Clomipramine hydrochloride capsules USP are indicated for the treatment of obsessions and compulsions in patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The obsessions or compulsions must cause marked distress, be time-consuming, or significantly interfere with social or occupational functioning, in order to meet the DSM-III-R (circa 1989) diagnosis of OCD. Obsessions are recurrent, persistent ideas, thoughts, images, or impulses that are ego-dystonic.
Compulsions are repetitive, purposeful, and intentional behaviors performed in response to an obsession or in a stereotyped fashion, and are recognized by the person as excessive or unreasonable. The effectiveness of clomipramine for the treatment of OCD was demonstrated in multicenter, placebo-controlled, parallel-group studies, including two 10-week studies in adults and one 8-week study in children and adolescents 10 to 17 years of age.
Patients in all studies had moderate-to-severe OCD (DSM-III), with mean baseline ratings on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (YBOCS) ranging from 26 to 28 and a mean baseline rating of 10 on the NIMH Clinical Global Obsessive Compulsive Scale (NIMH-OC). Patients taking CMI experienced a mean reduction of approximately 10 on the YBOCS, representing an average improvement on this scale of 35% to 42% among adults and 37% among children and adolescents.
CMI-treated patients experienced a 3.5 unit decrement on the NIMH-OC. Patients on placebo showed no important clinical response on either scale. The maximum dose was 250 mg/day for most adults and 3 mg/kg/day (up to 200 mg) for all children and adolescents. The effectiveness of clomipramine for long-term use (i.e., for more than 10 weeks) has not been systematically evaluated in placebo-controlled trials. The physician who elects to use clomipramine for extended periods should periodically reevaluate the long-term usefulness of the drug for the individual patient ( see DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION ).
Contraindications
Clomipramine hydrochloride capsules USP are contraindicated in patients with a history of hypersensitivity to clomipramine or other tricyclic antidepressants. Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) The use of MAOIs intended to treat psychiatric disorders with clomipramine or within 14 days of stopping treatment with clomipramine is contraindicated because of an increased risk of serotonin syndrome. The use of clomipramine within 14 days of stopping an MAOI intended to treat psychiatric disorders is also contraindicated ( see WARNINGS and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION ).
Starting clomipramine in a patient who is being treated with linezolid or intravenous methylene blue is also contraindicated because of an increased risk of serotonin syndrome ( see WARNINGS and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION ). Myocardial Infarction Clomipramine is contraindicated during the acute recovery period after a myocardial infarction.
Clinical Worsening and Suicide Risk Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), both adult and pediatric, may experience worsening of their depression and/or the emergence of suicidal ideation and behavior (suicidality) or unusual changes in behavior, whether or not they are taking antidepressant medications, and this risk may persist until significant remission occurs. Suicide is a known risk of depression and certain other psychiatric disorders, and these disorders themselves are the strongest predictors of suicide.
There has been a long-standing concern, however, that antidepressants may have a role in inducing worsening of depression and the emergence of suicidality in certain patients during the early phases of treatment. Pooled analyses of short-term placebo-controlled trials of antidepressant drugs (SSRIs and others) showed that these drugs increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in children, adolescents, and young adults (ages 18 to 24) with major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders.
Short-term studies did not show an increase in the risk of suicidality with antidepressants compared to placebo in adults beyond age 24; there was a reduction with antidepressants compared to placebo in adults aged 65 and older. The pooled analyses of placebo-controlled trials in children and adolescents with MDD, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), or other psychiatric disorders included a total of 24 short-term trials of 9 antidepressant drugs in over 4400 patients.
The pooled analyses of placebo-controlled trials in adults with MDD or other psychiatric disorders included a total of 295 short-term trials (median duration of 2 months) of 11 antidepressant drugs in over 77,000 patients. There was considerable variation in risk of suicidality among drugs, but a tendency toward an increase in the younger patients for almost all drugs studied. There were differences in absolute risk of suicidality across the different indications, with the highest incidence in MDD.
The risk differences (drug vs placebo), however, were relatively stable within age strata and across indications. These risk differences (drug-placebo difference in the number of cases of suicidality per 1000 patients treated) are provided in Table 1 . Table 1 Age Range Drug-Placebo Difference in Number of Cases of Suicidality per 1000 Patients Treated Increases Compared to Placebo <18 14 additional cases 18-24 5 additional cases Decreases Compared to Placebo 25-64 1 fewer case ≥65 6 fewer cases No suicides occurred in any of the pediatric trials.
