PROZAC SIDE EFFECTS

Last updated on MDtodate: 10/11/2022

SIDE EFFECTS

The following adverse reactions are discussed in more detail in other sections of the labeling:

• Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults
• Serotonin Syndrome
• Allergic Reactions and Rash
• Screening Patients for Bipolar Disorder and Monitoring for Mania/Hypomania
• Seizures
• Altered Appetite and Weight
• Abnormal Bleeding
• Angle-Closure Glaucoma
• Hyponatremia
• Anxiety and Insomnia
• QT Prolongation
• Potential for Cognitive and Motor Impairment
• Discontinuation Adverse Reactions
• Sexual Dysfunction

When using PROZAC and olanzapine in combination, also refer to the Adverse Reactions section of the package insert for Symbyax.

Clinical Trials Experience

Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect or predict the rates observed in practice.

Multiple doses of PROZAC have been administered to 10,782 patients with various diagnoses in US clinical trials. In addition, there have been 425 patients administered PROZAC in panic clinical trials. The stated frequencies represent the proportion of individuals who experienced, at least once, a treatment-emergent adverse reaction of the type listed. A reaction was considered treatment-emergent if it occurred for the first time or worsened while receiving therapy following baseline evaluation.

Incidence In Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, And Panic Disorder Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials

(Excluding Data From Extensions Of Trials)

Table 3 enumerates the most common treatment-emergent adverse reactions associated with the use of PROZAC (incidence of at least 5% for PROZAC and at least twice that for placebo within at least 1 of the indications) for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, and bulimia in US controlled clinical trials and Panic Disorder in US plus non-US controlled trials. Table 5 enumerates treatment-emergent adverse reactions that occurred in 2% or more patients treated with PROZAC and with incidence greater than placebo who participated in US Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, and bulimia controlled clinical trials and US plus non-US Panic Disorder controlled clinical trials. Table 4 provides combined data for the pool of studies that are provided separately by indication in Table 1.

Table 1: Most Common Treatment-Emergent Adverse Reactions: Incidence in Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, and Panic Disorder Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials^1,2

Body System/ Adverse Reaction	Percentage of Patients Reporting Event
	Major Depressive Disorder		OCD		Bulimia		Panic Disorder
	PROZAC (N=1728)	Placebo (N=975)	PROZAC (N=266)	Placebo (N=89)	PROZAC (N=450)	Placebo (N=267)	PROZAC (N=425)	Placebo (N=342)
Body as a Whole
Asthenia	9	5	15	11	21	9	7	7
Flu syndrome	3	4	10	7	8	3	5	5
Cardiovascular System
Vasodilatation	3	2	5	—	2	1	1	—
Digestive System
Nausea	21	9	26	13	29	11	12	7
Diarrhea	12	8	18	13	8	6	9	4
Anorexia	11	2	17	10	8	4	4	1
Dry mouth	10	7	12	3	9	6	4	4
Dyspepsia	7	5	10	4	10	6	6	2
Nervous System
Insomnia	16	9	28	22	33	13	10	7
Anxiety	12	7	14	7	15	9	6	2
Nervousness	14	9	14	15	11	5	8	6
Somnolence	13	6	17	7	13	5	5	2
Tremor	10	3	9	1	13	1	3	1
Libido decreased	3	—	11	2	5	1	1	2
Abnormal dreams	1	1	5	2	5	3	1	1
Respiratory System
Pharyngitis	3	3	11	9	10	5	3	3
Sinusitis	1	4	5	2	6	4	2	3
Yawn	—	—	7	—	11	—	1	—
Skin and Appendages
Sweating	8	3	7	—	8	3	2	2
Rash	4	3	6	3	4	4	2	2
Urogenital System
Impotence3	2	—	—	—	7	—	1	—
Abnormal ejaculation3	—	—	7	—	7	—	2	1
1 Incidence less than 1%. 2 Includes US data for Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, and Panic Disorder clinical trials, plus non-US data for Panic Disorder clinical trials. 3 Denominator used was for males only (N=690 PROZAC Major Depressive Disorder; N=410 placebo Major Depressive Disorder; N=116 PROZAC OCD; N=43 placebo OCD; N=14 PROZAC bulimia; N=1 placebo bulimia; N=162 PROZAC panic; N=121 placebo panic).

