Antidepressant side effects differ depending on the drug, study finds : NPR
British researchers have published a comprehensive review of published data on physical side effects linked to antidepressants, such as changes in weight, blood pressure and heart rate.
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Millions of Americans take antidepressants, and like all medications, they cause a variety of physical side effects. Now British researchers have carried out the largest analysis yet of how these effects vary between drugs. NPR’s Will Stone reports.
WILL STONE, BYLINE: Doctors have long known that antidepressants can affect your weight or your cardiovascular health. But this study from The Lancet analyzed data from 58,000 people to compare and contrast the physical side effects of 30 different medications.
TOBY PILLINGER: Like a sports ranking, almost treatments, from best to worst, for all these different physical health parameters that we were interested in.
STONE: Dr. Toby Pillinger, a psychiatrist at King’s College London, is the lead author of the study.
PILLINGER: And no one has ever given hard numbers on how much weight you’ll gain, how much your cholesterol levels will increase with each of these individual drugs.
STONE: For example, the team found that one drug could cause an average weight loss of four pounds, while another drug gained four pounds. The effect on heart rate can also vary by up to 20 beats per minute depending on the medication. Pillinger says the point here is not to label some antidepressants as bad and others as good.
PILLINGER: The message we’re trying to get across here is, actually, you know what? – no medicine is the same. And we have to tailor the medicine to the person.
STONE: In fact, researchers have created a free digital tool that provides a sort of menu based on the side effects that most interest the patient. Dr. Nina Kraguljac is a professor at Ohio State University and chairs the Research Council of the American Psychiatric Association.
NINA KRAGULJAC: What surprised me about this study is that the side effects are not that serious. I found that very reassuring, actually.
STONE: This was especially true for some of the most commonly prescribed antidepressants in the United States. Kraguljac thinks the study was well done.
KRAGULJAC: However, it is also important to note that side effects do not occur in all patients. And side effects aren’t necessarily a reason to dissuade people from taking the medications.
STONE: One of the limitations was that the study was based on relatively short trials, eight weeks. Dr. David Hellerstein, a professor at Columbia University, says he also failed to take into account three side effects often mentioned by his patients.
DAVID HELLERSTEIN: Many patients complain of sexual, gastrointestinal or stomach side effects. And then the third thing, which I heard most often, is emotional dulling. People will say they’re on antidepressants and they just can’t feel their feelings.
STONE: And he points out that some side effects, like weight gain, aren’t necessarily negative. This may be helpful for a patient who has lost weight due to depression.
HELLERSTEIN: I would say it’s not a side effect. This is a benefit of the treatment.
STONE: Overall, he thinks the research will be a useful touchstone for doctors and their patients.
Will Stone, NPR News.
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