Anti depressant could reduce hospitalisations by 30%

[OliveTree75]

I have been following this for a while after reading this study last year that showed that Fluvoxamine could be useful against covid.
jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2773108

The TOGETHER trial have a put out a press release having found similar results:

brighterworld.mcmaster.ca/articles/antidepressant-fluvoxamine-can-save-covid-19-patients-mcmaster-led-research-shows/

TOGETHER Trial scientists tested eight drugs, including hydroxychloroquine, metformin, kaletra and ivermectin, but only fluvoxamine had a positive effect on COVID-19.

“Fluvoxamine is the only treatment that, if administered early, can prevent COVID-19 from becoming a life-threatening illness,” said Mills, co-principal investigator for the TOGETHER Trial and a professor of McMaster’s Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact. “It could be one of our most powerful weapons against the virus and its effectiveness is one of the most important discoveries we have made since the pandemic began."

Unfortunately they haven't released the actual study yet but does anyone else think this is really interesting? I wonder if other SSRI's have a similar effect or just this particular one.

www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2021.652688/full

www.nature.com/articles/s41380-021-01021-4

More info

That’s interesting. The change or loss of sense of smell/taste is meant to be a neurological symptom, I wonder if the effect of antidepressants on brain chemistry is at play.

Afaik we don’t really understand how a lot of anti-depressants work in the same way we understand, say, antibiotics, just that they do.

It’ll be interesting to see if this leads to a better understanding over antidepressants and depressive symptoms overall.

Yes i did read somewhere that that is one of the theories. Along with something to do with serotonin levels effecting covid and also that anti depressants might have anti viral properties. I was reading last night that fluoxetine might have similar results. Interesting and total anecdote but I am on fluoxetine and had incredibly mild covid. I do now wonder if the tablets helped at all. I find it really interesting

It leads me to wonder if we’ve underestimated the physical symptoms
of depression and the extent of how much it’s a physical illness. It’s fascinating (although clearly I know bugger all! ).

I’m sure they use anti depressants as treatments for other conditions although I can’t recall any off the top of my head.

It’s also being investigated for treatment of long covid symptoms (particularly the neurological symptoms o think).

Amitriptyline is used for both depression & to treat nerve pain, back pain & migraine.

Both Gabapentin & Lamotrigine which are anti convulsant medications are used for epilepsy, severe nerve pain. depression & bipolar disorder.

I'm convinced that in years to come that mental illnesses will be able to be diagnosed & confirmed by blood tests/brain scans & will be reclassified as actual physiological illness.

I'm on Lamotrigine, and catching covid totally fucked up my response to it, my dosage had to be almost doubled in order to continue to work (I'd been on the same dosage for 5 years without any trouble). There are definitely links.

@Cornettoninja

It leads me to wonder if we’ve underestimated the physical symptoms of depression and the extent of how much it’s a physical illness. It’s fascinating (although clearly I know bugger all! ).

I’m sure they use anti depressants as treatments for other conditions although I can’t recall any off the top of my head.

Amitriptyline is usually used to treat depression and anxiety but I'm prescribed it for nerve pain. I tried everything going and amitriptyline is the only thing that has helped.

link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10787-020-00777-5
SSRI and SNRI have anti inflammatory responses see link above.
I have long covid which led to depression. I started on Citalopram and most of my long covid symptoms went. Wonder if this is a coincidence?

This is really interesting - and good news too, obviously. The problem is it'll be hard to get long covid patients to take antidepressants unless it's really emphasized that it's believed to treat the physical symptoms - people react really strongly to any suggestion that it's 'in their head' (which says a lot about how we view mental illness but that's by the by).

Mental illnesses are physical illnesses, there is no magical non-physical part of a human body. It's just we somewhat arbitrarily differentiate between, say, some problems and others. But anyone who has ever had too much sugar or caffeine or not enough sleep knows very well that the brain is as physical and as affected by externals as any other body part.
We like to think that the self is magically apart from the body but sadly there's no evidence for that.

@Hardbackwriter

This is really interesting - and good news too, obviously. The problem is it'll be hard to get long covid patients to take antidepressants unless it's really emphasized that it's believed to treat the physical symptoms - people react really strongly to any suggestion that it's 'in their head' (which says a lot about how we view mental illness but that's by the by).

This is very true. People automatically think being prescribed an antidepressant means that their doctor is writing their physical symptoms off as psychosomatic.

Very interesting. Stemetil is used for vertigo and tinnitus, but also schizophrenia. Since finding that out, I wondered if schizophrenics have their brain just interpreting the same noises and sensations in a more extreme way.

It will be interesting how diagnostics change over time, I hope the extra effort being put into long covid physical assessment of underlying causes also helps those with chronic fatigue have more effort put into identifying their underlying causes.

When covid becomes severe it causes widespread inflammation and cykotine reactions. I think that is why steroid Dexathingy is used? If SSRIs also reduce inflammation in the severity of the original infection and then the post viral effects its definitely worth using in some cases. It would be interesting to see research if people on long term antidepressants had covid very badly?

This thread is fascinating. I was prescribed an SNRI 9 months in to Long Covid and I attribute it to the beginning of my recovery. Up until that point the physical and mental symptoms were chaotic. Since starting the meds It’s been steady progress ever since. So much so that at my 6 month review I said please book me in for another 6 months.

Which snri was that? DH is on an snri but very worried about getting long covid so it might reassure him.

Duloxetine is used for antidepressive treatment, and pain treatment.

Quetiapine can be used to aid sleep as well as an anti-psychotic.

The SNRI is Duloxetine. It was suggested because of its additional pain reliving properties (leg and back pain following C19).

However it took ages for those aches and pains to subside, so I don't know if it helped with this.

would be interesting to see research if people on long term antidepressants had covid very badly?

yeah I think this would be really interesting too

I got it pretty badly but without needing hospitalisation (it didn't affect my breathing at all), and I'm suffering from long covid 7 months on. Maybe it could have been worse if I hadn't been on lamotrigine long term. 🤷🏼‍♀️