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Prozac
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Prozac is the brand name. Fluoxetine is the generic name, and generic fluoxetine is now available. Prozac is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) used to treat depression.SSRI medications affect serotonin levels in the brain. For many people, these medications are the first choice for the treatment of depression. For information on SSRIs and how they work, see SSRIs and Depression.
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Prozac (fluoxetine) is an antidepressant medication originally approved by the FDA in 1987 and currently available for the treatment of depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and bulimia nervosa. Prozac has ... been used off-label (which means a use not reviewed by the FDA) to treat panic disorder. Prozac is believed to work by blocking the reabsorption of serotonin, a neurotransmitter or chemical messenger in the brain. It is a member of the serotonin-reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) family, as are Zoloft (sertraline) and Paxil (paroxetine).
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Featured on the cover of Newseek and New York Magazine...debated on television and radio, written about in daily newspapers, Prozac has raised hopes and sparked controversies across the country. But how much do you really know about Prozac, the alleged "miracle drug" that doctors worldwide have employed to help alleviate crippling clinical depression in their patients?
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All good things come to an end, though, and in 2001, Prozac lost its patent. Eli Lilly lost $35m of its market value in one day - and 90 per cent of its Prozac prescriptions in a single year. Eli Lilly has now come back with Cymbalta, which it hopes will be the next Prozac. This was approved by America's Food & Drug Administration despite another very shaky start. Traci Johnson, a healthy 19-year-old college student, hung herself in the Eli Lilly laboratory while testing the drug at high doses, in return for $150 a day. Cymbalta is a painkiller and antidepressant combined because, according to its logo, 'Depression Hurts'.
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Prozac is overall as effective in relieving depression as older tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) such as imipramine. However, not all antidepressants are equally effective for a specific individual. Prozac causes fewer adverse heart-related events (such as a drop in blood pressure or unusual rhythm) and fewer anticholinergic effects (dry mouth, constipation, blurred vision, urinary retention) than TCAs. And it is less likely to cause drowsiness or weight changes ... associated with the older TCAs. A special diet is not necessary when taking Prozac, which may be the case with other antidepressants known as monamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). The incidences of death resulting from an overdose of Prozac have been extremely rare, which may help doctors feel more comfortable prescribing it.
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The effectiveness of Prozac for the treatment of bulimia was demonstrated in two 8-week and one 16-week, multicenter, parallel group studies of adult outpatients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for bulimia. Patients in the 8-week studies received either 20 or 60 mg/day of Prozac or placebo in the morning. Patients in the 16-week study received a fixed Prozac dose of 60 mg/day (once a day) or placebo. Patients in these 3 studies had moderate to severe bulimia with median binge-eating and vomiting frequencies ranging from 7 to 10 per week and 5 to 9 per week, respectively. In these 3 studies, Prozac 60 mg, but not 20 mg, was statistically significantly superior to placebo in reducing the number of binge-eating and vomiting episodes per week. The statistically significantly superior effect of 60 mg versus placebo was present as early as Week 1 and persisted throughout each study.
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Prozac