Venlafaxine-Induced Galactorrhea

Dose Dependent Course of Hyperprolactinemic and Normoprolactinemic Galactorrhea Induced by Venlafaxine

“…Venlafaxine-induced galactorrhea, as seen in our case, was defined by Sternbach8) in 2003. He presented a 38 year-old-woman treated for depression and a binge eating disorder with a dosage of venlafaxine, 225 mg/day.…”

“…Another interesting feature of galactorrhea as a side effect of antidepressants is normoprolactinemic galactorrhea. Furthermore, galactorrhea may be dose-dependent in some cases 8). In this case, we report a dose-dependent galactorrhea case involving both increased and normal prolactin levels, and the management of this condition in a depressed patient who used venlafaxine in a dose range of 225 to 75 mg/day.…”

Very low dose quetiapine‐induced galactorrhea in combination with venlafaxine

“…On her regular health examination on February 2003, the PRL was within the normal limits (2.7 ng/ml). Venlafaxine was maintained for a long time without an occurrence of GT, although venlafaxine-induced GT does exist (Sternbach, 2003). A structural brain abnormality was not detected and the thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were within the normal range.…”

“…Although the reason for the QAEG in this case is unclear, it can be assumed that the patient has a special vulnerability to QAEG. Less likely, QTP may boost the effect of venlafaxine through a serotonin receptor blockade, which enhanced the level of serotonergic neurotransmission, leading to a release of PRL (Sternbach, 2003 …”

Monoaminergic‐based Pharmacotherapy for Depression

“…There are case reports of venlafaxine-emergent hyponatremia (Gupta and Saravay, 1997;Meynaar et al, 1997;Ranieri et al, 1997), galactorrhea (Sternbach, 2003), and hypogonadism (Bell and Shipman, 2000). A large chart review also suggested an increased risk of hyponatremia in venlafaxine-and SSRI-treated elderly patients (Kirby et al, 2002).…”