HOW DO ANTI DEPRESSANTS HELP IN MANAGING CHRONIC PAIN
Antidepressants are a line of drugs that are often used for treating chronic pain and in neuropathic pain states as well.
Tricyclic antidepressants are the most common ones which are prescribed. They tend to have a fairly low side effect profile and that is because they're used at a very low dose compared to what they would be for their antidepressant properties.
Selective Nor-adrenaline Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) is another class of drugs which are often used in widespread body pain. Patients with fibromyalgia or multisite pain, often with fatigue as well, can respond quite well to this class of antidepressants.
If you want to learn more about this topic, you can watch Alison Sim's lecture here:
Watch this clip taken from the lecture 'Pharmacology for Chronic Pain' by Alison Sim to know more about anti-depressants and their mechanism of action.
The common side effects of anti-depressants include:
If you want to learn more about this topic, you can watch Alison Sim's lecture here:
Sources:
1. Lecture 'Pharmacology for Chronic Pain' by Alison Sim.
