Turning Down the Heat on Hot Flashes

What You Can Do About Hot Flashes - new medications

Antidepressants May Help: Venlafaxine (Effexor), Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft

Several years ago, The Lancet reported what was wonderful news for breast cancer survivors who are longing to get their heads out of the freezer.

• A drug that has been developed to treat depression, venlafaxine, seems to be effective in reducing or eliminating hot flashes.

Women being treated for depression found that their hot flashes were

• coming less often,
• were weaker
• were totally gone.

Dr. Charles Loprinzi and a team of researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota decided to do some research to see if this was related to the antidepressant.

The research team conducted a four-week trial involving 229 women, most of whom had a history of breast cancer. The results showed that venlafaxine was 60 percent effective against hot flashes. The optimum dosage was 75 milligrams daily.

• Side effects were mild
• dry mouth
• loss of appetite.
• nausea and some vomiting
• most overcame the nausea within two weeks.

Other treatments have not been as effective. These include

• Vitamin E
• blood pressure medication such as clonodine.

Researchers are studying other treatments such as

• antidepressants : Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft.
• megesterol acetate.

Quality of life, measured by two quality-of-life questions before and after treatment, increased slightly for patients taking any dosage of venlafaxine compared to those taking placebo. Good news, no decreased libido -- some of the other drugs tested caused decreased sex drive..

The biggest drawback to this treatment may be the cost compared to herbal remedies.

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