Kevin Neil Rider
First Incident Relative to Prozac Effect

On a summer day, August 26th, I returned home from work and noticed Kevin sitting at our 
picnic table in the backyard.  He seemed to be in deep concentration, as there was a large 
textbook laid out on the table before him.  I proceeded to begin preparations for dinner.  
A short time thereafter, my husband returned.  He was busily engaged in something, and then 
I heard him exclaim "Oh, My God!".  In a fright, I ran outside to see what was the matter.  
In one instant I beheld my son sitting in the same position I had at first seen him, but now
he was holding his BB gun at his head.  In the next instant, we were upon him.  I don't 
remember if it was my husband or myself that pulled the gun away, but I remember taking him 
by the shoulders and shaking him, and cried out, "What are you doing?  Don't you ever, ever,
ever hold a gun to your head!".  I noticed his eyes, that they seemed glazed over.  
He threw back his head and emitted a sound which I can only describe as a cross between a 
wail and a shriek.  My husband helped him inside, and I immediately went for the phone and 
dialed the Utah Poison Control Center.  

I didn't even know where to begin.  "Something is terribly wrong with my son.... He is not 
acting right.... He had a gun pointed to his head..."  Somehow, the poison control staff 
member was able to calm me down. 

" Is he on any drugs?"  
"Yes, he's on Prozac.. Could Prozac make him act like this?"
"Anything else?"
"No, I don't think so..."
"Is it possible he ingested a larger dose than that prescribed for him?"
"I don't know...."

I went to the cupboard where we kept our prescription medicines.  I noticed the date of the 
last refill.  I counted out the capsules that were left and compared the number to how many 
days since the prescription had been filled.  

"Yes, it appears that there are six more missing from the bottle..."

The staff member assured me that Prozac was a relatively safe drug.  Our son hadn't taken 
enough to do any real damage... it wasn't a high dose to begin with... He hadn't even taken 
enough to warrant getting his stomach pumped... He would be pretty wired through the night, 
but just watch him close... Poison Control would be checking back through the night...
 
My husband slept in Kevin's room that night.  The next day he still appeared to be reacting 
to the overdose somewhat.  He was restless, agitated... he paced.... Poison Control, true to
their word, called several times to check on him.   We sat down with Kevin to talk.  We 
asked him what on earth was he doing... He was old enough to know that you don't mess around
with prescription drugs.... What ever had gotten into him?  Did we need to treat him like a
little child to make sure he was taking his medication properly?  It was pure chastisement 
as only a parent can give.... We were questioning him out of love and concern....  

What was his response?  The doctor had increased his dosage with the intent that it would 
work better.  Well, it wasn't.  In fact, he said he was feeling so sad, so very sad..... He 
thought maybe because he was so big, the doctor had misjudged.  Maybe what he really needed 
was an even bigger dose to feel better....  He hadn't taken the six extra capsules all at 
once.  He took them over the course of the day..... He waited to see if an extra pill would 
have any effect.  Nothing.  So, he took another.  Still nothing... And so it went until we 
found him with the gun.  

My husband and I were unsure of what to do.  We decided to take him back to our doctor.  
Kevin absolutely refused.  Once he was back to his normal senses, the experience was so 
embarrassing and humiliating to him that he didn't want anyone else to know what he had done.
  
He admitted that what he had done was foolish.  He told us that he knew better.  He told us 
that he now knew that he needed to be on this medication, and he would take it as he was 
directed.  Only, please, please don't tell anyone about this, and don't tell anyone he had 
to take this drug..

I did eventually call our doctor about this incident, and told him what had happened, and 
explained to him our son's reasoning.  Our doctor said that he still felt that this is the 
dose that was right for Kevin.  I assured  him that our son had promised to stay with the 
dose that had been prescribed, and we would supervise him more closely.   I never told my 
son that I had consulted with our doctor about this experience....

As I was going through my personal papers and receipts to try and piece together the date of
this incident, I realized that it had been less than one month since our doctor had doubled
his dosage of Prozac.  I regret that I didn't know more about the long half life of this 
drug, or it would have been obvious to me then... that this was just another manifestation 
of the well documented adverse effects of this sinister drug.....