THE EFFECT OF FLUOXETINE ON SLEEP - A LONGITUDINAL, DOUBLE-BLIND POLYSOMNOGRAPHIC STUDY OF HEALTHY-VOLUNTEERS

Fluoxetine, a selective inhibitor of serotonin (5-HT) uptake, was comp ared with placebo in a randomized double-blind longitudinal trial in 1 2 healthy volunteers. Sleep polygraphic recordings were performed at h ome twice before and once after 6 days of medication. After 6 days flu oxetine significantly decreased the amount of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The sleep-onset latency and REM latency were increased, but th ere was no significant increase in the amount of awakenings during nig ht. The relative proportion of stages 2 and 3 increased after fluoxeti ne administration, although there was no significant change with regar d to total amount of slow-wave sleep. Fluoxetine did not induce promin ent eye movements during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep in this s tudy. Results of the subjective assessment revealed tendencies of impr oved sleep and well-being in the fluoxetine group. It is concluded tha t a comparatively small dose of fluoxetine (20 mg/day) causes the same type of changes in REM sleep which are characteristic of most antidep ressive drugs.