Early onset of response to doxepin treatment
Barranco, S.F.; Thrash, M.L.; Hackett, E.; Frey, J.; Ward, J.; Norris, E.
Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 40(6): 265-269
1979
ISSN/ISBN: 0160-6689 PMID: 376498 Document Number: 146957
Extensive literature has documented the efficacy, as well as the safety, of doxepin HCl, a tricyclic dibenzoxepin compound used to treat depressive disorders. Anecdotally, physicians have reported that doxepin appears to have an earlier onset of effectiveness than the other tricyclic antidepressants. The latter observation led to evaluation of the data acquired from prospective, randomized, controlled double-blind studies comparing doxepin therapy with that of other antidepressant medications or placebo. The aims of this analysis were to determine at what point had doxepin produced measurable improvement which was subsequently maintained or increased over the course of treatment; and which individual symptoms or symptom clusters responded soonest to doxepin therapy. The results of this pooled analysis of 198 depressed patients show that the greatest improvement is obtained after 4 wk of therapy. A finding of particular relevance to the practicing physician is the statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement observed in all measured components of depression after the 1st wk of doxepin therapy.