Trimipramine Maleate

FDA Drug Information • Also known as: Trimipramine Maleate

Brand Names: Trimipramine Maleate
Route: ORAL
Dosage Form: CAPSULE
Product Type: HUMAN PRESCRIPTION DRUG

⚠ Boxed Warning (Black Box)

Suicidality and Antidepressant Drugs Antidepressants increased the risk compared to placebo of suicidal thinking and behavior (suicidality) in children, adolescents, and young adults in short-term studies of major depressive disorder (MDD) and other psychiatric disorders. Anyone considering the use of trimipramine maleate or any other antidepressant in a child, adolescent, or young adult must balance this risk with the clinical need. 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 in risk with antidepressants compared to placebo in adults aged 65 and older. Depression and certain other psychiatric disorders are themselves associated with increases in the risk of suicide. Patients of all ages who are started on antidepressant therapy should be monitored appropriately and observed closely for clinical worsening, suicidality, or unusual changes in behavior. Families and caregivers should be advised of the need for close observation and communication with the prescriber. Trimipramine maleate is not approved for use in pediatric patients. (See WARNINGS - Clinical Worsening and Suicide Risk , PRECAUTIONS: Information for Patients , and PRECAUTIONS: Pediatric Use .)

Description

DESCRIPTION Trimipramine maleate is 5-(3-dimethylamino-2-methylpropyl)-10, 11-dihydro-5H-dibenz (b,f) azepine acid maleate (racemic form). Molecular Formula: C 20 H 26 N 2

C 4 H 4 O 4 Molecular Weight: 410.5 Trimipramine maleate capsules contain trimipramine maleate equivalent to 25 mg, 50 mg or 100 mg of trimipramine as the base. Inactive Ingredients: Each capsule contains lactose monohydrate and magnesium stearate. The capsule shell contains the following ingredients: D&C Yellow 10 (25 mg and 50 mg), FD&C Blue #1 (25 mg, 50 mg and 100 mg), FD&C Red #40 (50 mg), gelatin, and titanium dioxide. The capsules are imprinted in black ink that contains: alcohol, D&C yellow No. 10 aluminum lake, FD&C blue No. 2/indigo carmine aluminum lake, FD&C blue No. 1/brilliant blue FCF aluminum lake, FD&C red No. 40/allura red AC aluminum lake, propylene glycol, iron oxide black and shellac glaze. Trimipramine maleate is prepared as a racemic mixture which can be resolved into levorotatory and dextrorotatory isomers. The asymmetric center responsible for optical isomerism is marked in the formula by an asterisk. Trimipramine maleate is an almost odorless, white or slightly cream-colored, crystalline substance, melting at 140°-144°C. It is very slightly soluble in ether and water, is slightly soluble in ethyl alcohol and acetone, and freely soluble in chloroform and methanol at 20°C.

What Is Trimipramine Maleate Used For?

INDICATIONS AND USAGE Trimipramine Maleate Capsules are indicated for the relief of symptoms of depression. Endogenous depression is more likely to be alleviated than other depressive states. In studies with neurotic outpatients, the drug appeared to be equivalent to amitriptyline in the less-depressed patients but somewhat less effective than amitriptyline in the more severely depressed patients. In hospitalized depressed patients, trimipramine and imipramine were equally effective in relieving depression.

