Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-03T12:16:51.786Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, Epilepsy and Myoclonus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Martin Deahl*
Affiliation:
The Medical College of St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London EC1A 7BE
Michael Trimble
Affiliation:
The Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG
*
Department of Psychological Medicine, St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, London EC1A 7BE

Abstract

Specific inhibitors of 5-HT reuptake are reported to have lower preconvulsive activity than other antidepressants. A patient with post-traumatic epilepsy who had remained fit-free for many years until she was given the 5-HT reuptake inhibitor fluvoxamine is reported. Changes in serotonergic function may play a more widespread role in the pathophysiology of seizure disorders than hitherto thought.

Type
Brief Reports
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Coleman, M. (1973) Serotonin in Down's syndrome. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Cooper, G. L. (1988) The safety of fluoxetine. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153 (suppl. 3), 7786.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dreyfuss, F. E. (1983) Myoclonic seizures. In Paediatric Epileptology (ed. Dreyfuss, F. E.), pp. 109119. Bristol: John Wright.Google Scholar
Gutierrez-Esteinou, R. & Pope, H. G. (1989) Does fluoxetine prolong electrically induced seizures? Convulsive Therapy, 5, 344348.Google Scholar
Harmant, J., Van Rijckevorsel-Harmant, K., DeBarsy, T., et al (1990) Fluvoxamine: an antidepressant with low (or no) epileptogenic effect. Lancet, 336, 386.Google Scholar
Klawans, H. L., Goetz, C., Westheimer, R., et al (1973) 5-Hydroxytryptophan induced behaviour in intact guinea-pigs. Research Communications in Chemical Pathology and Pharmacology, 5, 555559.Google Scholar
Klawans, H. L., Goetz, C. & Bergen, D. (1975) Levodopa-induced myoclonus. Archives of Neurology, 32, 331334.Google Scholar
Krijzer, F., Snelder, M. & Bradford, D. (1984) Comparison of the (pro)convulsive properties of fluvoxamine and clovoxamine with eight other antidepressants in an animal model. Neuropsychobiology, 12, 249254.Google Scholar
Meldrum, B. S. (1989) The epilepsies. In Neurotransmitters, Drugs and Disease (eds Webster, R. A. & Jordan, C. C.), pp. 318320. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific.Google Scholar
Nilsson, B. S. (1983) Adverse reactions in connection with zimelidine treatment — a review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 68 (suppl. 308), 105119.Google Scholar
Squires, R. F. & Saederup, E. (1988) Antidepressants and metabolites that block GABA (A) receptors coupled to 35S-t-butylbicyclophosphorothionate binding sites in rat brain. Brain Research, 441, 1522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trimble, M. (1980) New antidepressant drugs and the seizure threshold. Neuropharmacology, 19, 12271228.Google Scholar
Ware, M. R. & Stewart, R. B. (1989) Seizures associated with fluoxetine therapy. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 23, 428.Google Scholar
Weber, J. J. (1989) Seizure activity associated with fluoxetine therapy. Clinical Pharmacy, 8, 296298.Google ScholarPubMed
Wernicke, J. J. (1985) The side-effect profile and safety of fluoxetine. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 46, 5967.Google ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.