Antidepressants

Explains what antidepressants are, how they work, possible side effects and information about withdrawal.

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How can I compare different antidepressants?

This page has tables to help you compare antidepressants by different factors. These are:

Why might I want to compare antidepressants?

Understanding more about the different antidepressants available may help you talk to your doctor about what's right for you, including:

If you’ve experienced problems with a particular type of antidepressant and want to avoid them. For example, if you’ve had problems with tricyclics and would like change to an SSRI.
If the drug's half-life is important to you. For example, if you are concerned about withdrawal effects and would prefer a drug with a longer half-life. For information about what the half-life means and why it matters, see our page explaining the half-life of medication. If you are taking an MAOI antidepressant, see our information explaining why the half-life means something different for certain MAOIs.
If you have problems with swallowing, or are unable to take tablets, and need your medication in a different form.
If you have any dietary restrictions, such as being vegetarian, or if you are allergic or intolerant to some ingredients.

Remember: drugs don't work the same way for everyone, and it's important to find a medication that works for you. See our page on receiving the right medication for more information.

Antidepressants by generic name and key characteristics

Each of these drugs may be known by several different names, which we have listed below under the Generic name and Trade names (UK) columns. See our page on drug names for more information.

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Generic name	Trade names (UK)	Type of antidepressant	Forms available	Half-life	Dietary considerations
agomelatine	Valdoxan	other	tablets	1 to 2 hours	n/a
amitriptyline	n/a	tricyclic	tablets liquid	9 to 25 hours	tablets may contain lactose
citalopram	Cipramil	SSRI	tablets oral drops	around 36 hours	tablets contain lactose
clomipramine	n/a	tricyclic	capsules	12 to 36 hours	contains lactose contains gelatine
dosulepin	Prothiaden, Thaden	tricyclic	tablets capsules	around 50 hours (just over 2 days)	capsules may contain gelatine
doxepin	Sinepin	tricyclic	capsules	3 to –80 hours (1.5 to 3.3 days)	contains lactose contains gelatine
duloxetine	Cymbalta	SNRI	capsules	8 to 17 hours	contains gelatin may contain lactose
escitalopram	Cipralex	SSRI	tablets oral drops	around 30 hours	n/a
fluoxetine	Prozac, Prozep, Oxactin	SSRI	tablets capsules liquid dispersible tablets	96 to 144 hours (4 to 6 days)	capsules contain gelatine
fluvoxamine	Faverin	SSRI	tablets	17 to 22 hours	n/a
imipramine	n/a	tricyclic	tablets liquid	around 19 hours	tablets contain lactose tablets contain gelatine
isocarboxazid	n/a	MAOI	tablets	around 36 hours (effects may last 2 to 3 weeks after withdrawal)	contains lactose contains gelatine requires food restrictions
lofepramine	Lomont	tricyclic	tablets liquid	12 to 24 hours	contains lactose
mianserin	n/a	other	tablets	6 to 39 hours	n/a
mirtazapine	Zispin	other	tablets liquid dispersible tablets	20 to 40 hours	tablets contain lactose
moclobemide	Manerix	reversible MAOI	tablets	2 to 4 hours	contains lactose requires food restrictions
nortriptyline	Allegron	tricyclic	tablets capsules liquid	around 36 hours	tablets and capsules contain lactose capsules contain gelatine
paroxetine	Seroxat	SSRI	tablets liquid	around 24 hours	tablets may contain lactose
phenelzine	Nardil	MAOI	tablets	11 to 12 hours (effects may last 2 to 3 weeks after withdrawal)	requires food restrictions
reboxetine	Edronax	other	tablets	around 13 hours	n/a
sertraline	Lustral	SSRI	tablets	22 to 36 hours	n/a
tranylcypromine	Parnate	MAOI	tablets	about 2 hours (effects may last around 2 weeks after withdrawal)	contains gelatine requires food restrictions
trazodone	Molipaxin	other	tablets capsules liquid	5 to 13 hours	tablets and capsules contain lactose capsules contain gelatine
trimipramine	Surmontil	tricyclic	tablets capsules	around 23 hours	contains lactose capsules contain gelatine
venlafaxine	Alventa XL, Amphero XL, Depefex XL, Efexor XL, Foraven XL, Majoven XL, Politid XL, Sunveniz XL, Tonpular XL, Venaxx XL, Vencarm XL Venladex XL, Venlablue XL, Venlalic XL, Venlasoz XL, Vensir XL, Venzip XL, ViePax XL	SNRI	tablets capsules oral solution	4 to 7 hours	may contain lactose may contain gelatine
vortioxetine	Brintellix	other	tablets oral drops	around 66 hours	n/a