 

Table 2: Treatment-Emergent Adverse Reactions: Incidence in Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, and Panic Disorder Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials^1,2

Body System/ Adverse Reaction	Percentage of Patients Reporting Event
	Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, and Panic Disorder Combined
	PROZAC (N=2869)	Placebo (N=1673)
Body as a Whole
Headache	21	19
Asthenia	11	6
Flu syndrome	5	4
Fever	2	1
Cardiovascular System
Vasodilatation	2	1
Digestive System
Nausea	22	9
Diarrhea	11	7
Anorexia	10	3
Dry mouth	9	6
Dyspepsia	8	4
Constipation	5	4
Flatulence	3	2
Vomiting	3	2
Metabolic and Nutritional Disorders
Weight loss	2	1
Nervous System
Insomnia	19	10
Nervousness	13	8
Anxiety	12	6
Somnolence	12	5
Dizziness	9	6
Tremor	9	2
Libido decreased	4	1
Thinking abnormal	2	1
Respiratory System
Yawn	3	—
Skin and Appendages
Sweating	7	3
Rash	4	3
Pruritus	3	2
Special Senses
Abnormal vision	2	1
1 Incidence less than 1%. 2 Includes US data for Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, and Panic Disorder clinical trials, plus non-US data for Panic Disorder clinical trials.

 

Associated With Discontinuation In Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, And Panic Disorder Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials (Excluding Data From Extensions Of Trials)

Table 3 lists the adverse reactions associated with discontinuation of PROZAC treatment (incidence at least twice that for placebo and at least 1% for PROZAC in clinical trials collecting only a primary reaction associated with discontinuation) in Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, bulimia, and Panic Disorder clinical trials, plus non-US Panic Disorder clinical trials.

Table 3: Most Common Adverse Reactions Associated with Discontinuation in Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, and Panic Disorder Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials¹

Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, and Panic Disorder Combined (N=1533)	Major Depressive Disorder (N=392)	OCD (N=266)	Bulimia (N=450)	Panic Disorder (N=425)
Anxiety (1 %)	—	Anxiety (2%)	—	Anxiety (2%)
—	—	—	Insomnia (2%)	—
—	Nervousness (1 %)	—	—	Nervousness (1%)
—	—	Rash (1%)	—	—
1 Includes US Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, Bulimia, and Panic Disorder clinical trials, plus non-US Panic Disorder clinical trials.

 

Other Adverse Reactions In Pediatric Patients (Children And Adolescents)

Treatment-emergent adverse reactions were collected in 322 pediatric patients (180 fluoxetine-treated, 142 placebo-treated). The overall profile of adverse reactions was generally similar to that seen in adult studies, as shown in Tables 4 and 5. However, the following adverse reactions (excluding those which appear in the body or footnotes of Tables 4 and 5 and those for which the COSTART terms were uninformative or misleading) were reported at an incidence of at least 2% for fluoxetine and greater than placebo: thirst, hyperkinesia, agitation, personality disorder, epistaxis, urinary frequency, and menorrhagia.

The most common adverse reaction (incidence at least 1% for fluoxetine and greater than placebo) associated with discontinuation in 3 pediatric placebo-controlled trials (N=418 randomized; 228 fluoxetine-treated; 190 placebo-treated) was mania/hypomania (1.8% for fluoxetine-treated, 0% for placebo-treated). In these clinical trials, only a primary reaction associated with discontinuation was collected.

Male And Female Sexual Dysfunction With SSRIs

Although changes in sexual desire, sexual performance, and sexual satisfaction often occur as manifestations of a psychiatric disorder, they may also be a consequence of pharmacologic treatment. In particular, some evidence suggests that SSRIs can cause such untoward sexual experiences. Reliable estimates of the incidence and severity of untoward experiences involving sexual desire, performance, and satisfaction are difficult to obtain, however, in part because patients and healthcare providers may be reluctant to discuss them. Accordingly, estimates of the incidence of untoward sexual experience and performance, cited in product labeling, are likely to underestimate their actual incidence. In patients enrolled in US Major Depressive Disorder, OCD, and bulimia placebo-controlled clinical trials, decreased libido was the only sexual side effect reported by at least 2% of patients taking fluoxetine (4% fluoxetine, <1% placebo). There have been spontaneous reports in women taking fluoxetine of orgasmic dysfunction, including anorgasmia.

