Fluoxetine: A Suitable Long-Term Treatment.

A review of fluoxetine’s safety profile, especially during long-term treatment, is presented. Keysafety advantages for fluoxetine include lower adverse events and dropout rates compared with tricyclicantidepressants and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), safety in overdose, andsafe use in special population groups such as women in pregnancy. Prospectively ascertained pregnancyoutcomes following exposure to SSRIs, mainly fluoxetine, consistently show no teratogenic effectsas assessed in the postnatal period and in comparison with controls. An additional advantage offluoxetine is the absence or mildness of discontinuation symptoms following treatment interruption,probably a consequence of fluoxetine’s long half-life in comparison with other SSRIs. The availabledata on these topics confirm the suitability of long-term fluoxetine treatment.