Fluoxetine for the treatment of SSRI discontinuation syndrome

Abstract

The paper by Fava et al. (2007) on SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) discontinuation syndrome has shown two important points highly impacting clinical practice: (i) its high frequency, and (ii) its difficulty of treatment. Fava et al. have shown that the usually suggested strategy to prevent this syndrome, i.e. slow tapering of the SSRI, often does not work, and that its symptoms may sometimes be difficult to tolerate until a spontaneous remission (which may take weeks). A less stressed strategy to prevent and treat SSRI discontinuation syndrome is switching one SSRI to fluoxetine (Schatzberg et al., 2006). For this …