FDA Approves Novel Anti-Depression Drug That Works in 1 Week

The novel part is finally the approval of dextromethorphan for depression. It has some chemical similarities & results of ketamine but with a much better safety profile. (Hence it's use in OTC cough medicine for decades).

As with just about all mental health medications it's no silver bullet, but it's a significant addition to the repertoire of officially recognized treatments, made even more significant for it's rapid effectiveness.

Annecdotally, I can attest to its effectiveness. It's how dextromethorphan came to my attention for this purpose. I was in a depressive period when I caught COVID, and significant cough/chest congestion were part of my symptoms so I was dosing the max daily of robitussin DM. Getting covid while depressed was not a spirit-lifting contribution to my mental state, but after a few days while my covid symptoms still sucked I felt much better, right about normal, mentally.

I didn't know why, of course, but I went looking for possibilities (including pure chance: sometimes that's just how things clear up). But I went through the OTC & prescription meds I was on one by one:

  --Prednisone: Not really going to cause improved mental health

  --Advair:  Also no indication of mental health benefits

  --Guaifenesin: anecdotal case studies QoL & corresponding mood lift for people with chronic congestion-related issues, but no direct MH benefit indications

  --Doxylamine Succinate: As antihistamine, and some of these are associated with limited anxiety relief, so this seemed a candidate or at least a contributor

  --Dextromethorphan Hbr: This was the "ding ding ding" big hit. Researching this immediately revealed some of it's similarities to ketamine and showed a variety of ongoing trials to determine its effectiveness in treating depression and had shown promising results in this.

So in the end I figured it was the dextromethorphan, perhaps with some help from the Doxylamine as anxiety featured in my experience as well. Again it's merely annecdotal, but combined with this approval from the FDA I'm well convinced it's a useful addition to the arsenal.

Note: Title shortened for brevity.

FDA greenlights robotrippin'