Antidepressant doesn't work for hot flashes - NO BUT NEURONTIN OR (OTHER NAME USED) GABAPENTIN DOES AT 70%

You know how the off-label drug racket works: Once a med is approved for any condition, docs are free to prescribe it for every condition.

So I just have to wonder how many women were given the antidepressant Lexapro after docs were dazzled earlier this year by a study that showed it might ease hot flashes -- because it turns out that study was flat-out wrong.

Researchers behind a much stronger study found that this antidepressant -- which barely works for depression, by the way -- had no impact at all on hot flashes... even at increasingly higher doses.

And this new study had some real science behind it -- because the researchers actually placed monitors on the skin of each woman to detect the telltale rise in temperature that signals each flash.

The researchers behind the earlier study, on the other hand, just asked women to keep journals listing every single hot flash over two months.

Aside from little distractions like work, children, shopping, sleep, a forgotten journal, or even a lost pen... what could possibly go wrong with that?

But the researchers behind that study are sticking by their pen-and-paper approach -- because they don't have time for all this science-y stuff.

"An objective monitor has scientific appeal," Ellen W. Freeman, author of that first study, told Reuters Health, "but may not relate to the clinical problem."

Umm... right.

Even if you want to give them the benefit of the doubt, that earlier study didn't have anything worth writing a journal entry over in the first place: By the end of the eight-week trial, women who took the med had an average of 5.3 hot flashes per day -- versus 6.4 a day among those who took a placebo.

Impressed? Me neither.

Mainstream medicine has made a complete mess out of menopause, and they're continuing to make matters worse with nonsensical studies that throw even more unnecessary drugs at a condition that simply doesn't respond well to medication.

If you're having trouble getting past the hot flashes and other signs of menopause, don't look for the latest study behind yet another questionable off-label med -- look for a naturopathic physician instead.

In many cases, nutritional supplements can work wonders -- and if they fall short, your doctor can team up with a compounding pharmacist to find a bioidentical hormone regimen that matches your body's needs.

On a mission for your health,
Ed Martin
Editor, House Calls