Desipramine Stimulation of conditioned cocaine craving: 3 case reports

Three cocaine abusers who had been abstinent for 1-3 years experienced severe cocaine craving following initiation of desipramine and relapsed to cocaine abuse . Desipramine therapy, administered for different reasons in each patient, was associated with an 'early tricyclic Jitteriness' syndrome similar to cocaine intoxication and may have induced conditioned craving .

The authors suggested that ' ... there may be a subgroup of individuals in whom desipramine worsens rather than relieves cocaine craving '.

Weiss RD Relapse 10 cocaine abuse after Initiating desipramine treatment Journal of the American Medical AssoCIation 260 2545·2546, 4

Nov t988 .. '.