Dosage and Administration

DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION Dosage should be initiated at a low level and increased gradually, noting carefully the clinical response and any evidence of intolerance. Lower dosages are recommended for elderly patients and adolescents. Lower dosages are also recommended for outpatients as compared to hospitalized patients who will be under close supervision. It is not possible to prescribe a single dosage schedule of trimipramine maleate that will be therapeutically effective in all patients. The physical psychodynamic factors contributing to depressive symptomatology are very complex; spontaneous remissions or exacerbations of depressive symptoms may occur with or without drug therapy. Consequently, the recommended dosage regimens are furnished as a guide which may be modified by factors such as the age of the patient, chronicity and severity of the disease, medical condition of the patient, and degree of psychotherapeutic support. Most antidepressant drugs have a lag period of ten days to four weeks before a therapeutic response is noted. Increasing the dose will not shorten this period but rather increase the incidence of adverse reactions. Usual Adult Dose Outpatients and Office Patients—Initially, 75 mg/day in divided doses, increased to 150 mg/day. Dosages over 200 mg/day are not recommended. Maintenance therapy is in the range of 50 to 150 mg/day. For convenient therapy and to facilitate patient compliance, the total dosage requirement may be given at bedtime. Hospitalized Patients—Initially, 100 mg/day in divided doses. This may be increased gradually in a few days to 200 mg/day, depending upon individual response and tolerance. If improvement does not occur in 2 to 3 weeks, the dose may be increased to the maximum recommended dose of 250 to 300 mg/day. Adolescent and Geriatric Patients—Initially, a dose of 50 mg/day is recommended, with gradual increments up to 100 mg/day, depending upon patient response and tolerance. Maintenance—Following remission, maintenance medication may be required for a longer period of time, at the lowest dose that will maintain remission. Maintenance therapy is preferably administered as a single dose at bedtime. To minimize relapse, maintenance therapy should be continued for about three months. Switching a Patient To or From a Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitor (MAOI) Intended to Treat Psychiatric Disorders: At least 14 days should elapse between discontinuation of an MAOI intended to treat psychiatric disorders and initiation of therapy with trimipramine maleate. Conversely, at least 14 days should be allowed after stopping trimipramine maleate before starting an MAOI intended to treat psychiatric disorders (see CONTRAINDICATIONS ). Use of Trimipramine Maleate With Other MAOIs, Such as Linezolid or Methylene Blue : Do not start trimipramine maleate in a patient who is being treated with linezolid or intravenous methylene blue because there is increased risk of serotonin syndrome. In a patient who requires more...

Side Effects (Adverse Reactions)

ADVERSE REACTIONS Note: The pharmacological similarities among the tricyclic antidepressants require that each of the reactions be considered when trimipramine maleate is administered. Some of the adverse reactions included in this listing have not in fact been reported with trimipramine maleate. Cardiovascular Hypotension, hypertension, tachycardia, palpitation, myocardial infarction, arrhythmias, heart block, stroke. Psychiatric Confusional states (especially the elderly) with hallucinations, disorientation, delusions; anxiety, restlessness, agitation; insomnia and nightmares; hypomania; exacerbation of psychosis. Neurological Numbness, tingling, paresthesias of extremities; incoordination, ataxia, tremors; peripheral neuropathy; extrapyramidal symptoms; seizures, alterations in EEG patterns; tinnitus; syndrome of inappropriate ADH (antidiuretic hormone) secretion. Anticholinergic Dry mouth and rarely, associated sublingual adenitis; blurred vision, disturbances of accommodation, mydriasis, constipation, paralytic ileus; urinary retention, delayed micturition, dilation of the urinary tract. Allergic Skin rash, petechiae, urticaria, itching, photosensitization, edema of face and tongue. Hematologic Bone-marrow depression including agranulocytosis, eosinophilia; purpura; thrombocytopenia. Leukocyte and differential counts should be performed in any patient who develops fever and sore throat during therapy; the drug should be discontinued if there is evidence of pathological neutrophil depression. Gastrointestinal Nausea and vomiting, anorexia, epigastric distress, diarrhea, peculiar taste, stomatitis, abdominal cramps, black tongue. Endocrine Gynecomastia in the male; breast enlargement and galactorrhea in the female; increased or decreased libido, impotence; testicular swelling; elevation or depression of blood-sugar levels. Other Jaundice (simulating obstructive); altered liver function; weight gain or loss; perspiration; flushing; urinary frequency; drowsiness, dizziness, weakness, and fatigue; headache; parotid swelling; alopecia. Withdrawal Symptoms Though not indicative of addiction, abrupt cessation of treatment after prolonged therapy may produce nausea, headache, and malaise.

