Caffeine-induced psychosis.

As a competitive adenosine antagonist, caffeine affects dopamine transmission and has been reported to worsen psychosis in people with schizophrenia and to cause psychosis in otherwise healthy people. We report of case of apparent chronic caffeine-induced psychosis characterized by delusions and paranoia in a 47-year-old man with high caffeine intake. The psychosis resolved within 7 weeks after lowering caffeine intake without use of antipsychotic medication. Clinicians might consider the possibility of caffeinism when evaluating chronic psychosis.

Treatment of bulimia nervosa with topiramate in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, part 1: improvement in binge and purge measures.

BACKGROUND: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of topiramate in bulimia nervosa. METHOD: Patients with DSM-IV bulimia nervosa were randomly assigned in equal proportions to receive topiramate (N = 35) or placebo (N = 34) for 10 weeks (between April 1999 and Dec. 2000). Topiramate treatment was started at 25 mg/day and titrated by 25 to 50 mg/week to a maximum of 400 mg/day. The primary efficacy measure was mean weekly number of binge and/or purge days. Related outcome measures included mean weekly number of binge days and binge frequency, as well as mean weekly number of purge days and purge frequency. RESULTS: Sixty-four outpatients (33 placebo, 31 topiramate) were included in the intent-to-treat analysis. The median topiramate dose was 100 mg/day (range, 25-400 mg/day). Mean +/- SD baseline number of weekly binge and/or purge days was 5.0 +/- 1.6 for topiramate patients and 5.1 +/- 1.5 for placebo patients. The primary efficacy measure, mean weekly number of binge and/or purge days, decreased 44.8% from baseline with topiramate versus 10.7% with placebo (p =.004). The mean weekly number of binge days decreased 48.2% with topiramate versus 17.7% with placebo (p =.015), and mean binge frequency decreased 49.2% with topiramate versus 28.0% with placebo (p =.071). The mean weekly number of purge days decreased 43.4% with topiramate versus 16.6% with placebo (p =.016), and mean purge frequency decreased 49.8% with topiramate versus 21.6% with placebo (p =.016). Three patients (2 placebo, 1 topiramate) discontinued from the trial due to adverse events. CONCLUSION: Topiramate was associated with significant improvements in both binge and purge symptoms in this study population and represents a potential treatment for bulimia nervosa.

Treatment of bulimia nervosa with topiramate in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, part 2: improvement in psychiatric measures.

BACKGROUND: We conducted a 10-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to examine the efficacy of topiramate in the treatment of bulimia nervosa. Primary efficacy analyses showed that topiramate treatment significantly reduced days on which patients binged and/or purged. This article describes further analyses investigating topiramate's effect on psychological symptoms associated with disordered eating. METHOD: Patients with DSM-IV bulimia nervosa were randomly assigned to receive topiramate (N = 35) or placebo (N = 34) for 10 weeks. Topiramate treatment was started at 25 mg/day and titrated by 25 to 50 mg/week to a maximum of 400 mg/day. Secondary psychiatric endpoints, including the Eating Disorder Inventory (EDI), Eating Attitudes Test (EAT), Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety (HAM-A), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), and Patient Global Improvement (PGI) were assessed for change from baseline in the topiramate versus placebo group. RESULTS: Thirty-one patients receiving topiramate and 33 receiving placebo were included in the intent-to-treat analysis. Percent change from baseline on the EDI indicated significantly greater improvement in the topiramate group compared with the placebo group for subscales measuring bulimia/uncontrollable overeating (p =.005), body dissatisfaction (p =.007), and drive for thinness (p =.002). The EAT showed significant improvement in the topiramate group compared with the placebo group for the bulimia/food preoccupation (p =.019) and dieting (p =.031) subscales and the total score (p =.022). For the topiramate group, the reduction in mean HAM-A score was significantly greater (p =.046) than that in the placebo group, while reduction in HAM-D scores was greater in the topiramate group compared with the placebo group but did not reach statistical significance (p =.069). Significantly more patients treated with topiramate compared with placebo reported improvement on the PGI (p =.004). CONCLUSION: Topiramate treatment improves multiple behavioral dimensions of bulimia nervosa. Binge and purge behaviors are reduced, and treatment is associated with improvements in self-esteem, eating attitudes, anxiety, and body image. These results support topiramate as a viable therapeutic option for the treatment of bulimia nervosa. Additional, longer-term multicenter trials are indicated.