, 1991). Please don't let a doctor coerce you into taking any of these drugs.
Only you can decide if taking these medications is worth the risk. To those of us who do not need this kind of
chemical help, it might seem sheer insanity that anyone would voluntarily put these substances into their bodies.
But I know of quite a few people whose process included so much mental and emotional chaos that these medications
were their only salvation. If the energy is moving too fast and furiously through our systems, this in itself can
cause serious mental and physical damage. I have heard of three incidents in which the unconscious and superconscious
material unleashed by the process drove individuals to commit suicide. In cases this extreme, where no other help
is available, the sedating effects of these medications can be life-saving. As with other potent drugs (such as
chemotherapy used to treat cancer), it is necessary to weigh the potential benefit against the known dangers. Then
we can make an informed decision for ourselves.
--El Collie