Table 1.
Class | Drugs | SE | Considerations |
---|---|---|---|
TCA | Imipramine Amitriptyline Doxepin Desipramine Nortriptyline |
Weight gain, sedation, dry mouth, nausea, blurred vision, constipation, tachycardia | Generally not first-line therapy due to increased anticholinergic and cardiotoxic SE |
| |||
MAOI | Isocarboxazid Phenelzine Tranylcypromine Selegiline |
Weight gain, fatigue, sexual dysfunction, hypotension | Generally not first-line therapy due to serotonin syndrome and hypertensive crises |
| |||
SSRI | Fluoxetine Paroxetine Sertraline Citalopram Escitalopram |
Headaches, GI distress, insomnia, fatigue, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, weight gain | Often first-line treatment due to safer SE profile. Subtle SE differences must be weighed by the prescriber |
| |||
SNRI | Venlafaxine Desvenlafaxine Duloxetine Levomilnacipran |
Nausea, insomnia, dry mouth, headache, increased blood pressure, sexual dysfunction, weight gain | SEs are similar to but may be slightly more frequent than with SSRI |
| |||
Atypical | Bupropion | Headache, agitation, insomnia, loss of appetite, weight loss, sweating | Increased seizure risk in eating disorder and epilepsy patients. No sexual dysfunction or weight gain. May also help to quit smoking |
Mirtazapine | Sedation, increased appetite, weight gain | Sedation may be less with higher dose. Much reduced nausea and sexual dysfunction compared with SSRI/SNRI. Some risk of reduced white blood cell count | |
Trazodone | Sedation, nausea, priapism (rare) | Lower risk of weight gain and sexual dysfunction, but may cause priapism. Often used to induce sleep as a positive effect | |
Vilazodone | Nausea, diarrhea, insomnia | Better SE profile than most ADTs with lower risk of sexual dysfunction or weight gain | |
Vortioxetine | Nausea, diarrhea, dizziness | Similar SE profile to the SSRI. May have precognitivebenefits in adults with MDD |
ADT, antidepressant treatment; MAOI, monoamine oxidase inhibitor; MDD, major depressive disorder; SE, side effect; SNRI, serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor; SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor; TCA, tricyclic antidepressant.