Warnings and Precautions

WARNINGS 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 (aged 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 analysis of placebo-controlled trials in children and adolescents with MDD, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or other psychiatric disorders including 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 with age strada 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 to 24 5 additional cases Decreases Compared to Placebo 25 to 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...

Drug Interactions

Drug Interactions Cimetidine There is evidence that cimetidine inhibits the elimination of tricyclic antidepressants. Downward adjustment of trimipramine maleate dosage may be required if cimetidine therapy is initiated; upward adjustment if cimetidine therapy is discontinued. Alcohol Patients should be warned that the concomitant use of alcoholic beverages may be associated with exaggerated effects. Catecholamines/Anticholinergics It has been reported that tricyclic antidepressants can potentiate the effects of catecholamines. Similarly, atropine-like effects may be more pronounced in patients receiving anticholinergic therapy. Therefore, particular care should be exercised when it is necessary to administer tricyclic antidepressants with sympathomimetic amines, local decongestants, local anesthetics containing epinephrine, atropine or drugs with an anticholinergic effect. In resistant cases of depression in adults, a dose of 2.5 mg/kg/day may have to be exceeded. If a higher dose is needed, ECG monitoring should be maintained during the initiation of therapy and at appropriate intervals during stabilization of dose 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 the 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, and paroxetine, inhibit P450 2D6, they may vary in the extent of inhibition. 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...

Contraindications

CONTRAINDICATIONS Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) The use of MAOIs intended to treat psychiatric disorders with trimipramine maleate or within 14 days of stopping treatment with trimipramine maleate is contraindicated because of an increased risk of serotonin syndrome. The use of trimipramine maleate within 14 days of stopping an MAOI intended to treat psychiatric disorders is also contraindicated (see WARNINGS and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION ). Starting trimipramine maleate in a patient who is being treated with MAOIs such as linezolid or intravenous methylene blue is also contraindicated because of an increased risk of serotonin syndrome (see WARNINGS and DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRTION ). Hypersensitivity to Tricyclic Antidepressants Cross-sensitivity between trimipramine maleate and other dibenzazepines is a possibility. Myocardial Infarction The drug is contraindicated during the acute recovery period after a myocardial infarction.

Pregnancy and Breastfeeding

Pregnancy Teratogenic Effects Trimipramine maleate has shown evidence of embryotoxicity and/or increase incidence of major anomalies in rats or rabbits at doses 20 times the human dose. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Trimipramine maleate should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.

How Supplied

HOW SUPPLIED Trimipramine Maleate Capsules equivalent to 50 mg of Trimipramine are #2 Capsules, light blue opaque cap, medium orange opaque body, imprinted “A-294” in black ink on cap and body, filled with white to off-white powder. Capsules are supplied in bottles of: 30 (NDC 72162-2062-03) with a child-resistant closure. Dispense in a tight, light-resistant container as defined in the USP. Preserve in tight container. Protect from excessive heat. Store at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F) [See USP Controlled Room Temperature]. Protect from Moisture. Keep this and all medication out of the reach of children. Keep tightly closed.

About This Information

This drug information is sourced from FDA-approved labeling via the openFDA database. It is intended for educational and reference purposes only. This is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making decisions about medication. Drug information may be updated by the FDA; check with your pharmacist for the most current information.

What are side effects?

Side effects are unwanted reactions that can occur when taking a medication. They range from mild (headache, nausea) to severe (allergic reactions, organ damage). Not everyone experiences side effects, and severity varies. Report any concerning side effects to your doctor.

What are drug interactions?

Drug interactions occur when a medication is affected by another drug, food, or supplement. Interactions can make medications less effective or cause dangerous side effects. Always tell your doctor about all medications and supplements you take.