✦ LIBER ✦
Response to clomipramine after short course of lithium in treatment-resistant depression: Does lithium have a ‘priming’ effect?
✍ Scribed by Leo P. W. Chiu; Ranan Rimon
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1987
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 293 KB
- Volume
- 2
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6222
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
A patient with a treatment-resistant depression of 15 months duration is reported. Initially he showed no response to clomipramine 150mg daily for 1 month. When lithium carbonate 600mg daily was added for 4 days he developed signs of lithium intoxication: drowsiness, confusion, and dystonia. After lithium was withdrawn the patient improved dramatically. We hypothesize that lithium may potentiate the antidepressant effect of tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) even if it is administered as a short course of treatment.