Evaluation of reboxetine, a noradrenergic antidepressant, for the treatment of fibromyalgia and chronic low back pain.
Clinical experience supports the use of antidepressant medications to treat chronic pain syndromes, such as low back pain and fibromyalgia. Although this use of antidepressants is common in clinical practice, the literature supporting this off-label use has some limitations. In this report, the authors review the body of clinical data on the use of antidepressants in treating pain and present a case series of depressed patients with these syndromes who experienced relief of pain symptoms while being treated with the noradrenergic antidepressant reboxetine. These subjects experienced significant relief of pain before any significant improvement in actual mood symptoms. Our experience with reboxetine suggests that this noradrenergic antidepressant may have efficacy in the treatment of chronic pain in patients with depression.
Krell
Heather V
HV
Laboratory of Behavioral Pharmacology, UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, 37-452 NPI, 760 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. hkrell@mednet.ucla.edu
Leuchter
Andrew F
AF
Cook
Ian A
IA
Abrams
Michelle
M
D018759:Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009025:Morpholines / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000077593:Reboxetine
D018759:Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors; D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D009025:Morpholines; D000077593:Reboxetine