[Fluoxetine dependence and tolerance. Apropos of a case]

The authors relate a single case of fluoxetine misuse of a 31-year-old woman, with a previous history of multi drug addiction, and who weaned of all illicit substance and alcohol intake for several months. From a medical fluoxetine prescription at a dose of 20 mg per day, the patient increased to 280 mg per day within few months. Tolerance and dependency to the substance (according to DSM IV) and withdrawal syndrome occurred following fluoxetine discontinuation. This misuse keeps on for more than one year, and no symptom of a "serotonin syndrome" has ever been found. In our understanding, this exceptional case-report seems to be the first one related either in medical literature or drug monitoring centers.