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The safety of zimeldine in long‐term use in depressive illness
Author(s) -
Wålinder J.,
ÅrbergWistedt A.,
Jozwiak H.,
Knorring L.,
Nyström C.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
acta psychiatrica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.849
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1600-0447
pISSN - 0001-690X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0447.1983.tb11116.x
Subject(s) - nausea , adverse effect , depression (economics) , antidepressant , medicine , reuptake inhibitor , psychiatry , depressive symptoms , pediatrics , anesthesia , anxiety , economics , macroeconomics
— The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of zimeldine, a 5‐HT reuptake inhibitor, in the long‐term treatment of depressive disorders. The study was an open label, multicentre investigation involving 147 patients who were suffering from depressive illness and who needed long‐term antidepressant treatment. Sixty‐five patients completed the intended treatment period of 1 year, 75 terminated prematurely, and 7 are still in the programme. The reasons for termination were mainly ineffectiveness of the drug and adverse reactions. During the long‐term treatment the most common emergent symptoms were, in order of decreasing frequency, dizziness, dry mouth, sleep disorders, sweating, tremor, nausea and headache. The side‐effects were, however, mild and they generally decreased during the treatment period. No new adverse symptoms were reported. In the long‐term treatment group, body weight showed a slight mean decrease. Clinical chemistry and cardiovascular investigations were judged to show no changes of clinical importance. It is concluded that zimeldine was shown to be a safe drug in this 1‐year treatment programme of depression.