A 48-year-old woman has claimed antidepressants left her bedridden, suicidal and reliant on her parents to cater for her every waking need.
Lingling Wang, a banking consultant from Surrey, was prescribed three different types of the medicine by her GP over just a few months, for anxiety and insomnia.
Within weeks of taking the first tablet Ms Wang said her symptoms went from mild to severe and she now believes she would have killed herself had she not come off the drugs after a year.
Two of the antidepressants she was prescribed, sertraline and citalopram, were also taken by Thomas Kingston — husband of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent’s daughter — who took in own life in February last year.
Mr Kingston, 45, who was married to Lady Gabriella Kingston, a second cousin of the King, was first prescribed sertraline before being moved to citalopram after his symptoms failed to improve.
His death prompted a coroner to warn there was a lack of communication over the ‘risks of suicide’ associated with antidepressants.
Now, Ms Wang has added her experience to the debate, claiming she wasn’t made adequately aware of the risks of the drugs after being prescribed them last January.
‘My life is finished — I lost my job, almost all my friends, I’m bedridden, I have to rely on my family to feed me,’ she said a year after being prescribed the medication.
Lingling Wang, 48, from Surrey, (pictured) revealed she would have killed herself had she not come off the drugs after a year
Ms Wang, who previously worked as a senior consultant in a bank, claims she was not made adequately aware of the side effects of the drugs when she was prescribed them last January
Recalling her ordeal, Ms Wang told The Independent she was first prescribed a drug called mirtazapine by her GP for insomnia and mild anxiety.
But after a few weeks she started to suffer from severe anxiety, low mood and her insomnia also didn’t improve.
Her GP then advised her to wean off mirtazapine and instead start a type of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) — the most commonly prescribed family of antidepressant — called citalopram.
But again, Ms Wang suffered with ‘huge waves of anxiety’. She added that the drug also left her feeling as though her brain was ‘completely frozen’.
Eventually, she was told to come off both medications and to take another SSRI called sertraline, which she said only left her feeling worse and ‘crying for help’.
Her anxiety became so severe she was forced to stay with her parents in China, where she saw a psychiatrist who helped her come off sertraline.
Ms Wang said she believes that if she had stayed on the drug, she would have killed herself.
Thomas Kingston (left), the husband of Lady Gabriella Windsor (right), took his life following an adverse effect to prescribed medication, an inquest heard
SSRIs, of which eight are prescribed in the UK, are considered a go-to medication for depression primarily because they are thought to have fewer side effects than most other types of antidepressants.
However, guidance for doctors written by NHS watchdog NICE acknowledges the increased risk of suicide when starting an SSRI — although this is said to be most heightened in those aged under 30.
‘Monitor people carefully during the first few weeks of SSRI treatment; in particular, be alert for signs of suicidal ideation, akathisia, and increased anxiety and agitation,’ the guidance reads.
The body also warns against stopping antidepressants suddenly, due to the risk of withdrawal symptoms — which include stomach problems, insomnia, increased anxiety and extremely low mood.
Instead, patients must be gradually tapered off the drugs.
NICE guidance also states that treatment should be continued for at least four weeks before switching antidepressants if one does not work.
Ms Wang submitted a formal complaint to her NHS trust following her experience.
But a review found she had been informed of the need to stop antidepressants carefully and was sent a link to information about sertraline.
The UK’s medicines regulator, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently reviewing 30 antidepressants including citalopram, sertraline and mirtazapine
It comes as an inquest into the death of Mr Kingston found he had been experiencing anxiety and had not long stopped taking antidepressants when he took his own life.
Despite his symptoms, the financier ‘had not expressed any suicidal ideation’ and the coroner for Gloucestershire, Katy Skerrett, said his ‘intent remains unclear’ as he was suffering from ‘adverse effects of medications he had recently been prescribed’.
Now, in a prevention of future deaths report, Ms Skerrett, the senior coroner for Gloucestershire, has raised concerns over whether there is ‘adequate communication’ regarding the risks of suicide with such pills.
Returning a verdict of suicide, she also questioned whether the current guidance to ‘persist’ with the drugs is ‘appropriate’ in circumstances when the individual is suffering ‘adverse side effects’.
NHS figures show there was an estimated 89 million antidepressant drug items prescribed in 2023-24 an increase of 3.3 per cent since 2022-23.
The UK’s medicines regulator, Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently reviewing 30 antidepressants including citalopram, sertraline and mirtazapine, after families expressed concern over the loss of their loved ones.
Since 2014, the MRHA has received more than 71 alerts over fatalities linked to the antidepressant citalopram and 114 alerts over fatal adverse reactions linked to sertraline.
But The Independent notes the data does not conclude if the drug was the direct cause of death.
This NHS data shows the number of Brits taking each type of antidepressant medication over the past eight years. The line with the green triangles indicates the the total number of patients
Antidepressant use has soared in Britain in recent years, despite growing unease among experts about the effectiveness of the drugs in treating depression.
People with depression are thought to have low levels of serotonin, though there is scientific debate over this, and SSRIs combat this by boosting these levels.
However, some experts suspect the drugs could be causing too much serotonin to be released, with consequences for people’s health.
Psychiatrists advise patients concerned about the side effects of antidepressants to talk to their medical professional about their options.
Clinicians can sometimes offer an alternative dose, a different drug entirely, or prescribe another medication to combat side effects.
They urge patients who are taking them not to quit without talking to the medical professional responsible for their care first to ensure they are adequately supported.