Fluvoxamine has been promoted for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but it works as well as any other SSRI for depression and anxiety.  It is less expensive than some SSRIs.

Fluvoxamine Better than Imipramine in One Study: 338 MDD DB PC in North America. Imipramine not significantly better than placebo. Imipramine dry mouth, fluvoxamine nausea and vomiting. Antidepressant efficacy in relation to item analysis and severity of depression: a placebo-controlled trial of fluvoxamine versus imipramine. Kasper S, Moller HJ, Montgomery SA, Zondag E. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 1995 Jan;9 Suppl 4:3-12

Fluvoxamine Helped Elderly Depressed Better than Sertraline: In a 7-week DB study of 93 hospitalized depressed adults over age 59 with major depression, sertraline (150 mg daily) did not do as well as fluvoxamine (200 mg daily) with 56% improving while on sertraline vs.72% on fluvoxamine (P = 0.007). Since there was no placebo control group, one cannot conclude that sertraline was of any value. Sertraline Versus Fluvoxamine in the Treatment of Elderly Patients With Major Depression: A Double-blind, Randomized Trial. Rossini D, et al. University of Bologna, Italy. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2005 Oct;25(5):471-475. 

Imipramine Better than Fluvoxamine for Panic Disorder: 148 pt DBPC 8 weeks. Imipramine average dose 165mg/d vs fluvoxamine 171mg/d. Panic attacks decreased by 6.0/week for imipramine vs. 3.3 for fluvoxamine. No difference in med dropouts from side-effects. Comparison of fluvoxamine, imipramine, and placebo in the treatment of outpatients with panic disorder. Nair NP, Bakish D, Saxena B, Amin M, Schwartz G, West TE. Anxiety 1996;2(4):192-8

Imipramine = Fluvoxamine: 150 DB PC 6 week MDD. Fluvoxamine 50-150 vs. imipramine 80-240. No difference in efficacy. Anti-cholinergic specifically mentioned (dry mouth, dizziness, urinary retention) and dry mouth said not to be transient. Fluvoxamine caused nausea and ejaculatory difficulty which was not transient. Fluvoxamine maleate in the treatment of depression: a single-center, double-blind, placebo-controlled comparison with imipramine in outpatients. Claghorn JL, Earl CQ, Walczak DD, Stoner KA, Wong LF, Kanter D, Houser VP. J Clin Psychopharmacol 1996 Apr;16(2):113-20

Imipramine = Fluvoxamine: 151 DB 4 week MDD. 67% decrease HAM-D fluvoxamine, 62% decrease imipramine. Dizziness and orthostatic hypotension imipramine difficulty. Fluvoxamine to 300mg/d, imipramine up to 200 mg/d. A double-blind controlled clinical trial comparing fluvoxamine with imipramine. Guelfi JD, Dreyfus JF, Pichot P. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1983;15 Suppl 3:411S-417S

Citalopram = Fluvoxamine: DB PC 216 MDD. No difference except citalopram better tolerated, tho no diff in dropout rates. Efficacy and tolerability of citalopram in comparison with fluvoxamine in depressed outpatients: a double-blind, multicentre study. The LUCIFER Group. Haffmans PM, Timmerman L, Hoogduin CA. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 1996 Sep;11(3):157-64

Fluoxetine = Fluvoxamine for MDD: DB 100 MDD, no suicidal. Fluvoxamine 50/d incr to 100-150/d mean 102. Fluoxetine 20/d increased to max 80/d mean 34/d. 7 weeks. HAM-d and HAM-A, and CGI improved equally. Side-effects both mild with half some headache, 23% and 42% some nausea. UpJohn funded. Rapaport M et al: A comparison of fluvoxamine and fluoxetine in the treatment of major depression. J Clin Psychoph 96;16:373-8, UCSD

Teens and Kids with Anxiety Helped by Fluvoxamine in DB: DB PC 128. Least effective with more severely depressed and with social phobia. Searching for Moderators and Mediators of Pharmacological Treatment Effects in Children and Adolescents With Anxiety Disorders. The Research Units on Pediatric Psychopharmacology Anxiety Study Group. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2003 Jan;42(1):13-21

Paroxetine, Fluvoxamine Increase Mirtazapine Levels: Paroxetine inhibits the metabolism of mirtazapine, as shown by increases of approximately 17% and 25% of the 24 h AUC's of mirtazapine and its demethyl metabolite, respectively. Mirtazapine did not alter the pharmacokinetics of paroxetine. Paroxetine inhibits P450 2D6. Hum Psychopharmacol 2001 Aug;16(6):449-459. Fluvaxomine may increase level by 300%. Ann Pharmacother 2001 Oct;35(10):1221-3. Fluvoxamaine & Mirtazapine have caused serotonin syndrome. tremors,restlessness, twitching, flushing, diaphoresis, and nausea,symptoms that are consistent with serotonin syndrome in 26 yo female. Ann Pharmacother 2001 Oct;35(10):1217-20

One Week Improvement Predicts Response to Fluvoxamine: DB PC imipramine vs fluvoxamine. 82.5% of responders already showed improvement by end of week 1. The efficacy of fluvoxamine in patients with severe depression. Ottevanger EA. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 1994 Jul;18(4):731-40

Fluvoxamine/Mirtazapine Interaction: 3 cases with increased mirtazapine levels 3-4 fold and one with serotonin syndrome (twitching, agitation, tremors, restless, diaphoresis, flushing, fasciculations, nausea). Drug Alerts 12/01

Sexual Side-Effects by Anti-Depressant: 1022 Spanish patients interviewed re orgasm, libido, erection, satisfaction, etc. At least one side-effect in fluoxetine, 57.7% (161/279); sertraline, 62.9% (100/159); fluvoxamine, 62.3% (48/77); paroxetine, 70.7% (147/208); citalopram, 72.7% (48/66); venlafaxine, 67.3% (37/55); mirtazapine, 24.4% (12/49); nefazodone, 8% (4/50); amineptine, 6.9% (2/29); and moclobemide, 3.9% (1/26). Men had a higher frequency of sexual dysfunction (62.4%) than women (56.9%), although women had higher severity. About 40% of patients showed low tolerance of their sexual dysfunction. Incidence of sexual dysfunction associated with antidepressant agents: a prospective multicenter study of 1022 outpatients. Spanish Working Group for the Study of Psychotropic-Related Sexual Dysfunction. Montejo AL, Llorca G, Izquierdo JA, Rico-Villademoros F. J Clin Psychiatry 2001;62 Suppl 3:10-21

Fluvoxamine for Gambling; Mixed Results: decreased path. Gambling in 10 in single blind study. 7 Stopped gambling and were much improved. Eric Hollander, Mt Sinai, Am J Psych 12/98 155:1782-3. But Carlos Blance-Jerez of Columbia U in DB of 34 pt for 6 mo at 200 mg/d found no reduction in money or time spent gambling vs placebo. APA 5/99.

Fluvoxamine: 13 children. 75% benefited in open study. SSRIs and imipramine have also been used. TCAs said potential for serious cardiac arrhythmia. Desmopressin has also been used. J Amer Acad Child Adol Psychiatry 00;39:1464

Fluvoxamine Ineffective with Five Children: Hum Psychopharmacol 2001 Jun;16(4):327-332

Pindolol Helps Fluvoxamine in Delusional Depression in DB: 72 pts DB PC all on fluvox 300mg/d and some on pindolol 7.5mg/d or placebo. Pindolol group responded faster at 3^rd and 4^th week but both groups equal in the end. Well-tolerated. Zanard, Milan, APA 5/30/98 Toronto