Augmentation strategies with tricyclic or fluoxetine treatment in seven partially responsive panic disorder patients.
BACKGROUND: Although panic disorder is generally responsive to single antidepressant pharmacotherapy, a substantial percentage of patients fail either to respond adequately or to maintain a therapeutic response. METHOD: The authors report on seven consecutive openly treated patients with panic disorder who showed inadequate antipanic responses to treatment regimens including either a tricyclic (TCA) or fluoxetine. Those patients taking a TCA had fluoxetine added and those patients taking fluoxetine had a TCA added. RESULTS: All seven patients showed an improvement in antipanic response to the combination treatment. CONCLUSION: The current case series is the first, to our knowledge, to suggest that the combination of a TCA and fluoxetine may provide a viable pharmacotherapeutic option for panic disorder patients who have failed to respond to an adequate trial of either a TCA or fluoxetine. Appropriate controlled studies are recommended.