Some antidepressants have more serious physical side effects than others

Not all antidepressants are the same when it comes to physical side effects, Euronews writes.

Anyone who has been prescribed medication to treat depression is familiar with the long list of potential side effects: sleepiness, loss of appetite, headaches, and so on.

But in reality, physical side effects differ significantly from drug to drug, according to a new study that found some antidepressants can cause rapid changes to weight, heart rate, and blood pressure – while others are “relatively benign”.

The researchers said their analysis, published in The Lancet medical journal, is the first to tie specific physical side effects to individual antidepressant drugs.

“It would be nice to know which antidepressants are better or worse than others for these different physical side effects to guide personalized prescribing,” Toby Pillinger, one of the study’s authors and an academic clinical lecturer at King’s College London, said.