There are no adequate and well-controlled studies examining sexual dysfunction with fluoxetine treatment.

Symptoms of sexual dysfunction occasionally persist after discontinuation of fluoxetine treatment.

Priapism has been reported with all SSRIs.

While it is difficult to know the precise risk of sexual dysfunction associated with the use of SSRIs, healthcare providers should routinely inquire about such possible side effects.

Other Reactions

Following is a list of treatment-emergent adverse reactions reported by patients treated with fluoxetine in clinical trials. This listing is not intended to include reactions (1) already listed in previous tables or elsewhere in labeling, (2) for which a drug cause was remote, (3) which were so general as to be uninformative, (4) which were not considered to have significant clinical implications, or (5) which occurred at a rate equal to or less than placebo.

Reactions are classified by body system using the following definitions: frequent adverse reactions are those occurring in at least 1/100 patients; infrequent adverse reactions are those occurring in 1/100 to 1/1000 patients; rare reactions are those occurring in fewer than 1/1000 patients.

Body as a Whole – Frequent: chills; Infrequent: suicide attempt; Rare: acute abdominal syndrome, photosensitivity reaction.

Cardiovascular System – Frequent: palpitation; Infrequent: arrhythmia, hypotension¹.

Digestive System – Infrequent: dysphagia, gastritis, gastroenteritis, melena, stomach ulcer; Rare: bloody diarrhea, duodenal ulcer, esophageal ulcer, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hematemesis, hepatitis, peptic ulcer, stomach ulcer hemorrhage.

Hemic and Lymphatic System – Infrequent: ecchymosis; Rare: petechia, purpura.

Investigations – Frequent: QT interval prolongation (QTcF ≥450 msec)³.

Nervous System – Frequent: emotional lability; Infrequent: akathisia, ataxia, balance disorder¹, bruxism¹, buccoglossal syndrome, depersonalization, euphoria, hypertonia, libido increased, myoclonus, paranoid reaction; Rare: delusions.

Respiratory System – Rare: larynx edema.

Skin and Appendages – Infrequent: alopecia; Rare: purpuric rash.

Special Senses – Frequent: taste perversion; Infrequent: mydriasis.

Urogenital System – Frequent: micturition disorder; Infrequent: dysuria, gynecological bleeding².

¹ MedDRA dictionary term from integrated database of placebo controlled trials of 15870 patients, of which 9673 patients received fluoxetine.

² Group term that includes individual MedDRA terms: cervix hemorrhage uterine, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, genital hemorrhage, menometrorrhagia, menorrhagia, metrorrhagia, polymenorrhea, postmenopausal hemorrhage, uterine hemorrhage, vaginal hemorrhage. Adjusted for gender.

³ QT prolongation data are based on routine ECG measurements in clinical trials.

Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during post approval use of PROZAC. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or evaluate a causal relationship to drug exposure.

Voluntary reports of adverse reactions temporally associated with PROZAC that have been received since market introduction and that may have no causal relationship with the drug include the following: aplastic anemia, atrial fibrillation¹, cataract, cerebrovascular accident¹, cholestatic jaundice, dyskinesia (including, for example, a case of buccal-lingual-masticatory syndrome with involuntary tongue protrusion reported to develop in a 77-year-old female after 5 weeks of fluoxetine therapy and which completely resolved over the next few months following drug discontinuation), eosinophilic pneumonia¹, epidermal necrolysis, erythema multiforme, erythema nodosum, exfoliative dermatitis, galactorrhea, gynecomastia, heart arrest¹, hepatic failure/necrosis, hyperprolactinemia, hypoglycemia, immune-related hemolytic anemia, kidney failure, memory impairment, movement disorders developing in patients with risk factors including drugs associated with such reactions and worsening of pre-existing movement disorders, optic neuritis, pancreatitis¹, pancytopenia, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary hypertension, QT prolongation, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, thrombocytopenia¹, thrombocytopenic purpura, ventricular tachycardia (including Torsades de Pointes-type arrhythmias), vaginal bleeding, and violent behaviors.