Chris Aiken, M.D.  Psychiatry & Psychotherapy

Welcome

Information for New Patients

Treatment
Philosophy

Psychotherapy

Medication

Tricyclics >

Natural & Complimentary Therapies

Health & Lifestyle

Diagnoses

Credentials

Directions

Links

Contact

Disclaimer:
This site is for information only and is not intended as a substitution for psychiatric treatment.

Tricyclic Antidepressants

The tricyclic antidepressants were developed in the 1960’s and have been used to treat depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other clinical conditions including pain and insomnia. Examples include:

Clomipramine (Anafranil), nortriptyline (Pamelor, Aventyl), amitriptyline (Elavil, Triavil, Endep, Etrafon, Limbitrol), desipramine (Norpramin), doxepin (Sinequan), trimipramine (Surmontil), imipramine (Tofranil), and protriptyline (Vivactil).

These are effective medicines which are not used as commonly as the newer antidepressants because of their side effects.  However, they still provide a good alternative for many people who do not respond to other treatments.

 

Some of these medicines are also called “tetracyclics”.

 

To read more about individual tricyclics, go to:

Index of Drug Information

 Updated 6/1/4 by Chris Aiken, M.D.