New study reveals wide variation in antidepressant side effects

A new large-scale study has highlighted striking differences in the physical side-effect profiles of commonly prescribed antidepressants. For those responsible for medicines optimisation and prescribing, the results underscore the need for greater attention to individualised antidepressant selection, physical health monitoring and multidisciplinary reviews.

Researchers examined 30 different antidepressant agents and found significant variation in their effects on weight, heart rate and blood pressure. For example, the study revealed that weight change between antidepressants could vary by as much as four kilograms and heart-rate effects ranged from a decrease of eight beats per minute to an increase of up to 14 beats per minute.

With many adults now living with overlapping conditions such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease or obesity, the side-effect profile of antidepressant medicines should now form a central part of shared decision-making and patient counselling.

These findings reaffirm the crucial role of personalised care. Antidepressant prescribing cannot rely solely on psychiatric efficacy and instead rather, it must account for the physical comorbidities and risk profiles of each patient. Pharmacy professionals are well placed to ensure that these considerations are routinely embedded into prescribing consultations, medicines reviews and follow-up discussions.

The study authors have called for prescribing guidelines to be updated to reflect these variations in side-effect profiles. Pharmacy professionals should play an active role in this process as regular medication reviews, especially in long-term antidepressant users, provide opportunities to assess the ongoing balance between mental-health benefit and physical-health burden. By leading on these reviews, pharmacy professionals can help identify candidates for dose adjustment, switching or deprescribing where appropriate.

Ultimately, this research highlights an opportunity for pharmacy professionals to champion a more holistic approach to antidepressant management. By integrating the study’s insights into medicines optimisation strategies, patient counselling, and clinical governance frameworks, pharmacy professionals can help ensure antidepressant therapy remains safe, evidence-based and person-centred in every care setting.

Read more here: https://www.thepharmacist.co.uk/in-practice/large-variation-in-side-effects-of-different-antidepressants-finds-study/