Resource Tag: FLUOXETINE

In this letter to the editor, Glancy discusses 2 cases in which patients committed antisocial acts, e.g. property offences, following the administration of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). One of the subjects started to experience suicidal ideation & intense feelings of depression after being treated with fluoxetine hydrochloride. When the medications were discontinued, the symptoms […]

Kelleher discusses the relationship of depression & suicide, noting that not all people who are depressed are suicidal & vice versa. The effects of antidepressants, i.e. fluoxetine, upon suicidality are also discussed. He agrees with Mann (1991) that there is no clear relationship between the emergence of suicidal thoughts/behaviour & fluoxetine treatment. Kelleher says that […]

In this presentation, Soubrier argues that a drug can kill an individual only if they allow it to do so. He says that it is unfair to accuse antidepressants, prozac as well as the tricyclics, of encouraging, inducing or provoking suicide. Mood inversion, disinhibition, & acting out behaviours are related to many different chemical & […]

In this autobiographical story, the author relates how her life has profoundly changed since she started taking Prozac for major depression in 1990. She also tells of how she met the scientists who invented Prozac. The ability of Prozac to selectively alter personality without altering perception has given rise to many moral dilemmas; however, Thompson […]

This article discusses advances in the search for biochemcial markers that can identify people with a predisposition to self-destructive behaviours. It is speculated that doctors may someday be able to give people a test that measures their level of serotonin, a brain chemical that affects mood & impulse control. The story of a man who […]

17 double-blind controlled clinical trials were evaluated for treatment-emergent side effects (e.g. akathisia) & suicidality with fluoxetine, placebo & tricyclic antidepressants. 9 relevant adverse event clusters were evaluated. Most patients reported neither a cluster event nor suicidality. Where suicidality was reported, it was not in temporal association with an adverse event cluster. No increased risk […]

This article traces fluoxetine use in Asutralia & notes that media concerns about it’s safety has alarmed patients receiving the drug. Research studies are cited. Meta-analysis of clinical trials shows that fluoxetine does not cause or increase suicidal behavior or violent acts. The authors describe it as neither a panacea nor a personality pill but […]

The question was analyzed as to whether antidepressants have an influence on suicidality & whether there are specific differences between certain subgroups of antidepressants. In general, antidepressants reduce suicidal ideations in depressive patients. An unspecific induction of suicidality, observable also under other psychoactive drugs, appears to be quite rare & occurs only under predisposing conditions, […]

The position of the ACNP’s Task Force is presented. The Task Force reviewed the research on the effects of psychotropic medications on suicidality & concluded that antidepressants are effective treatment for depression; new-generation low-toxicity antidepressants may carry a lower risk for suicide; there is no evidence that serotonin reuptake inhibitors trigger emergent suicidal ideation above […]

An analysis of the data from double-blind controlled trials of fluvoxamine, fluoxetine, & paroxetine indicates that 5-HT uptake inhibitors excercise some protective effects on the emergence of suicidal thoughts. Data from a study with maprotiline suggested that it acted to increase the risks of both suicide attempts & completed suicide. Neuroleptics have shown some beneficial […]

The emergence of suicidal ideation has been noted in some case studies where fluoxetine administration seems to be the precipitating agent. However, these claims are not supported by the clinical trial literature. A review of some of the trials & case histories is followed by an assessment of the evidence. Possible explanations for the discrepancy […]

Both of these Letters to the Editor note that while media coverage may play a role in adverse reactions to fluoxetine, cases of akathisia in relation to fluoxetine are known & clinicians need to have a high index of suspicion & rule this out as a possibility. Though akathisia is felt to occur only with […]

This article presents the case of a 50-yr-old man with HIV infection & a history of hospitalization for depression with suicidality, as well as mania in association with fluoxetine & bupropion treatment. The case shares several features of 1 previously reported by Zubieta & Demitrack but important differences that distinguish the 2 cases are also […]

This article, based on a literature review, suggests that fluoxetine-induced extrapyramidal reactions may be a mediator of de novo suicidal ideation. It proposes a syndrome called Extrapyramidal-Induced Dysphoric Reactions, one extreme manifestation of which is suicidal ideation, & a heuristic “Four Neuron Model of the Extrapyramidal Motor System” in which increased serotonin activity, by inhibiting […]

This article reports on a woman with bulmia nervosa treated with fluoxetine for depression who became severely disturbed with tension, irritability, self-damage by cutting, & violent, intense, suicidal & paranoid ideation qualitatively different to previous symptoms. Clinical impression was of a striking association between fluoxetine & these symptoms. Caution is suggested when using fluoxetine in […]

This article reports a case of a 72-year-old-man who developed severe akathisia while on fluoxetine & neuoleptics in a setting of benzodiazepine withdrawal associated with a 1st-time violent suicide attempt. This case, discussed in the context of akathisia induced by psychotropics, illustrates difficulties in attributing mechanisms to emergence of side effects. A literature review suggests […]

This letter to the editor deals with the issue of the link between fluoxetine and suicidal behaviour.

This paper illustrates the advantages of time series analysis in documenting treatment effects through a case study of a trial of fluoxetine in a 22-year-old depressed, suicidal woman. Data consisted of weekly self-reports of symptomatology over 58 weeks of hospitalization. Intervention analysis carried out after the patient was discharged documented the effectiveness of the medication […]

This article presents incidence estimates and relative risks for a number of adverse clinical events reported by outpatients being treated with either trazodone or fluoxetine. Data were collected via an innovative method of patient self-monitoring. Many of the suggested differences between the two drugs are quite consistent with expected adverse drug reactions documented in both […]

27 male patients with combat related post-traumatic stress disorder entered an open, 10 wk trial of fluoxetine. 19 Ss completed 3 or more weeks of the trial. Scores on clinician administered PTSD scale decreases from a mean of 64.5 at baseline to 42.7 at endpoint, and improvement was significant in each of the 3 subscales. […]

This study examined the presence or absence of suicidal ideation in 50 patients treated in psychoparmacology clinic, who were receiving fluoxetine or who had been prescribed fluoxetine in the past. Only 5 subjects experienced suicidal ideation while receiving fluoxetine, and the quality and quantity of these thoughts were neither intense nor obsessional. (15 refs.)

Fluoxetine has been available for use as an antidepressant since early 1988. Recently, case reports have suggested that it may produce suicidal tendencies in some patients. The present report provides data from a medical examiner’s office regarding the number of cases in which fluoxetine has been detected & the proportion certified as suicides. (19 refs.)

In this paper, the authors briefly outline previous studies on the role of serotonin in suicidal behaviour in depression, & review the debate about antidepressants adversely affecting suicidal behaviour. Possible mechanisms involving effects on the serotonergic system that could account for some of these adverse reactions are discussed, & a contextual framework is developed for […]