Comparing antidepressants by type

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Type of antidepressant	Drug names
SSRIs	citalopram escitalopram fluoxetine fluvoxamine paroxetine sertraline
SNRIs	duloxetine venlafaxine
Tricyclics	amitriptyline clomipramine dosulepin doxepin imipramine lofepramine nortriptyline trimipramine
Tricyclic-related drugs	mianserin trazodone
MAOIs	isocarboxazid moclobemide phenelzine tranylcypromine
others	agomelatine mirtazapine reboxetine vortioxetine

Comparing antidepressants by half-life

See our page on half-life for information about what this means and why it matters.

Some MAOIs, known as 'irreversible MAOIs', work in a different way to other antidepressants. They cause changes to your brain chemistry which can last for several weeks after you stop taking the medication. This means their effects may last for a few weeks longer than the drug's biological half life.

The irreversible MAOIs included in the list below are isocarboxazid, phenelzine and tranylcypromine.

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Half-life	Drug name
1 to 2 hours	agomelatine
around 2 hours (effects may last around 2 weeks after withdrawal)	tranylcypromine
2 to 4 hours	moclobemide
4 to 7 hours	venlafaxine
5 to 13 hours	trazodone
6 to 39 hours	mianserin
8 to 17 hours	duloxetine
9 to 25 hours	amitriptyline
11 to 12 hours (effects may last 2–3 weeks after withdrawal)	phenelzine
12 to 24 hours	lofepramine
12 to 36 hours	clomipramine
around 13 hours	reboxetine
17 to 22 hours	fluvoxamine
around 19 hours	imipramine
20 to 40 hours	mirtazapine
22 to 36 hours	sertraline
around 23 hours	trimipramine
around 24 hours	paroxetine
around 30 hours	escitalopram
33 to 80 hours (1.5 to 3.3 days)	doxepin
around 36 hours	citalopram
around 36 hours (effects may last 2 to 3 weeks after withdrawal)	isocarboxazid
around 36 hours	nortriptyline
around 50 hours (just over 2 days)	dosulepin
around 66 hours	vortioxetine
96 to 144 hours (4 to 6 days)	fluoxetine

Comparing antidepressants by form available

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Form	Antidepressants available in this form
tablets	agomelatine amitriptyline citalopram dosulepin escitalopram fluoxetine fluvoxamine imipramine isocarboxazid lofepramine mianserin mirtazapine moclobemide nortriptyline paroxetine phenelzine reboxetine sertraline tranylcypromine trazodone trimipramine venlafaxine vortioxetine
dispersible (dissolving) tablets	mirtazapine fluoxetine
capsules	clomipramine doxepin dosulepin duloxetine fluoxetine nortriptyline trazodone trimipramine venlafaxine
liquid	amitriptyline fluoxetine imipramine lofepramine mirtazapine nortriptyline paroxetine trazodone
oral drops	citalopram escitalopram vortioxetine

Comparing antidepressants by dietary considerations

Certain brands of individual drugs may have other dietary restrictions that aren’t listed in the tables below. If you are concerned about this, you can check the Patient Information Leaflet (PIL) included in the box with your medication. This will include a full list of your medication's ingredients.

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Dietary consideration	Drugs this applies to
Contains lactose	agomelatine amitriptyline (tablets only) citalopram (tablets only) doxepin imipramine (tablets only) isocarboxazid lofepramine mirtazapine (tablets only) moclobemide (tablets only) nortriptyline (tablets and capsules only) paroxetine (tablets only) trazodone (tablets and capsules only) trimipramine venlafaxine (some tablets and capsules)
Contains gelatin	dosulepin doxepin duloxetine fluoxetine (capsules only) imipramine (tablets only) isocarboxazid tranylcypromine (capsules only) trazodone trimipramine (capsules only) venlafaxine (some tablets and capsules)
Requires food restrictions	isocarboxazid moclobemide phenelzine tranylcypromine

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This information was published in September 2020.

This page is currently under review. All content was accurate when published.

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