Bipolar Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Bipolar, including details on bipolar disorder, symptoms, treatment, depression, medication.

Escitalopram/reboxetine combination in depressed patients with substance use disorder.

Camarasa X, Lopez-Martinez E, Duboc A, Khazaal Y, Zullino DF

Hôpital Psychiatrique Cantonal de Marsens, Switzerland.

Acting pharmacologically on different transmitter systems has been suggested to have some advantages in patients with substance abuse and may possibly address a larger spectrum of symptoms. One major drawback of using antidepressants addressing several neurotransmitters is that the relative activities on the different neurotransmitters cannot individually be adjusted. Combining antidepressants targeting different neurotransmitter systems may allow adapting the effect on each neurotransmitter system corresponding to patients' response and tolerance. Three cases of patients presenting a substance use disorder with comorbid major depression episodes are presented, who were treated with a reboxetine/escitalopram combination and who showed a rapid response of their depressive syndrome.

Published 21 December 2004 in Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry, 29(1): 165-8.
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