Venlafaxine: the gold standard of antidepressant drugs Review article
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Abstract
Venlafaxine is the standard of antidepressant treatment today. It is as effective as the best tricyclic drugs, while also being devoid of the most serious, life-threatening side effects. At the same time, it is more effective than SSRI antidepressants, offering a similar level of tolerance and safety in therapy.
Venlafaxine is a unique drug – one of the few antidepressants today, the effectiveness of which increases significantly with the use of higher doses. Unlike venlafaxine, most antidepressants have near-flat efficacy characteristics relative to the daily doses. The increase in doses is accompanied by the activation to an increasing extent, first of serotonin, then noradrenergic, and finally – to a limited extent – also dopaminergic. The increase in doses is accompanied by only a slight increase in the frequency of adverse effects.
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