Antidepressants
Antidepressants can help relieve fatigue and pain. More importantly, before using this medication, make sure you discuss possible side effects with your healthcare professional. For some patients, antidepressants for fibromyalgia can lead to a wide variety of discomforting side effects like weight gain, nausea, and low sexual drive.
Some people with fibromyalgia reported that specific antidepressant medication was helpful. These medications boost certain chemicals levels known to carry messages from and to the brain, generally called neurotransmitters.
Low levels of these chemicals may be one of the underlying cause of fibromyalgia, and it’s opined that increasing these low levels may alleviate the widespread pain linked to the condition.
There are several types of antidepressants for FM, which is recommended based on the patient’s symptoms severity and the side effect these medications tend to cause.
Common antidepressants used in the treatment of FM pain include:
Serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) like venlafaxine and duloxetine.
Tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) like paroxetine, and fluoxetine (Prozac).
Also, other medications that are not an antidepressant, like pramipexole have shown significant signs of improving the levels of neurotransmitters. Antidepressants can lead to a wide range of side effects including feeling sick, drowsiness, dry mouth, dizziness, constipation, and feeling shaky, agitated, or anxious. [2]
