Effects of clonidine on alprazolam discontinuation in panic patients: a pilot study
Fyer, A.J.; Liebowitz, M.R.; Gorman, J.M.; Campeas, R.; Levin, A.; Sandberg, D.; Fyer, M.; Hollander, E.; Papp, L.; Goetz, D.
Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 8(4): 270-274
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0271-0749 PMID: 3209718 Document Number: 315253
Effects of adjunctive clonidine (0.15 to 0.7 mg/day) on symptoms experienced during and for 4 weeks after gradual alprazolam discontinuation were observed in panic disorder patients after 6 weeks of successful treatment. Twelve of 14 entered patients were considered to have had a sufficient period of discontinuation (2 weeks) and clonidine administration (1 week) for effects to be assessed adequately. Nine of these 12 patients reached zero dose of alprazolam in 3 to 4 weeks. However, 10 of 12 patients experienced new withdrawal symptoms and 11 of 12 experienced recurrent panic attacks during tapering. Although a greater proportion of patients were successfully discontinued in a shorter time than in a previous nonclonidine trial, clonidine did not appear to have a specific effect on relapse or withdrawal. A placebo-controlled trial is needed to discriminate between possible contributions of clonidine and other factors (e.g., physician attitude, placebo effect of pill taking) to this improved outcome.