Discontinuation symptoms

• There is evidence that antidepressants, even of the same class, differ markedly in their discontiunation profile. (ref.1).
• Discontiunation symptoms with Cipralex versus venlafaxine xr were investigated in comparative depression studies (ref.2) and in SAD (ref.3) and GAD (ref.4) studies versus paroxetine.  The DESS scale (Discontinuation Emergent Signs and Symptoms) was used to check for symptoms before, and at 1 and 2 weeks after treatment discontinuation. Whilst only modest and transient increases in the DESS score were observed for Cipralex, the increase in DESS score was significantly higher for venlafaxine xr (ref.2) and paroxetine (ref.3).
• The discontiunation symptoms returned towards baseline values after 2 weeks.

Mean DESS score (ref.5) # Significantly different from paroxetine, p<0.05 ### Significantly different from paroxetine, p<0.001

References:

1. Hindemarch et al., 2000

2. Montgomery et al., 2004

3. Lader et al., 2003, 2004; Montgomery et al., 2005

4. Baldwin et al., 2004; Bielski et al., 2004

5. Lader et al., 2003

Last updated: 31.07.2008