Lisdexamphetamine for the treatment of methamphetamine withdrawal

The National Centre for Clinical Research on Emerging Drugs (NCCRED) has published the latest short video in their VAN series – Video Abstracts by NCCRED. The latest video gives an overview of a research project funded and supported by NCCRED. The study – titled “Lisdexamphetamine for the treatment of methamphetamine withdrawal: Safety and feasibility” – took place in an inpatient withdrawal service. Ten patients with a history of methamphetamine use disorder were given 5 days of lisdexamphetamine in a reducing dose regime. The patients were then followed for 3 weeks afterwards. While the aim of the study wasn’t to test whether the treatment worked to treat withdrawal, overall withdrawal symptoms did reduce through admission and remained low at the end of the treatment. The patients found the treatment to be acceptable in terms of side-effects and overall effectiveness. More research is required to compare lisdexamphetamine with a placebo, and to test how lisdexamphetamine performs outside of an inpatient setting.

Watch “Lisdexamphetamine for the treatment of methamphetamine withdrawal: Safety and feasibility” (4min 26sec)