SSRIs Preferred Over Deanxit Due to Adverse Effects

Deanxit has many side effects. It has been banned in many

countries

including

Denmark

(the

country

where

it

was

manufactured) and the U.S.

This

drug

is

basically

combination

of

two

psychoactive

components. They are- flupentixol and melitracen. The second

component (melitracen) is still not fully studied, so its use is
debatable.
Side Effects of Deanxit (Flupentixol + Melitracen)
o It may increase the heart rate. If you have a high B.P.,
or any other heart problem, this can be risky.
o A dizzy feeling may be there. This is because the drug
causes some orthostatic hypotension.
o Indigestion, stomach upset or vomiting sensations.
o Many have reported sleeping problems with this drug.
There may be problems with initiating sleep, having
disturbed dreams, restlessness are common.
o Drug affects the bone marrow and decreases the
production of new blood cells.
o Dryness in mouth
o Constipation
o Changes in appetite or weight
o Dull headache with blurred vision
These side effects can be quite disturbing. For all these reasons, it is
not one of the choicest drugs to be given.

When used, the drug is given for 6 weeks for appearance of its
effects. It is prescribed in disorders with both anxiety and depressive
states.
One should consider some other drug instead of Deanxit. Modern
practice recommends using another class of drugs called SSRIs
(Paxil, Lexapro, or Prozac) for similar disease conditions. These are
safer choices. You may discuss taking them with your doctor.

After much dillydallying, the Union Health Ministry has

finally banned anti-depressant drugs sold under the trade
names of Deanxit and Anxidreg, a combination of two
psycho-active agents, after they were found to be risky to
human life and their alternates were easily available.
The Drugs is already banned in Denmark, the country of its origin. A
combination of Flupentixol and Melitracen, the drugs is being
frequently prescribed by private doctors in India. However, last year,
the Government had suspended the sale and distribution of the
controversial drugs following opposition of a section of doctors who
raised question about its efficacy given that its own country was not
using the drug for its locals.
A Government panel too had pointed out the addictive potential of
the drugs as harmful side effects. The Drugs Technical Advisory
Board, a highest decision making body of the Health Ministry too in
November last year recommended its discontinuation in the country.
Now, a notification has been issued in this regard recently to make
the decision effective.
Justifying the ban, the notification issued by Health Ministry Joint
Secretary AK Panda states that the Government was satisfied that
the use of the drugs fixed dose combination of Flupenthixol and

Melitracen for human use was likely to involve risk to human beings
and whereas safer alternatives to the said drug are available.
The ban on sale and marketing has come after the manufacturers
failed to establish the safety and efficacy, said an official. These
tablets are made in Denmark, though it is not approved for use in
that country itself.
According to rule 30B in the Drugs Act, any drug not approved in
the country of origin cannot be used in India. Moreover, its sale is
prohibited in the UK, US, Australia, Canada and Japan. Then how
come it is beneficial for the patients in India, Chandra M Gulati,
editor of MIMS India, a drug journal. Gulati said that the drug was
being aggressively promoted for a wide range of known and
unknown disorders such as psychogenic depression, depressive
neuroses, masked depression, menopausal depression, dysphoria in
alcoholics and drugs addicts.

Flupentixol/melitracen (trade name Deanxit, Placida, Franxit,

Anxidreg) is a combination of two psychoactive agents which has
antidepressant properties. It is designed for short term usage only. It
is produced by Lundbeck.[1]
Flupentixol/melitracen were banned in India by the country's
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on July 11, 2014,[2] and
Lundbeck plans to take legal action to have the ban lifted.[3]
References
Sweetman, Sean C., ed. (2009). "Preparations". Martindale: The
complete drug reference (36th ed.). London: Pharmaceutical Press.
p. 2607. ISBN 978-0-85369-840-1.
"Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Department of Health
and Family Welfare) Notification, New Delhi" (PDF). The Gazette of

India.

July

11,

2014.

Retrieved

March

19,

2015

via

drugscontrol.org.

Soma Das, ET Bureau (July 25, 2014). "Lundbeck to seek legal

recourse after health ministry bans Deanxit again". Economic Times.

Retrieved March 19, 2015.

Antipsychotic drugs and QT prolongation.

Stllberger C1, Huber JO, Finsterer J.
Author information
Abstract
Antipsychotic drugs (AD) are effective and frequently prescribed to
more females than males. AD may cause serious cardiovascular
side-effects, including prolonged QT interval, eventually leading to
torsades de pointes (TdP) and sudden death. Epidemiologic data
and case-control studies indicate an increased rate of sudden death
in psychiatric patients taking AD. This review summarizes current
knowledge about the QT prolonging effects of AD and gives practical
suggestions. Amisulpride, clozapine, flupenthixol, fluphenazine,
haloperidol,

melperone,

olanzapine,

perphenazine,

pimozide,

quetiapine, risperidone, sulpiride, thioridazine and ziprasidone cause

a QT prolongation ranging from 4 ms for risperidone to 30 ms for
thioridazine. Our knowledge about the QT-prolonging effects of
many AD is still limited. Females are under-represented in most
studies.

Many

studies

were

conducted

or

supported

by

pharmaceutical companies. To avoid prodysrhythmia caused by QT

prolongation, other factors influencing QT interval have to be
considered, such as other drugs affecting the same pathway,
hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia, bradycardia, increased age, female
sex, congestive heart failure and polymorphisms of genes coding ion
channels or enzymes involved in drug metabolism. Because the

response of a patient to AD is individual, an electrocardiogram

recording the QT interval has to be performed at baseline, after AD
introduction and after occurrence of any factor that might influence
the QT interval