A little research of breast cancer survivors with menopausal symptoms reported at an American Cancer Society conference here reveals that Paxil (paroxetine), a popular antidepressant drug, appears to provide relief from the severity and frequency of hot flashes.
The vast majority of women consider hot flashes as incredibly unpleasant symptoms of menopause, however they are experienced by over half of breast cancer survivors as well. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has been proven to alleviate these symptoms in most women. However, HRT has been associated with breast cancer, leading many women to look for some alternative therapies to alleviate their symptoms – in most cases with little luck.
According to Vered Stearns, MD, after several her patients and others who were taking Paxil for depression observed a significant relief of hot flashes as well, a small research was conducted to analyse this phenomenon. Stearns works as an instructor in medicine and oncology at the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Stearns and her colleagues discovered that probably Paxil, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), may work on some system in the brain controlling hot both flashes and depression. Why and how hot flashes occur it has not been discovered so far.
The research involved 27 women who were taking Paxil over a six-week period. An average of 75 per cent of the women observed a decrease in the severity of hot flashes, and 67 per cent reported a decrease in frequency. One of the most telling results of the research, Stearns emphasizes, is that 83 per cent of the women on the research chose to carry on the therapy after the trial finished.
The results of the research showed that the effect of the medication seemed to increase over a six-week period. "I think that you should try the medication for three or four weeks before you decide it doesn’t work," Stearns tells WebMD. "But women report improvement in hot flashes very fast." In a study currently underway, Stearns claims this discrepancy is clearly seen within four weeks in women taking Paxil.
Among the most common side effects of the medication are: drowsiness and nausea. Several women also noticed changes some sexual dysfunction.
Stearns claims that quality-of-life scores show a good balance between benefit and side effects. The most important benefit that women were provided was an improvement in quality of sleep. Anxiety and depression also got much better, however only 20 per cent of those treated had scores that could be connected with depression at the beginning of the investigation.
