sElective Serotonin reuPtake inhibitoRs In posT-covid After COVID-19

Summary

Fatigue, cognitive problems, post-exertional malaise (PEM) and postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) are common and debilitating symptoms after COVID-19. The pathophysiology of post-COVID is not well understood and there is no established biomedical treatment. Treatment options for post-COVID are thus much needed. A promising candidate intervention is fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), that may reduce post-COVID symptoms because of its regulatory effect on the (neuro) immune system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the tryptophan system. The investigators will randomize 160 participants to either fluvoxamine or placebo for 12 weeks. The investigators will use advanced functional neuroimaging techniques during cognitive challenge (optional substudy) and plasma biomarkers (inflammatory markers, cortisol, serotonin, IDO-2 activity), to facilitate identifying potential mechanistic pathways of post -COVID treatment.

Timeline

Start

2026-06-04

Primary completion

2027-12-31

Completion

2028-05-01

Drugs

Indications