Citalopram and fluoxetine in the treatment of postmenopausal symptoms: a prospective, randomized, 9-month, placebo-controlled, double-blind study

Abstract

Compared with placebo, citalopram and fluoxetine have little effect on hot flushes and cannot therefore be recommended for the treatment of menopausal symptoms, if vasomotor symptoms are the main complaint. Whether the improvement of insomnia by means of citalopram affects the quality of sleep needs further investigation.

Effect of Citalopram and Aspirin on Hot Flashes and Quality of Life in Premenopausal Women with Breast Cancer: A Randomized Double-blind Clinical Trial

“…Therefore, if these drugs could separately alleviate hot flashes, their simultaneous use was expected to leave a higher impact. One study rejected the effect of citalopram plus fluoxetine on reducing hot flashes [23,24], and another considered citalopram for treating women with breast cancer histories. These women experienced a minimum of 14 hot flashes per week.…”

Current Approach to Menopause

“…Venlafaxine (75 mg / day) also significantly reduced the symptoms of hot flushes compared with placebo (28). On the other hand, a doubleblind study with fluoxetine and citalopram (10-30 mg / day) did not show a different improvement from placebo in vasomotor symptoms (29). Gabapentin has been shown to reduce vasomotor symptoms compared with placebo in a randomized controlled trial (30).…”

Centrally active nonhormonal hot flash therapies

“…‡ Estimated from Figure 2 provided in Menopause. 12 6-week phase in which the interviewer classified the participant as a "success" or "failure." Participants also rated their hot flash severity as absent (0), moderate (1), or severe (2).…”

“…27,28 Nonetheless, significant efficacy was not reported in a recent trial that looked for long-term effects of fluoxetine and citalopram, compared with placebo, in 150 postmenopausal women with hot flashes. 12 In this trial, the women must not have had a surgical menopause because they were required to have Ն1 ovary. Menopause was defined as amenorrhea for 6 months, with levels of follicle-stimulating hormone Ͼ30 IU/L (Ͼ30 mIU/L).…”

“…There are several centrally acting compounds that have been investigated as a means of alleviating hot flashes in women ( Table 1). [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] Potential mechanisms for their efficacy have been described in detail. 15 The present article delineates the histories of several of these classes of agents in the order in which they were first investigated.…”