fluvoxamine and Headache

The discontinuation of many pharmacologic agents is associated with characteristic withdrawal symptoms. Antidepressants, particularly the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), are known to be associated with a group of common symptoms upon discontinuation. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) are also taking their respective place in the literature with reports of discontinuation symptoms. This review summarizes case reports and reports that allow systematic assessment of discontinuation symptoms following SRI discontinuation.. A computerized literature search was conducted using a MEDLINE search to identify reports of withdrawal effects following discontinuation of SRIs. Additional reports were found in the bibliographies of various published reports.. SRI discontinuation symptoms in adults are summarized in 24 case reports and 9 reports from controlled clinical trials. Additionally, 3 case reports addressing SRI discontinuation in the neonate are described. The reports describe clusters of symptoms commonly associated with the discontinuation of an SRI.. We propose to define an antidepressant discontinuation syndrome as the onset of a cluster of somatic and psychic symptoms following the discontinuation of an SRI and not attributable to other causes (e.g., concomitant medication, illness). These symptoms include dizziness, light-headedness, insomnia, fatigue, anxiety/agitation, nausea, headache, and sensory disturbance. The syndrome may last up to 3 weeks and may be improved by restarting the antidepressant or starting an antidepressant with a similar pharmacologic profile.

Topics: 1-Naphthylamine; Adolescent; Adult; Child; Clinical Trials as Topic; Cyclohexanols; Dizziness; Female; Fluoxetine; Fluvoxamine; Headache; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Male; MEDLINE; Mental Disorders; Middle Aged; Nausea; Paroxetine; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; Sensation Disorders; Sertraline; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome; Venlafaxine Hydrochloride

Efficacy of antidepressants fluvoxamine, amitriptyline and transcranial electrostimulation of the brain in the treatment of chronic daily headache has been studied. Amitriptyline had the highest effect in dosage 50 mg daily but was not well tolerated by patients that resulted in that only 50% of them finished the study. Fluvoxamine had high efficacy and good tolerability in the treatment of chronic daily headache and medication overuse headache. Small dosages of amitriptyline and fluvoxamine potentiated the analgesic effect of transcranial electrostimulation of the brain. The combination of antidepressants with transcranial electrostimulation of the brain alleviated the negative effect of the withdrawal of overused analgesics and may be recommended for out-patient use.

Topics: Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors; Adult; Amitriptyline; Chronic Disease; Electric Stimulation Therapy; Female; Fluvoxamine; Headache; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; Skull

Fatigue is a major clinical problem in many patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). An effective treatment has not been defined. Recently, a large proportion of patients with these diseases was found to have symptoms of depression. Because fatigue is a frequent symptom of depression and there is some evidence that treatment with an antidepressant improves fatigue in patients with fibromyalgia, we hypothesised that the antidepressant fluvoxamine might improve fatigue related to PBC and PSC.. Fatigued patients were randomised to receive fluvoxamine (75 mg BID) or placebo for a six-week period. Fatigue and quality of life were quantified using a visual analogue scale, the Fisk Fatigue Severity Scale, the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory and the SF-36.. Seventeen and 16 patients were allocated to fluvoxamine and placebo, respectively. There was no statistically significant beneficial effect of fluvoxamine on fatigue or quality of life. The median VAS scores in the fluvoxamine and placebo groups were 7.40 and 7.45 at day 0, 6.9 and 7.15 at day 14, 7.45 and 7.65 at day 42 and 7.8 and 8.0 four weeks after treatment discontinuation.. We found no evidence for a beneficial effect of fluvoxamine on fatigue in these patients with cholestatic liver disease and severe chronic fatigue.

Topics: Cholangitis, Sclerosing; Dizziness; Fatigue; Female; Fluvoxamine; Headache; Humans; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary; Male; Middle Aged; Nausea; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Treatment Outcome

Fluvoxamine and paroxetine, both serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), were compared at two centers in a 7-week double-blind study in outpatients with major depression, diagnosed by DSM-III-R criteria.. Sixty patients were randomly assigned to receive dosage titrated upward to between 50-150 mg/day of fluvoxamine (N = 30) or 20-50 mg/day of paroxetine (N = 30). The mean +/- SD daily dose administered at the last assessment was 102 +/- 44 mg/day for fluvoxamine and 36 +/- 13 mg/day for paroxetine. Sixteen (53%) fluvoxamine-treated patients and 10 (33%) paroxetine-treated patients were titrated to the maximum permissible dosage of either drug. Sample size was calculated to provide at least 85% power at 5% level of significance to detect at least a 1.00-point difference in mean severity of adverse events, assuming a standard deviation of 1.0.. Fluvoxamine and paroxetine were similarly effective in ameliorating depression as demonstrated by mean total scores of 10.9 +/- 7.3 (p < .00) and 11.5 +/- 7.4 (p < .00), respectively, in the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D). Adverse events were mostly mild to moderate in severity. The most common events were headache (N = 17, 57%), nausea (N = 14, 47%), sweating (N = 10, 33%), somnolence (N = 9, 30%), diarrhea (N = 9, 30%), dry mouth (N = 8, 27%), dizziness (N = 8, 27%), and, among males, impotence (N = 3, 21%) and ejaculatory abnormality (N = 3, 21%) in the paroxetine group, and headache (N = 12, 40%), somnolence (N = 12, 40%), nausea (N = 11, 37%), dry mouth (N = 11, 37%), insomnia (N = 9, 30%), asthenia (N = 7, 23%), and dyspepsia (N = 7, 23%) in the fluvoxamine group. The only statistically significant difference between treatment groups was for sweating (33% paroxetine vs. 10% fluvoxamine, p = .028).. Observed differences in some side effects, although not statistically significant, indicate that when a patient has difficulty tolerating one SSRI, the clinician may choose to change to a different agent within the same class.

Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Ambulatory Care; Depressive Disorder; Diarrhea; Double-Blind Method; Drug Administration Schedule; Female; Fluvoxamine; Headache; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nausea; Paroxetine; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Severity of Illness Index; Sleep; Sweating; Treatment Outcome; Xerostomia

Previous studies have shown that both selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) are effective in the treatment of panic disorders (PD). In this study, the SSRI fluvoxamine (Fluv) was compared with the MAO-A-I brofaromine (Brof). Thirty patients with the diagnosis of PD with or without agoraphobia were treated with either Fluv or Brof (150 mg daily) in a double-blind design. After 12 weeks of treatment, 93% of the Brof group and 87% of the Fluv group considered themselves much or very much improved. Taking a reduction in the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety score of 50% or more, 33% of the Fluv patients and 47% of the Brof patients were responders to treatment. After an increase in anxiety in the 1st week, which was more severe in Fluv-treated patients than for Brof, a clinically relevant decrease in anxiety symptoms and reduction in panic attacks and avoidance behavior was observed. There was no significant difference between the treatment groups. The most prominent side effects were middle-sleep disturbance (Brof), tiredness (Fluv), and nausea after taking the medication (Brof and Fluv). During a double-blind follow-up period of another 12 weeks, a further improvement was found in both treatment groups without significant differences between the two groups. The selective and reversible MAO-A-I brofaromine and the SSRI fluvoxamine are equally effective in the treatment of PD. Both compounds lead to a reduction in the number of panic attacks and a subsequent reduction in agoraphobic avoidance.

Topics: Adult; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Double-Blind Method; Female; Fluvoxamine; Headache; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors; Nausea; Panic Disorder; Piperidines; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors

To examine the efficacy of fluvoxamine and clomipramine in obsessive compulsive disorder and to compare their tolerabilities.. In this multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial, fluvoxamine (100-250 mg/day) was compared with clomipramine (100-250 mg/day) for 10 weeks in the treatment of 66 psychiatric outpatients, aged 18 to 65 years, with a diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder. The main efficacy variable was the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale; secondary variables were the National Institute of Mental Health Global Obsessive Compulsive Scale and the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale.. Seventeen patients withdrew prematurely, 6 in the fluvoxamine group and 11 in the clomipramine group. In the intent-to-treat population (34 fluvoxamine patients and 30 clomipramine patients), there were no significant differences with respect to the mean reduction in total Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale score (last observation carried forward) at any time-point; a mean reduction of 8.6 (33%) was seen in the fluvoxamine group and 7.8 (31%) in the clomipramine group. Similar results were obtained in virtually all secondary variables. The only exception was the obsession-free interval for the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, which was significantly longer in the fluvoxamine group, especially in a population of patients with disease of > 12 months' duration (F = 5.298, df = 1, p = .026). Adverse events were mostly tolerable; 9 patients (5 receiving fluvoxamine, 4 receiving clomipramine) withdrew due to adverse events related to treatment.. Fluvoxamine and clomipramine were equally effective in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder. Both agents were well tolerated; fluvoxamine produced fewer anticholinergic side effects and caused less sexual dysfunction than clomipramine, but more reports of headache and insomnia.

Topics: Adult; Ambulatory Care; Clomipramine; Double-Blind Method; Female; Fluvoxamine; Headache; Humans; Male; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Patient Dropouts; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders; Treatment Outcome

Forty out-patients affected by chronic tension-type headache were selected according to the diagnostic criteria of International Headache Society (IHS) Headache Classification Committee. In a controlled trial patients received placebo for a four-week baseline period, then they were randomized in double-blind fashion to therapy with mianserine (30-60 mg/day) of fluvoxamine (50-100 mg/day) for another eight-week period. Frequency of headache, pain severity and analgesic consumption were evaluated using a self-monitoring system. Mood depression was evaluated at 0, 4 and 8 weeks by using Zung's Self-Rating Depression Scale and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Both drugs were beneficial in the treatment of chronic tension-type headache. Non-depressed subjects with more severe headache responded best to fluvoxamine, whereas mianserine was more effective in the treatment of depressed patients with moderate headache. These results suggest that central serotoninergic neurotransmission can play a role in the pathophysiology of chronic tension-type headache also in non-depressed patients.

Topics: Adult; Chronic Disease; Depression; Double-Blind Method; Female; Fluvoxamine; Headache; Humans; Male; Mianserin; Middle Aged; Muscle Contraction; Placebos; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; Serotonin

A 57-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was admitted because of depressive state. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), an antidepressant, was started on the admission day. The throbbing headache in the right temporal region appeared on day 3, and an analgesic drug was not completely effective. Serum sodium value on admission was 131 mEq/l. After SSRI was started the hyponatremia rapidly progressed, and it became 112 mEq/l on day 4. SSRI was discontinued, and headache disappeared; serum sodium was improved to 129 mEq/l. It has been reported that syndrome of inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone (SIADH) may be associated with ALS. We consider that subclinical SIADH was manifested by SSRI in this case. SSRI seems to be a cause of headache, since headache disappeared completely by discontinuation of SSRI.

Topics: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; Depression; Fluvoxamine; Headache; Humans; Inappropriate ADH Syndrome; Male; Middle Aged; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors