These drugs were better tolerated than tricyclics and benzodiazepines as they had a low risk of dependence and overdosing complications .
The serotonergic , noradrenergic and GABAergic pathways play a major role in the fear network and in the physiopathology of PD .
INTRODUCTION Panic disorder ( PD ) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder characterized by unexpected and recurrent panic attacks .
PD patients present significant psychosocial impairment and a high risk of psychiatric comorbidities and suicide .
PD should be treated effectively as soon as the symptoms emerge because the longer these patients remain without treatment , the worse the prognosis will be .
SSRIs and SNRIs are the first-line compounds in the treatment of PD .
Pindolol augmentation in patients with treatment-resistant panic disorder: A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of pindolol as an augmentor of fluoxetine in treatment-resistant panic disorder ( PD ) . Twenty-five out patients having PD with or without agoraphobia were included . These patients had not responded to two different trials with antidepressants and an 8-week trial of fluoxetine 20 mg/day . Treatment-resistant PD was defined as a less than 20 % reduction in score on the Panic Self- Question naire ( number of attacks per week ) ( PSQ ) and the Clinical Anxiety Scale With Panic Attacks ( CAS+PA ) . These patients continued to receive fluoxetine 20 mg/day and were r and omly assigned to additionally receive either pindolol ( 2.5 mg three times daily ) or placebo for the following 4 weeks . Evaluations were performed weekly using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety , the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression ( HAM-D ) , the CAS+PA , the NIMH Anxiety Scale , the PSQ , and the Clinical Global Impression Scale . The data were analyzed using a repeated- measures analysis of variance ( ANOVA ) and a t-test for independent sample s. Patients treated with the combination of pindolol and fluoxetine ( N = 13 ) demonstrated a significant improvement over the patients treated with fluoxetine and placebo on all rating scales , with the exception of HAM-D. The statistical differences were shown using the repeated- measures ANOVA ( baseline , week 2 , week 4 ) and also with t-tests from the second week of the trial . These preliminary results demonstrate that pindolol has an augmenting effect on fluoxetine in patients with treatment-resistant PD
These drugs were better tolerated than tricyclics and benzodiazepines as they had a low risk of dependence and overdosing complications .
The serotonergic , noradrenergic and GABAergic pathways play a major role in the fear network and in the physiopathology of PD .
INTRODUCTION Panic disorder ( PD ) is a prevalent psychiatric disorder characterized by unexpected and recurrent panic attacks .
PD patients present significant psychosocial impairment and a high risk of psychiatric comorbidities and suicide .
PD should be treated effectively as soon as the symptoms emerge because the longer these patients remain without treatment , the worse the prognosis will be .
SSRIs and SNRIs are the first-line compounds in the treatment of PD .