Posted by JohnL on May 6, 2001, at 5:31:00
In reply to Re: Help re: Celexa/Serzone Combo Sal » Amy Blue, posted by SalArmy4me on May 6, 2001, at 0:26:10
> I think Serzone is worth a 6-week trial. My next suggestion would be mirtazapine.
>
> Serzone is good because:
> *No anticholinergic effects
> *Few sexual side-effects
> *Efficacy similar to SSRI's in many affective disorders and co-morbid disorders from anxiety to dysthymia, etc.
> *Good for insomnia
> *No cognitive side-effects
> *Few significant drug-drug interactions
> *Cheaper than SSRIs, depending on where you liveJust wanted to comment that some of the above comments could be misleading as they are not completely true.
For example, though Serzone supposedly does not have anticholinergic effects ON PAPER, in the real world we hear frequently of people experiencing dry mouth and blurry vision with Serzone. Efficacy ON PAPER is similar to SSRIs. But in the real world, like here at psychobabble, we see more good results with SSRIs than with Serzone. If we made a list of disappointing trials on Serzone, and a list of disappointing trials of an SSRI, the Serzone disappointment list would be a lot longer than the SSRI list. My own doctor won't even prescribe Serzone any more because he found it to be not be very helpful with most patients who tried it. Sure, it looks good in theory on paper and in clinical trials, but real world results is what I like to see.Few sexual side effects, true. Good for insomnia, mostly true, but not always. There have been a couple cases where it created insomnia. No cognitive side effects, totally false. Most people who try Serzone report some version of foggy headedness. Few significant drug drug interactions, false. Due to its metabolism pathway, it interferes with the metabolism of quite a few other meds.
poster:JohnL
thread:61504
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010424/msgs/61755.html