Luvox belongs to the pioneers of the special group of antidepressants, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). In early 1980th people at the Solvay Pharmaceuticals obviously decided that developing a new antidepressant is good enough; so instead of racking their brains with thinking out some ingenious and fanciful name for their creation they just took the chemical name of the key ingredient used in their new medication – fluvoxamine, cut off some of the letters, and received a brand name - Luvox.
Since its launch, Luvox has been prescribed to almost 30 million people around the globe. Of course, the medication would not become so popular without being able to provide real improvements of different depressive disorders to the patients, which it truly did for many years. However, it looks like the destiny played a trick on Luvox, because it was the wide popularity of the drug, which made the manufacturers withdraw Luvox out of the American market at some time in the past. Quite a thrilling fact, isn’t it?
Well, let me leave this fly in the ointment for the epilogue of this article. I can only say that today we still have Luvox on the market, as well as its most recent version, called Luvox CR, which was approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February, 2008. Below we will focus on this very medication – Luvox CR.
Though developed and used primarily as the medication against depression, these days fluvoxamine in its modern form Luvox CR is prescribed mostly for treating social anxiety disorder (SAD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
SAD is a condition, when a person feels intense nervousness and anxiety because he is afraid of being closely watched or criticized by other people. In other words, social phobia is a type of fear of being among people even in the most common and usual situations. OCD is another type of mental disorder, when in response to some anxiety-causing thoughts a person performs some repetitive rituals, like washing hands every couple of minutes because of fear of catching an infection, etc.
The good news is that Luvox CR can be of help in both of the above mentioned situations. Being one of the SSRIs antidepressants, Luvox CR works in human brains, restoring the normal balance of a chemical, known as serotonin, which helps to deliver messages from one nerve cell to another.
The abbreviation “CR” in the name of the drug stands for “controlled release”. It means that the pill is designed in a special way, when the active ingredient is released gradually. This results in a couple of important benefits patients receive with Luvox CR: first of all, one tablet remains effective for 24 hours, so one should take just one pill per day to treat his SAD or OCD; second, gradual release of the medication always means lower side effects, and this is also a great benefit for patients.
Once the decision to take Luvox CR is made, one can start taking Luvox once daily, usually at bedtime. By the way, it is strongly recommended to make such a decision not after reading some article in the internet, but after reading the article plus consulting a professional doctor, who will examine a patient and fills out a prescription for Luvox CR if it is appropriate in a particular case.
After starting Luvox CR it may take some time for the medication to start working and provide some visible results of the therapy. One is advised to be patient and follow doctor’s instructions. Besides, during the treatment course one should be especially attentive to any changes in his/her behavior, feelings, mood, etc. – any unusual changes should be discussed with a doctor.
Finally, it is time to remove some of the doubts, which may arise in people, who have already had some experience with antidepressants. Being armed with the proven data of clinical studies with Luvox, the manufacturers of the medication assure all the patients and health care providers that their medication is much safer than other antidepressants. Luvox CR is said to have weight-neutral profile, which means one is at no risk of gaining weight when on the medication. Besides, the incidences of sexual adverse reactions are very rare among those, who take Luvox CR.
And now, when the main part of the article is over, it is time for the above mentioned fly in the ointment. I mean the story with Luvox withdrawal from the U.S. market. In fact, the situation is pretty simple. In 1999 the whole United States were shocked with the massacre at Columbine High School. Two students killed 12 students and a teacher, wounded 23 other people, and killed themselves after all. Many concerns arose after that incident in the USA, regarding violence among young people, gun control… and the use of antidepressants. The point is that one of the killers had been taking Luvox. When this fact became known to wide public, the sales fell and the manufacturer decided to seize the medication from the American market. It was in year 2002. Later, in 2007 Luvox was reintroduced on the market, and at the beginning of year 2008 new version of the medication Luvox CR was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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