Memantine Therapy as an Augmentation in Treatmentresistant Depression: A Case Report

Abstract

Abstract Evidence suggests that treatment-resistant depression (TRD), defined as the occurrence of an insufficient clinical response after adequate antidepressant therapy among patients diagnosed with major depression, is one of the most important public health problems and is associated with significant disability and psychosocial impairment. Here we present a case of depression resistance to the treatment of a 22-year-old man and the effects of Memantine augmentation. The first symptoms of depression appeared in January 2019, and pharmacotherapeutic treatment began in March of the same year. He was in a bad mood, sad, hopeless, tense, lacked energy, lost interest, and decreased libido. During his twoyear pharmacotherapeutic therapy, he took SSRIs, SNRIs, TeCAs, SARIs, atypical antipsychotics with antidepressant effects, such as aripiprazole and cariprazine. Since the patient still did not have adequate therapeutic response and new drugs were available, the choice fell on Memantine after researching several databases and collecting the data listed at the beginning of the article. The initial dose was 5 mg daily and was gradually increased by 5 mg each week to a maximum of 20 mg. After 2 weeks at a stable dose, the patient reported feeling a little better. Significant improvement in symptoms was observed in the MADRS score, which was then applied to assess the effects of augmentation. After four weeks of therapy, he entered remission which is still ongoing.