Dr. Weeks’ Comment:      Xyrem, on-label for Sleep Disruption and soon for Fibromyalgia also helps with binge eating.

Int J Eat Disord. 2010 Mar 5. [Epub ahead of print]

Sodium oxybate in the treatment of binge eating disorder: An open-label, prospective study.

McElroy SL, Guerdjikova AI, Winstanley EL, O’Melia AM, Mori N, Keck PE Jr, Hudson JI.

Research Institute, Lindner Center of HOPE, Mason, Ohio.

OBJECTIVE:: To assess preliminarily the effectiveness of sodium oxybate in binge eating disorder. METHOD:: This was an open-label, prospective, 16-week, flexible dose study of sodium oxybate in binge eating disorder. The primary outcome was binge eating episode frequency. RESULTS:: Twelve individuals received sodium oxybate, 10 completed at least one postbaseline evaluation, and five completed the study. Mean dose at endpoint was 7.1 (2.0) g/day. Sodium oxybate was associated with significant reductions in frequency of binge days and binge episodes, as well as measures of clinical severity, eating pathology, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, food cravings, body mass index, and body weight. Nine participants had remission of binge eating and five lost >/=5% of their baseline weight; all five of the latter participants had remission of binge eating. DISCUSSION:: In this open-label trial, sodium oxybate was effective in binge eating disorder, but associated with high a discontinuation rate.