Antidepressant may also reduce menopausal symptoms

Just one week after the discovery that the antidepressant Paxil (paroxetine) may be able to help avert heart failure, fresh findings from the University of Florida in Jacksonville show that the drug may also alleviate menopausal symptoms.

An initial trial lasted 12 weeks and showed that a 7.5 mg daily dose of paroxetine reduced weekly hot flashes by 44 compared with a placebo reduction of 37. A second trial lasted 24 weeks and found a 50 percent or greater reduction in vasomotor symptom (VMS) frequency among the 568 women aged 40 and older.

According to lead author James Simon, MD from George Washington University, placebo treatments can be effective at treating vasomotor symptoms, which makes it particularly important to include placebo control groups in studies of VMS reduction.

Although paroxetine was less effective than traditional treatments, the drug may prove useful for those patients for whom hormonal treatments are not an option, Simon told MedPage Today, adding that the FDA does not currently offer non-hormonal VMS treatments.

"There are many women who are not candidates at all for hormonal therapy - they have hormone-dependent breast cancers or other absolute contraindications," Simon said. "But more importantly, many women choose not to use hormone treatment because they are inordinately afraid of the side effects and complications of those hormone treatments."

While some side-effects were found in the 12-week study, such as weight gain or slight sexual dysfunction, those effects were nonexistent by week 24 of the second study.

Paxil is most commonly used as an SSRI antidepressant. After consulting with their doctors, patients looking to buy Paxil can find inexpensive options from Canadian and international online pharmacies.

The study highlights the need for non-hormonal VMS treatments and improved access to drug therapies for menopausal symptoms with fewer side effects. Simon recommends that women undergoing menopause - which typically arrives around 51 year old and is determined by 12 weeks of lapsed period - should ask their physicians before seeking hormonal treatments.