Prozac Reduces Insomnia - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

0 Comments | Family Practice News, Feb 1, 2000

It's not necessary to prescribe a sedating antidepressant to patients with depression who also suffer from insomnia.

A retrospective review of seven trials of flouxetine hydrochloride in depression suggested that treatment reduced sleep disturbances, especially in patients with severe insomnia. Sleep disturbances declined in 1,556 patients who received fluoxetine hydrochloride, compared with 900 patients who took placebo.

Patients with severe baseline insomnia had significant reductions in sleep disturbances, compared with controls, an effect seen as early as week 2. Those with mild baseline insomnia had nonsignificant declines in sleep disturbances, said Dr. Steven J. Romano and his colleagues of Eli Lilly & Co., Indianapolis (Psychiatr. Annals 29[10]:562-67, 1999).