These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT be used as
recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. An individual patient is
always advised to consult their own physician.
Despiramine [posted 1/5/99]
Question:I would like some information on the drug desimprimine in treating ADHD.
Answer: Not a drug that I use for this indication. You might contact the scientific dept of Hoechst-Marion Roussel: 800-552-3656.
Despiramine
Question: Do you have any information on desipramine, and its both positive and
negative uses?
Answer: Desimpramine (brand name Norpramin) is a tri-cyclic antidepressant.
These have been used for about twenty years for endogenous depression. The mode of action
of this drug is not clear, but appears to work on reuptake of different neurotransmitters.
Tri-cyclics are good drugs in depression, but are limited by the time of onset (3 weeks or
more) and by their side effects (mainly drowsiness). As a consequence, they are sometimes
used as sleeping aids and also in the treatment of chronic pain - neither approved by the
FDA but both common uses. Other uses include migraine prevention - very effective in some
patients - also not an approved use. The major problem of this class of drugs is the
potential for cardiac irregularities. An overdose of this drug is very hard to correct and
often leads to death. Some patients experience irregular heart beats with
"usual" doses and it is a drug to be avoided with anesthesia for this reason.
There are other side effects like constipation and dry mouth- sometimes limiting in this
drug’s use.
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