BACKGROUND Antidepressants can impair sexual arousal. Exercise increases genital arousal in healthy women, likely due to increasing sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity. PURPOSE Test if exercise increases genital arousal in women taking antidepressants, including selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which suppress SNS activity, and selective serotonin and norepinephrine reupt...

The substantial non-response rate in depressive patients indicates a continuing need to identify predictors of treatment outcome. The aim of this 6-week, open-label study was (1) to compare the efficacy of a priori defined predictors: ≥20% reduction in MADRS score at week 1, ≥20% reduction in MADRS score at week 2 (RM ≥ 20% W2), decrease of cordance (RC), and increase of serum and plasma level ...

By now, the differential effects of several selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes are well defined and that the drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are a major issue in the management of depression. In many cases of DDIs in relation to SSRIs, SSRIs plays as a potent CYP inhibitor. Fluvoxamine has inhibited various CYPs-mediated pathways (especially CYP1A...

(Letter to the Editor) SIR, We read with great interest the report by Coleiro et al. [1] describing a pilot study on the tolerability and efficiency of fluoxetine for the treatment of Raynaud's phenomenon. This study confirmed previous case reports suggesting the usefulness of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the management of Raynaud's phenomenon [2, 3]. Here we describe for ...

Depression is a serious illness that affects 20.9 million Americans a year. The most common method of treatment is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Previous studies have shown that SSRI efficacy is limited. This review of current clinical data combined with statistical analyses has shown that the efficacy of SSRI treatment in adolescents is even more limited. It also has shown t...

In the treatment of depression fluoxetine [a selective serotonine reuptake inhibitor (SSRIs)] is a widely used drug in humans. The selectivity, efficacy, side effects and simplicity of dosage contributed to fluoxetine's clinical acceptance. Several psychiatric disorders (many of them responsive to SSRIs) are present during pregnancy; up to 10% of pregnant women fulfill diagnostic criteria for m...

Data on discontinuation phenomena associated with serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are derived primarily from (1) published case reports, (2) data bases of adverse drug reactions that have been spontaneously reported to national monitoring bureaus, and (3) clinical studies of drug discontinuation. Some of the symptoms seen on SSRI discontinuation, such as nausea, lethargy, insomn...

BACKGROUND In individual studies and limited meta-analyses venlafaxine has been reported to be more effective than comparator antidepressants, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). AIMS To perform a systematic review of all such studies. METHOD We conducted a systematic review of double-blind, randomised trials comparing venlafaxine with alternative antidepressants i...

Although catatonia is a well defined syndrome, the treatment of chronic catatonia remains an unresolved issue. Here, we report a successful treatment of a 30-year-old patient with treatment-resistant catatonic schizophrenia in 10 years by augmentation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).We present a 30-year-old man with treatment-resistant catatonic schizophrenia who failed to re...

Clonidine and guanfacine are alpha-2 receptor agonists that decrease sympathetic outflow from the central nervous system. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that is theorized to be related to a hyperactive sympathetic nervous system. Currently, the only US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved medications for PTSD are the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (S...