Uses
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Depressive and Anxiety Disorders
Doxepin shares the pharmacologic actions of the other tricyclic antidepressants and is used principally in the treatment of depression and/or anxiety in psychoneurotic patients, depression and/or anxiety associated with alcoholism or organic disease, and psychotic depressive disorders with associated anxiety, including involutional depression and manic-depressive disorders. Symptoms of psychoneurosis that respond well to doxepin include anxiety, tension, depression, somatic symptoms and concerns, sleep disturbances, guilt, lack of energy, fear, apprehension, and worry.
For further information on treatment of major depression and considerations in choosing the most appropriate antidepressant for a particular patient, including considerations related to patient tolerance, patient age, and cardiovascular, sedative, and suicidality risks, see Considerations in Choosing Antidepressants under Uses: Major Depressive Disorder, in the Tricyclic Antidepressants General Statement 28:16.04.28.
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Chronic Idiopathic Urticaria
Doxepin also has been effective in the management of chronic idiopathic urticaria† and may be used as an alternative to antihistamines, which generally are considered as first-line therapy in patients with this condition.