Disulfiram for binge eating disorder: an open trail.

Abstract Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of disulfiram for treatment of binge eating disorder. Method Two hundred and fifty milligrams per day of disulfiram was administered to 12 patients affected by binge eating disorder for 16 weeks; the number of binge eating episodes per week and the number of participants who reported side effects were evaluated. Results Nine participants (75.0%) completed the trial, while the other 3 (25.0%) discontinued prematurely. Disulfiram significantly decreased the mean frequency of binge eating episodes per week from 7.9 ± 1.2 to 0.9 ± 0.6 ( p N  = 9), headache ( N  = 7), dysgeusia ( N  = 3), tachycardia ( N  = 3), dizziness ( N  = 2), and nausea ( N  = 2)]. Discussion While disulfiram reduced the frequency of binge eating episodes, side effects were observed in the majority of participants. Longer-term placebo-controlled studies are warranted to exclude the contribution of a placebo response from these results and to evaluate drugs with similar pharmacological activity but improved tolerability.