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4- The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday July 19, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Your Pool Is Our Reputation MAKE THE MOST OUT OF YOUR SUMMER DON'T DELAY! FREE SALT GENERATOR WITH ALL JULY INSTALLS. *APPROX. RETAIL VALUE $2000 www.uniquepools.ca 905-304-4774 or 1-866-929-4774 BOOK NOW SWIM NOW SAVE NOW · CARPET · ORIENTAL RUGS · VINYL · HARDWOOD · CERAMICS · CARPET · WARNING SIGN: Sara Carlin wrote this letter to herself one month after her dosage of Paxil was increased. Her parents did not discover the letter until after her death. · ORIENTAL RUGS · VINYL · HARDWOOD · CERAMICS · CARPET · ORIENTAL RUGS · VINYL · HARDWOOD · CERAMICS · AREAraRUG ea nce Cl In-stock only! From Iran Hand Woven UP TO Persian Rugs, Tabriz, Isfanhan OFF Bidjar WALL TO WALL Caught in downward spiral CARPET CLEARANCE W · ORIENTAL RUGS · VINYL · HARDWOOD · CERAMICS · CARPET · ORIENTAL RUGS · VINYL · HARDWOOD · CERAMICS · Continued from page 3 Don't Pay till 2009 60 % HEAVY BERBER $3 e at Compar $1.99/sq. ft. SAVE UP TO DESIGNER RUGS "New" to Oakville Calvin Klein area rug collection 1/ 2 HAL F PR ICE 50 oz. NYLO e at Compar $5.49 only $2.99/sq. ft. LUXURIOUS NYLON SHAG e at Compar WOOL & SILK TIBETAN RUGS $7.29 only $3.99/sq. ft. BONUS INSTALLATION & UNDERPAD INCLUDED! Outlet Store ­ Trafalgar Village 125 CROSS AVENUE Huge Super Store ­ 228 King St. E. DOWNTOWN HAMILTON 905-849-4472 905-546-1921 · CARPET · ORIENTAL RUGS · VINYL · HARDWOOD · CERAMICS · CARPET · ith so many changes coming at her so fast, Sara began to experience anxiety and visited a doctor in an effort to alleviate it, explained her mom. The doctor prescribed Sara, then 17, Paxil (paroxetine), a SSRI anti-depressant. Unbeknownst to Sara's parents, the drug had been slapped with an advisory by Health Canada in 2003 and 2004 stating that the drug should not be given to children and adolescents under 18 years of age due to a possible increased risk of suicidal events. The 2003 advisory further noted that in pediatric clinical trials into major depressive disorder patients treated with Paxil showed an increased rate of suicidal thinking, suicide attempts and self-harm when compared to those taking placebos. Her parents noticed a considerable change in Sara's behaviour after she began taking the drug. "One of the things she said to her sister was, `It makes you not worry,'" said Rhonda. "That's the change we found in Sara because she had always been so disciplined and she would be up at 6 a.m. to get out to her hockey practice and her work, which she took so seriously, and she began to just not worry." Neil noted that Sara got to the point where she just did not care about anything anymore. Eventually, she quit her hockey team and lost her job as the assistant to a local optometrist. Her parents said alcohol and drug abuse, which had never surfaced in their daughter before, also became a problem. Sara had trouble sleeping, and when she did sleep, she had terrible nightmares. Today, flipping through the 2003 and 2004 advisories issued by Health Canada on Paxil, Neil now believes that many of the problems Sara was having are listed as possible side effects of the drug she was taking. "All the information about self harm and behavioural changes is right there, but we didn't know," he said. The situation worsened in September 2006 when Sara returned home from Western on medical leave. Suffering from insomnia, Sara again visited a doctor who, her parents said, prescribed her sleeping pills and increased her dose of Paxil. Neil pointed to a Health Canada advisory that cautions against sudden shifts in the amount of Paxil being taken. He believes this event sent his daughter into a spiral from which she would never recover. Her tortured state of mind during this period becomes clear in a letter she wrote to herself the following month, which was only discovered after her death. In the letter, Sara calls out for help from her deceased brother Brendan, who also died tragically in 2000. "I am confused about life. I don't know why I'm here or who I am. This world has stolen a part of me. I'm trying to get it back, but it's hard, sometimes I feel I can't do it. I need strength and I don't know how to find it. Brendan gives me strength. But it is hard. I feel useless and I don't want to let anyone down, but I'm really tired. I'm tired of life. I'm very weak. I've learned that and I know it's true. The world has robbed me of my strength and passion and will to live and survive. See Family page 5