PEOPLE who want to stop using crystal methamphetamine may be able to treat their addiction with the cheap and readily available antidepressant mirtazapine, according to research conducted by the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC) at UNSW Sydney.
The team recruited 339 adults with moderate to severe methamphetamine use disorder who had taken the drug on at least 24 days in the last 28, and randomly assigned them to receive either mirtazapine (30mg daily) or placebo for 12 weeks.
Those in the mirtazapine group reduced the frequency of their methamphetamine use by seven days (out of the past 28 days) at the end of the treatment period, compared to a 4.8-day reduction in the placebo group.
This represented an 8% decrease in the risk of methamphetamine use, which was described as "modest but clinically important".
"Even small reductions in methamphetamine use can translate into meaningful improvements in health and well-being," said study co-author Shalini Arunogiri.
There are currently no approved medications available for people with methamphetamine use disorder, and the team said mirtazapine has a well-established safety profile and could be prescribed with limited clinical oversight.
Read the paper HERE.
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