Reply to Letter to the Editor "Antiepileptic Drug Augmentation for Treatment-Resistant Depression"

Letter to the Editor

Sir: We appreciate Dr. Feiner’s stimulating comments. We wish to clarify that the patient in our report1 was taking benzodiazepines (primarily alprazolam, but in some cases clonazepam) to control anxiety during several of the antidepressant trials, and in each case, tapering the benzodiazepine resulted in increased anxiety and depression. Thus, the nefazodone plus alprazolam combination was but one of several trials that combined antidepressants with drugs (benzodiazepines) having anticonvulsant properties.