Question

All are used in the treatment of hot flushes except?

• A. Tamoxifen
• B. Venlafaxine
• C. Gabapentin
• D. Paroxetine

Hint:

Which listed drug causes hot flushes as a side effect instead of relieving them?

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Hot flushes are the vasomotor symptom of estrogen withdrawal, and several non-hormonal drugs are used to suppress them when hormone replacement is unsuitable. Among the choices, three are legitimate treatments: the SNRI venlafaxine and the SSRI paroxetine both blunt the hypothalamic thermoregulatory instability that drives flushing, with paroxetine even carrying a formal approval for this purpose, while the anticonvulsant gabapentin reliably lowers flush frequency and is particularly helpful for nocturnal episodes. The odd one out is tamoxifen, a selective estrogen receptor modulator whose anti-estrogenic effect in the breast and brain produces hot flushes as one of its most common adverse effects rather than relieving them. Because the question asks which agent is NOT used to treat hot flushes, the answer is the drug that provokes them.\[\boxed{\text{Tamoxifen}}\]