There were suicides in the adult trials, but the number was not sufficient to reach any conclusion about drug effect on suicide. It is unknown whether the suicidality risk extends to longer-term use, i.e., beyond several months. However, there is substantial evidence from placebo-controlled maintenance trials in adults with depression that the use of antidepressants can delay the recurrence of depression. All patients being treated with antidepressants for any indication should be monitored appropriately and observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, and unusual changes in behavior, especially during the initial few months of a course of drug therapy, or at times of dose changes, either increases or decreases.
The following symptoms, anxiety, agitation, panic attacks, insomnia, irritability, hostility, aggressiveness, impulsivity, akathisia (psychomotor restlessness), hypomania, and mania, have been reported in adult and pediatric patients being treated with antidepressants for major depressive disorder as well as for other indications, both psychiatric and nonpsychiatric. Although a causal link between the emergence of such symptoms and either the worsening of depression and/or the emergence of suicidal impulses has not been established, there is concern that such symptoms may represent precursors to emerging suicidality.
Consideration should be given to changing the therapeutic regimen, including possibly discontinuing the medication, in patients whose depression is persistently worse, or who are experiencing emergent suicidality or symptoms that might be precursors to worsening depression or suicidality, especially if these symptoms are severe, abrupt in onset, or were not part of the patient's presenting symptoms. Families and caregivers of patients being treated with antidepressants for major depressive disorder or other indications, both psychiatric and nonpsychiatric, should be alerted about the need to monitor patients for the emergence of agitation, irritability, unusual changes in behavior, and the other symptoms described above, as well as the emergence of suicidality, and to report such symptoms immediately to healthcare providers.
Such monitoring should include daily observation by families and caregivers. Prescriptions for clomipramine hydrochloride should be written for the smallest quantity of capsules consistent with good patient management, in order to reduce the risk of overdose. Screening Patients for Bipolar Disorder A major depressive episode may be the initial presentation of bipolar disorder. It is generally believed (though not established in controlled trials) that treating such an episode with an antidepressant alone may increase the likelihood of precipitation of a mixed/manic episode in patients at risk for bipolar disorder.
Whether any of the symptoms described above represent such a conversion is unknown. However, prior to initiating treatment with an antidepressant, patients with depressive symptoms should be adequately screened to determine if they are at risk for bipolar disorder; such screening should include a detailed psychiatric history, including a family history of suicide, bipolar disorder, and depression. It should be noted that clomipramine hydrochloride is not approved for use in treating bipolar depression.
Serotonin Syndrome The development of a potentially life-threatening serotonin syndrome has been reported with SNRIs and SSRIs, including clomipramine, alone but particularly with concomitant use of other serotonergic drugs (including triptans, tricyclic antidepressants, fentanyl, lithium, tramadol, tryptophan, buspirone, and St. John's Wort) and with drugs that impair metabolism of serotonin (in particular, MAOIs, both those intended to treat psychiatric disorders and also others, such as linezolid and intravenous methylene blue).
Serotonin syndrome symptoms may include mental status changes (e.g., agitation, hallucinations, delirium, and coma), autonomic instability (e.g., tachycardia, labile blood pressure, dizziness, diaphoresis, flushing, hyperthermia), neuromuscular changes (e.g., tremor, rigidity, myoclonus, hyperreflexia, incoordination), seizures, and/or gastrointestinal symptoms (e.g., nausea, vomiting, diarrhea). Patients should be monitored for the emergence of serotonin syndrome.
The concomitant use of clomipramine with MAOIs intended to treat psychiatric disorders is contraindicated. Clomipramine should also not be started in a patient who is being treated with MAOIs such as linezolid or intravenous methylene blue. All reports with methylene blue that provided information on the route of administration involved intravenous administration in the dose range of 1 mg/kg to 8 mg/kg. No reports involved the administration of methylene blue by other routes (such as oral tablets or local tissue injection) or at lower doses.
