Table 3.

Effect of antidepressants on body weight [3]. Wide variance exists in individual weight responses to psychiatric medications. Relatively few studies have directly compared individual drugs within the context of a prospective, randomized, controlled, dedicated body weight trial. Given the lack of available data and variance of data, it is challenging to objectively rank medications within a class, regarding their effects on body weight. However, certain antidepressant medications are described to be especially associated with weight gain, such as amitriptyline, paroxetine, and mirtazapine. Antidepressants with variable effects on body weight include: (a) some tricyclic antidepressants (secondary amines) such as desipramine, nortriptyline, and protriptyline; (b) some selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, such as escitalopram and sertraline; (c) some serotonin and norepinephrine re-uptake inhibitors, such as desvenlafaxine and duloxetine; (d) irreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitors such as tranylcypromine; and (e) serotonergic agents such as vortioxetine.

Antidepressants	Effect on body weight
Tricyclic antidepressants (tertiary amines) such as amitriptyline, doxepin, imipramine, and dosulepin	↑
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as paroxetine and citalopram	↑
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as fluoxetine	↓ (variable) [106]
Selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors such as venlafaxine	↑
Irreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitors such as isocarboxazid and phenelzine	↑
Trazodone, mirtazapine, and brexpiprazole	↑
Bupropion	↓