Posted by S.D. on June 4, 2000, at 21:46:48
In reply to MOST EFFECTIVE MED FOR SOCIAL PHOBIA!, posted by z on June 4, 2000, at 12:46:20
(sorry in advance for the length of this reply, in case it becomes tedious ;^) It was originally intended to be very short).
"at week 16 ... 91% of the phenelzine-treated patients were almost asymptomatic."
This response is the most dramatic I've seen reported. Although I recall having read summaries of results of other phenelzine (brand name: Nardil) trials, this is the only one I found just now in a medline search of journal abstracts.
BTW the study shows almost as good a response from moclobemide; but while the Nardil response rate in other studies has been fairly consistantly good (though not *as good*; sorry I have no links, so don't trust me, but this is my recollection and belief), the moclobemide studies have had inconsistant results and ultimately left many psychopharmos in America deciding it wasn't much good.There have been articles published about studies done with Paxil. Some of them have fairly impressive-sounding response percentages and Paxil is being heavily advertised by the manufacturer. But personally, in aggregate as I read them carefully they didn't seem as good; besides somewhat lower percentages, a particular study might for instance have had a low standard for what makes a 'responder'.
You'll have to look for yourself ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed ) but I think the numbers point to Nardil as the king.
Some call it "the big gun" because it works often, and apparently often more completely than most meds when it does work, but for many people has more difficult side effects than most.There is another med that showed a very high effectiveness in the one controlled trial done with it: Klonopin (or it might have been with the generic form, clonazepam. I don't remember. Anecdotally, the brand name may be better or at least stronger than the generic.) An abstract of the clonazepam/Klonopin controlled trial can probably also be found on medline. Also, doctor Bob's psychopharmacology tips (elsewhere on drbob.org) has some stuff on social phobia regarding nardil, klonopin, paxil and more.
Hope this helps. Keep in touch via email if you feel like it I try to talk to other people with social phobia but usually without much success, due I guess to the nature of the disease. In any case, you've found a good crowd here in case you are new here. Good luck.
peace and health,
S.D.
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Here is The Abstract:Br J Psychiatry 1992 Sep;161:353
Pharmacotherapy of social phobia. A controlled study with moclobemide and phenelzine.
Versiani M, Nardi AE, Mundim FD, Alves AB, Liebowitz MR, Amrein R
In a double-blind, parallel group trial, 78 subjects with social phobia received moclobemide (a new reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase A) phenelzine, or placebo. After eight weeks, both active drugs-phenelzine somewhat more than moclobemide--were clinically and statistically significantly more effective than placebo, as assessed by rating scales. There was some further improvement between weeks 8 and 16, particularly in the moclobemide group; at week 16, 82% of the moclobemide and 91% of the phenelzine-treated patients were almost asymptomatic. Moclobemide was, however, much better tolerated than phenelzine. Patients withdrawn from active drugs had relapsed by week 24, providing additional support for the efficacy of the active drugs.
Publication Types:
Clinical trial
Randomized controlled trialPMID: 1393304, UI: 93006780
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poster:S.D.
thread:35977
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000603/msgs/36040.html