There may be circumstances when it is necessary to initiate treatment with an MAOI such as linezolid or intravenous methylene blue in a patient taking clomipramine. Clomipramine should be discontinued before initiating treatment with the MAOI ( see CONTRAINDICATIONS and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION ). If concomitant use of clomipramine with other serotonergic drugs, including triptans, tricyclic antidepressants, fentanyl, lithium, tramadol, buspirone, tryptophan, and St.
John's Wort is clinically warranted, patients sho
Our copy of this section ends here. The full text is in the official label at the FDA. Open Drugs@FDA
Interactions
Drug Interactions The risks of using clomipramine in combination with other drugs have not been systematically evaluated. Given the primary CNS effects of clomipramine, caution is advised in using it concomitantly with other CNS-active drugs ( see Information for Patients ). Clomipramine should not be used with MAO inhibitors ( see CONTRAINDICATIONS ). Close supervision and careful adjustment of dosage are required when clomipramine is administered with anticholinergic or sympathomimetic drugs.
Several tricyclic antidepressants have been reported to block the pharmacologic effects of guanethidine, clonidine, or similar agents, and such an effect may be anticipated with CMI because of its structural similarity to other tricyclic antidepressants. The plasma concentration of CMI has been reported to be increased by the concomitant administration of haloperidol; plasma levels of several closely related tricyclic antidepressants have been reported to be increased by the concomitant administration of methylphenidate or hepatic enzyme inhibitors (e.g., cimetidine, fluoxetine) and decreased by the concomitant administration of hepatic enzyme inducers (e.g., barbiturates, phenytoin), and such an effect may be anticipated with CMI as well.
Administration of CMI has been reported to increase the plasma levels of phenobarbital, if given concomitantly ( see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Interactions ). Drugs Metabolized by P450 2D6 The biochemical activity of the drug metabolizing isozyme cytochrome P450 2D6 (debrisoquin hydroxylase) is reduced in a subset of the Caucasian population (about 7% to 10% of Caucasians are so-called "poor metabolizers"); reliable estimates of the prevalence of reduced P450 2D6 isozyme activity among Asian, African and other populations are not yet available.
Poor metabolizers have higher than expected plasma concentrations of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) when given usual doses. Depending on the fraction of drug metabolized by P450 2D6, the increase in plasma concentration may be small, or quite large (8 fold increase in plasma AUC of the TCA). In addition, certain drugs inhibit the activity of this isozyme and make normal metabolizers resemble poor metabolizers. An individual who is stable on a given dose of TCA may become abruptly toxic when given one of these inhibiting drugs as concomitant therapy.
The drugs that inhibit cytochrome P450 2D6 include some that are not metabolized by the enzyme (quinidine; cimetidine) and many that are substrates for P450 2D6 (many other antidepressants, phenothiazines, and the Type 1C antiarrhythmics propafenone and flecainide). While all the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), e.g., fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, and fluvoxamine, inhibit P450 2D6, they may vary in the extent of inhibition.
Fluvoxamine has also been shown to inhibit P450 1A2, an isoform also involved in TCA metabolism. The extent to which SSRI-TCA interactions may pose clinical problems will depend on the degree of inhibition and the pharmacokinetics of the SSRI involved. Nevertheless, caution is indicated in the co-administration of TCAs with any of the SSRIs and also in switching from one class to the other. Of particular importance, sufficient time must elapse before initiating TCA treatment in a patient being withdrawn from fluoxetine, given the long half-life of the parent and active metabolite (at least 5 weeks may be necessary).
Concomitant use of agents in the tricyclic antidepressant class (which includes clomipramine) with drugs that can inhibit cytochrome P450 2D6 may require lower doses than usually prescribed for either the tricyclic antidepressant agent or the other drug. Furthermore, whenever one of these drugs is withdrawn from co-therapy, an increased dose of tricyclic antidepressant agent may be required. It is desirable to monitor TCA plasma levels whenever an agent of the tricyclic antidepressant class including clomipramine is going to be co-administered with another drug known to be an inhibitor of P450 2D6 (and/or P450 1A2).
Because clomipramine is highly bound to serum protein, the administration of clomipramine to patients taking other drugs that are highly bound to protein (e.g., warfarin, digoxin) may cause an increase in plasma concentrations of these drugs, potentially resulting in adverse effects. Conversely, adverse effects may result from displacement of protein-bound clomipramine by other highly bound drugs ( see CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY, Distribution ).
Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) ( see CONTRAINDICATIONS , WARNINGS , and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION . ) Serotonergic Drugs ( see CONTRAINDICATIONS , WARNINGS , and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION . )
Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Pregnancy Category C No teratogenic effects were observed in studies performed in rats and mice at doses up to 100 mg/kg, which is 24 times the maximum recommended human daily dose (MRHD) on a mg/kg basis and 4 times (rats) and 2 times (mice) the MRHD on a mg/m 2 basis. Slight nonspecific embryo/fetotoxic effects were seen in the offspring of treated rats given 50 and 100 mg/kg and of treated mice given 100 mg/kg. There are no adequate or well-controlled studies in pregnant women.
Withdrawal symptoms, including jitteriness, tremor, and seizures, have been reported in neonates whose mothers had taken clomipramine until delivery. Clomipramine should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.
Adverse reactions
Commonly Observed The most commonly observed adverse events associated with the use of clomipramine and not seen at an equivalent incidence among placebo-treated patients were gastrointestinal complaints, including dry mouth, constipation, nausea, dyspepsia, and anorexia; nervous system complaints, including somnolence, tremor, dizziness, nervousness, and myoclonus; genitourinary complaints, including changed libido, ejaculatory failure, impotence, and micturition disorder; and other miscellaneous complaints, including fatigue, sweating, increased appetite, weight gain, and visual changes.
Leading to Discontinuation of Treatment Approximately 20% of 3616 patients who received clomipramine in U.S. premarketing clinical trials discontinued treatment because of an adverse event. Approximately one-half of the patients who discontinued (9% of the total) had multiple complaints, none of which could be classified as primary. Where a primary reason for discontinuation could be identified, most patients discontinued because of nervous system complaints (5.4%), primarily somnolence.
The second-most-frequent reason for discontinuation was digestive system complaints (1.3%), primarily vomiting and nausea. There was no apparent relationship between the adverse events and elevated plasma drug concentrations. Incidence in Controlled Clinical Trials The following table enumerates adverse events that occurred at an incidence of 1% or greater among patients with OCD who received clomipramine in adult or pediatric placebo-controlled clinical trials.
The frequencies were obtained from pooled data of clinical trials involving either adults receiving clomipramine (N=322) or placebo (N=319) or children treated with clomipramine (N=46) or placebo (N=44). The prescriber should be aware that these figures cannot be used to predict the incidence of side effects in the course of usual medical practice, in which patient characteristics and other factors differ from those that prevailed in the clinical trials.
Similarly, the cited frequencies cannot be compared with figures obtained from other clinical investigations involving different treatments, uses, and investigators. The cited figures, however, provide the physician with a basis for estimating the relative contribution of drug and nondrug factors to the incidence of side effects in the populations studied. Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Experience in Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials (Percentage of Patients Reporting Event) Adults Children and Adolescents Body System/ Adverse Event Events reported by at least 1% of clomipramine patients are included.
Untoward events associated with this exposure were recorded by clinical investigators using terminology of their own choosing. Consequently, it is not possible to provide a meaningful estimate of the proportion of individuals experiencing adverse events without first grouping similar types of untoward events into a smaller number of standardized event categories. In the tabulations that follow, a modified World Health Organization dictionary of terminology has been used to classify reported adverse events.
The frequencies presented, therefore, represent the proportion of the 3525 individuals exposed to clomipramine who experienced an event of the type cited on at least one occasion while receiving clomipramine. All events are included except those already listed in the previous table, those reported in terms so general as to be uninformative, and those in which an association with the drug was remote. It is important to emphasize that although the events reported occurred during treatment with clomipramine, they were not necessarily caused by it.
Events are further categorized by body system and listed in order of decreasing frequency according to the following definitions: frequent adverse events are those occurring on one or more occasions in at least 1/100 patients; infrequent adverse events are those occurring in 1/100 to 1/1000 patients; rare events are those occurring in less than 1/1000 patients. Body as a Whole- Infrequent - general edema, increased susceptibility to infection, malaise.
Prognia shows this product information for reference and learning. It is not treatment advice and can lag behind the official text. Always check the current product information and local protocols before prescribing.
