Changes in adverse events reported by
patients during 6 months of fluoxetine therapy
by
Zajecka J, Amsterdam JD, Quitkin FM, Reimherr FW,
Rosenbaum JF, Tamura RN, Sundell KL, Michelson D, Beasley CM Jr
Department of Psychiatry,
Rush Medical Center
and
Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center,
Chicago, Ill, USA.
J Clin Psychiatry 1999 Jun; 60(6):389-94

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Although a period of 6 to 12 months of antidepressant therapy is recommended for most patients with depression, systematic examinations of the course of adverse events over time, the resolution of early-onset events, and the possible emergence of later-onset events are limited. We examined the safety of fluoxetine, 20 mg/day, in a large, prospective, long-term treatment trial, and we report a comparison of early- and late-onset adverse events and the course of adverse events over 26 weeks of treatment. METHOD: Adverse events were recorded at each visit in a uniform format by open-ended questioning, regardless of perceived causality. New or worsened events reported in either the first 4 weeks of treatment (early-reporting interval) or weeks 22 through 26 of treatment (late-reporting interval) were compared. RESULTS: Patients (N = 299) whose depression (DSM-III-R) remitted with 12 weeks of fluoxetine treatment entered continuation therapy, and 174 completed 26 weeks of therapy. All events that occurred in > or =5% of patients early in treatment decreased in frequency over time (p<.05), and no events occurred significantly more frequently during continuation therapy. No previously uncommon adverse events became common during long-term treatment. CONCLUSION: Common adverse events associated with initiating fluoxetine treatment in depressed patients, including nausea, insomnia, nervousness, and somnolence, resolve in the majority of patients and become significantly less frequent with continued treatment over a 6-month period. No adverse events present initially become more frequent late in treatment. Therapy with fluoxetine, 20 mg/day, is well tolerated over 6 months, and most adverse events observed early in treatment resolve.

SSRIs
Anxiety
Akathisia
Fluoxetine
SSRIs and sex
Prozac on tap?
Fluoxetine weekly
Fluoxetine: structure
Fluoxetine and MAO-B
Fluoxetine and reward
Fluoxetine and oxytocin
Fluoxetine and akathisia
Fluoxetine and dopamine
Fluoxetine every third day
Sertraline versus fluoxetine
Fluoxetine versus tianeptine
Imipramine versus fluoxetine
Fluoxetine: 10th anniversary
Fluoxetine, moclobemide and sex
Fluoxetine and corticosteroid receptors
Fluoxetine (Prozac): prescribing information (PDF)
Antidepressant activity of omega-3 fatty acids plus fluoxetine (Prozac)

Refs
and further reading

HOME
HedWeb
Nootropics
cocaine.wiki
Future Opioids
BLTC Research
MDMA/Ecstasy
Superhapiness?
Utopian Surgery?
The Abolitionist Project
The Hedonistic Imperative
The Reproductive Revolution
Critique of Huxley's Brave New World

The Good Drug Guide
The Responsible Parent's Guide
To Healthy Mood Boosters For All The Family