Management of an Anorexic Pubescent: Tricyclic vs. Novel Medications

Editorial | DOI: https://doi.org/DOI:10.31579/2578-8868/395

Management of an Anorexic Pubescent: Tricyclic vs. Novel Medications

  • Saeed Shoja Shafti

*Corresponding Author: Saeed Shoja Shafti, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry.

Citation: Saeed S. Shafti, (2026), A Critical Examination of Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS): “Debunking the Myth”, J. Neuroscience and Neurological Surgery, 19(1); DOI:10.31579/2578-8868/395

Copyright: Copyrights: © 2026, Saeed Shoja Shafti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of The Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Received: 05 January 2026 | Accepted: 13 January 2026 | Published: 19 January 2026

Keywords:

Abstract

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Introduction

An adolescent mademoiselle, in her late teenage years, had been referred by her primary care physician to a mental health clinic due to her poor appetite and substandard weight. Physical and laboratory checkups could not find any organic cause for her condition, which was okay for her but was not satisfactory for her parents. As a result, since there were some signs of nervousness as well, she was referred for a psychological evaluation. In the initial meeting, it was obvious from the first that the chance of a thorough demarcation between her present condition and a supposed premorbid phase, due to the absence of documented measurements of Basic Metabolic Index (BMI), was near to the ground. The client was a pretty, tall, slender, and smart juvenile lassie, who was apparently less preoccupied than her parents regarding her own weight or health, though she was aptly and cleanly groomed, and virtually there was no problem regarding her self-care.  Based on her current clinical estimation, she was on the threshold of substandard weight (BMI = 17.8), and her appetite, while she was not on any evident diet, was seemingly lesser than every other family member in the household. According to available data, there was no remarkable problem with respect to her developmental milestones and emergence of secondary sexual characteristics. Also, though there were some irregularities as regards her menstruation, no amenorrhea had been detected in her gynecologic history after puberty. In her mental status examination (MSE), as well, no important condition, except for some passing blues in her emotions, was noticeable. In this regard, though her mom believed that she was frequently unhappy because her usual response to different stresses involved crying, dander, and rage, and she was basically an isolationist, she herself believed that her despair was generally in response to surroundings and situations, and it was not at all times or in all places. Similarly, there was no palpable sign of suicidal ideation or attempt in her past history or current MSE. Also, no purging behavior was evident in her past and present psychiatric history. In her personal history some restricted social interaction with a few friends was manifest. Nonetheless, while her educational function was satisfactory, there was no disciplinary or felonious report.  Anyhow, her more than usual intolerability of coldness (in keeping with her own account), top-heavy dressing in summertime (the checkup was during August), extravagant hatred of increasing weight and obsessive inspection of weight, frequent checking of shape in front of the mirror, and numerous diets in spite of low weightiness, given her current BMI, could justify a diagnosis of atypical eating disorder (unspecified feeding or eating disorder), which in general involves around half of patients with feeding and eating disorders. On the other hand, since her parent’s obsession regarding her weight had led to a number of earlier medical or dietary appointments, she was not unaware of therapeutic managements or recommendations. However, in her drug history there was some unsuccessful experience with tricyclic antidepressants (imipramine), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (fluoxetine), serotonin-dopamine receptor antagonists (olanzapine), antihistamines (cyproheptadine), and benzodiazepines (alprazolam). Since she was very sensitive to the said medications’ side effects, particularly drowsiness, sedation, excitation, dysphoria, and increase in weight, she had discontinued all of them impulsively. Even regarding fluoxetine, her mom was annoyed as well due to its suppressing effect on appetite, which was contrary to their main motivation for seeking medical service. Also, she did not have any interest in psychological management, though psychotherapeutic methods are usually mentioned as the preferred method of treatment for eating disorders. Therefore, by taking into consideration existent data, her compliance, available procedures, and her past exercises, the psychiatrist decided to start her management with desipramine, an underestimated tricyclic antidepressant, due to its little likelihood of drowsiness or weight gain, which she was so afraid of, and anticholinergic side effects, which seemingly she had never experienced before. So, after a description of the protocol for her and her family, she accepted to adhere to treatment for a while, but she said that she would refuse to comply in the face of annoying side effects. Accordingly, though she weighed more than 45 kilograms, desipramine was started at 10 milligrams per day and increased very gradually to a maximum of 50 milligrams daily during the next few weeks. Fortunately, the said treatment did not cause any undesirable side effects, and she remained, properly, compliant with it. Later, as stated by her mom, the said management had resulted in a decrease in her cheerlessness, increases in her appetite, and reduced bad dreams. Also, while her domestic interaction was favorably improved, her languishing during tensions had, tangibly, declined. Since she had not permitted any measurement for making a chart re her weight, the clinician could only see her moderate increase in weight a few weeks later, when the said banning as well was going to disappear. The said treatment continued for a few years, though with some vacillations, which could be balanced over again by clinical or psychological interventions. Generally speaking, though she could not abandon thoroughly her weight-related preoccupations, the condition was very much better than before. After a few years, she asked her doctor to discontinue medication because her phase of life was changing, and she wanted to initiate that cheerfully. As said by her, though treatment was caring, it might weaken her self-assurance and sabotage her future aspirations. Hence, the process of tapering started and was finalized efficaciously, without any relapse or reemergence. After discontinuation of medicine and some telephonic follow-ups, she moved and never returned. Academically, while pooled effects of different medications on weight are statistically non‐existent, antipsychotics, minor tranquilizers, or antihistamines are often used to reduce the high levels of anxiety associated with anorexia nervosa, though they are not usually recommended for the promotion of weight gain. In the same way, although in eating disorders prompt weight restoration to a safe weight, and family therapy and structured psychotherapy are accounted for as the main therapeutic interventions, there is very limited evidence for the usefulness of pharmacological interventions for correction of metabolic deficiencies. In this regard, the body of evidence for pharmacotherapy (including antidepressants) is said to be ‘unsatisfactory,’ and there was no significant effect over placebo. Among the available medications, olanzapine is the only one that may have any effect on weight restoration in anorexia nervosa. Also, while there is evidence from one small trial that fluoxetine may be useful in improving outcome and preventing relapse of patients with anorexia nervosa after weight restoration, other studies have found no benefit. On the other hand, while antidepressants may be used for the treatment of eating disorders in adolescents, they are not licensed for this age group, and there is little evidence for this practice. Moreover, there have been no studies of the use of medicines to treat atypical eating disorders. In conclusion, while management of eating disorders may be more complicated than many other primary psychiatric disorders, it seems that the medicinal armamentarium may not give up its older apparatuses in favor of fresher ones just due to the stage of development or a series of side effects that may never have occurred unconditionally or insistently. Desipramine, which is comparatively an old tricyclic antidepressant in comparison with available newer antidepressants, helped a teenager who was practically or subliminally waterproof to a number of drugs that have been valued in psychiatric literature for the management of eating disorders.  The present case showed that matching patients’ individualities with drugs’ physiognomies may demand reformulation of unfair concepts regarding ‘older’ vs. ‘newer’ or ‘safe’ vs. ‘unsafe,’ a dilemma that is not limited to medications as well (1-10).

References

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