Sections
Lithium-Antidepressant Combinations | Thyroid Supplement–Antidepressant Combinations | Estrogen, DHEA, and Testosterone Combinations With Antidepressants | Dopamine Agonist–Antidepressant Combinations | Monoamine Precursor–Antidepressant Combinations | SSRI Combinations | Antipsychotic-Antidepressant Combinations | Other TCA Combinations
Excerpt
Lithium is perhaps the best-studied augmenter
to antidepressants in patients with treatment-resistant depression
(TRD). There are more lithium augmentation trials than there are
augmentation studies using any other agent in TRD. However, the
total number of subjects in all of these trials probably does not
equal the number of subjects in the registration trials of one SGA in
the treatment of TRD. In addition, saying lithium is the best studied
augmenter is different from saying lithium is the best augmenter
or the strategy that should be used before others are attempted. Lithium
can be cumbersome to use, requiring careful titration and serum
level monitoring, and can be lethal in overdose. An ever-growing
number of augmentation strategies have been proposed, but lithium
remains an important option for TRD.