Posted by inanimate peanut on July 18, 2010, at 13:28:41
In reply to Lou's reply-pschohmeidahmho » inanimate peanut, posted by Lou Pilder on July 18, 2010, at 13:18:10
Below are the abstracts of using TCA/MAOIs together. As for naming people on this board, you'll have to search the archives as I'm not going to start calling people out (although I can think of 2 in particular who are/have been on the combo). Here's your abstracts:
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 1988;12(4):523-32.
Combined MAO-inhibitor and tri- (tetra) cyclic antidepressant treatment in therapy resistant depression.
Schmauss M, Kapfhammer HP, Meyr P, Hoff P.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Munich, West Germany.
1. One aspect of using MAO-inhibitors - combining them with tricyclic antidepressants in the treatment of therapy resistant depression - has always been controversely discussed in regard to its unusual toxicity and efficacy. 2. To obtain detailled information about safety and efficacy of such a combined treatment, the charts of 94 inpatients treated with a tranylcypromine - tri- (tetra) cyclic antidepressant combination were reviewed. 3. Within a mean treatment period of 21.9 days, 68% of the patients demonstrated a very good or good improvement to combined treatment, the most effective combination being tranylcypromine + amitriptyline. 4. The incidence of side effects among the patients on the combined regimen was slightly, but not significantly lower as compared to the patients on single tri- (tetra) cyclic antidepressant treatment. 5. Our retrospective study supports the general safety and efficacy of combined MAOI-TCA treatment and suggests that combined treatment, if properly administered, leads to neither serious complications nor an inordinate number of side effects.
J Clin Psychiatry. 1985 Jun;46(6):206-9.
Combined MAOI, TCA, and direct stimulant therapy of treatment-resistant depression.
Feighner JP, Herbstein J, Damlouji N.
Patients with "treatment resistant" depression who do not respond to standard methods or relapse over time have a moral and legitimate right to innovative therapy. Combined treatment with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), and stimulants has been resisted by practitioners because of hypertensive and hyperthermic crises noted in certain cases. This paper reports a case series demonstrating the safety and efficacy of adding a stimulant to an MAOI or to a combination of TCA and MAOI in the treatment of intractable depression.
Encephale. 1996 Nov-Dec;22(6):450-60.
[The tolerability and efficacy of combined antidepressant therapy: literature review]
[Article in French]
Taleb M, Gorwood P, Bouleau JH, Rouillon F.
Service de Psychiatrie, Hôpital René-Dubos, Pontoise.
There are many pharmacological strategies in order to manage depressed patients with treatment resistance. Combined antidepressants therapy is currently prescribed, mostly for depressions which resist to a single antidepressant, or to another therapeutic, such as electric-convulsive-therapy. Combined treatments are usually considered to have a more rapid action than monotherapy, although mainly is based on personal experience. It is generally admitted that the better efficacy of combined antidepressants therapy with different biochemical characteristics is explained by the synergic action of both norepinephrine and serotonin systems. The combination treatment of MAOI and tricyclic agents has been widely studied, sometimes on hundreds of patients. Numerous studies showed a good efficacy, and the toxicity of such an association was exaggerated, thus they are nevertheless rarely prescribed. As reversible MAOI-A are now available, combination treatment with tricyclic antidepressants is theoretically safer. The combination treatment of SSRI and tricyclic antidepressants is more frequently reported in the recent literature. Studies analysing such an association are however insufficient, and cannot lead to any clear conclusion. The combined treatment of mianserin and tricyclic antidepressants have also been quoted, with an efficacy that has been confirmed on randomized placebo-controlled studies. Resistant depressions are the main indication for combined antidepressants therapy. Anxious disorders have recently been considered as interesting new indications, such as panic disorder or obsessive compulsive disorder, with or without a comorbid mood disorder. In conclusion, controlled studies devoted to the analysis of combined antidepressants therapy are relatively few, and do not allow to draw any conclusion about their efficacy. Nevertheless, as this type of prescription is frequent, scientific evaluation of their specific efficacy is needed.
Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr. 1996 Oct;64(10):390-402.
[Combination therapies in antidepressive drug refractory depression--an overview]
[Article in German]
Schmauss M, Erfurth A.
Bezirkskrankenhaus Augsburg, Universität München.
Despite the availability of a wide range of effective antidepressant drugs, nearly 30% of depressed patients fail to respond to antidepressant treatment. Various pharmacological strategies have been developed to treat such refractory depression, of which augmentation therapies are one of the most important. This article reviews both benefits and risks of all known augmentation therapies. Among these treatment strategies the efficacy of lithium augmentation is very well documented by a large number of controlled studies - lithium augmentation can therefore be recommended in depression refractory to antidepressant treatment. The efficacy of triiodothyronine (T3) augmentation and the combination of different antidepressants - like a TCA-MAOI combination - is described in a large number of case reports and uncontrolled studies; the number of placebo controlled double blind studies, confirming the efficacy of these treatment strategies, is however relatively small. T3 augmentation and combined antidepressant treatment may therefore be considered in the treatment of refractory depression; in contrast to lithium augmentation these combination therapies are however only second-line strategies. Other augmentation therapies (TCA + stimulants, TCA + reserpine, TCA + yohimbine, TCA + fenfluramine, SSRI + buspirone) are very interesting clinical research strategies, but don't have too much importance in clinical practice at the moment.
J Affect Disord. 1995 Jun 8;34(3):187-92.
A 3-year follow-up of a group of treatment-resistant depressed patients with a MAOI/tricyclic combination.
Berlanga C, Ortega-Soto HA.
Division of Clinical Research, Mexican Institute of Psychiatry, México, DF.
Treatment-resistant depression is a clinical complication that not infrequently affects a certain number of patients. Within the treatment strategies proposed for this condition, the association of a MAO inhibitor (MAOI) with a tricyclic antidepressant has gained reputation both for its unusual efficacy, as for its potential toxicity. However, when cautions are taken, it may be safely administered. Most reports on this combination have been carried in nonresistant patients and, when resistant patients are included, only the acute phase of the treatment is reported. In this study, a group of well-defined resistant patients received an open trial with the association of isocarboxazide and amitryptiline (n = 25). Those who responded were followed during the next 3 years (n = 12) and every 6 months an attempt was made to discontinue the MAOI and continue only with amitryptiline. At the end of the study, 4 patients maintained response with single medication, 6 still required both drugs and 2 relapsed. No clinical differences were apparent between the outcome groups, except that those who maintained their response only with the 2 combined drugs had more previous depressive episodes than the others. The isocarboxazide/amitryptiline combination may be a good treatment option for at least some forms of resistant depression. The safety of this treatment modality is confirmed, even when given for long periods of time. The study also suggest that there are no clinical characteristics in resistant depression that may predict the treatment outcome but, perhaps in some patients, a combined treatment is required to obtain a broader biochemical effect that could convert them from nonresponders to responders.
Acta Psiquiatr Psicol Am Lat. 1994 Dec;40(4):314-20.
[Combined therapy with tricyclic and MAOI antidepressants in the treatment of resistant major depression]
[Article in Spanish]
Rosan TA, Mesones HL, Brengio F.
This paper shows the results of associating tricyclic and MAOI antidepressants in the treatment of resistant major depression. Forty five patients from private practice with diagnosis of major depression according to DSM III R criteria, with negative response to separate tricyclic or MAOI treatment, were given both types associated. They improved without dangerous side effects.
poster:inanimate peanut
thread:954704
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