People who take antidepressants are prone to weight gain. But do all antidepressants cause similar weight gain?
To find out, US researchers analysed the health records of 1,83,118 patients, aged 18 to 80, who were first-time users of antidepressants. The researchers tracked weight changes for 24 months after they started taking brand-name or generic versions of one of eight common antidepressants―sertraline, citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, paroxetine, bupropion, duloxetine, or venlafaxine.
Bupropion users gained the least amount of weight. They were 15 per cent to 20 per cent less likely to gain a significant amount of weight compared with those taking the most common antidepressant, sertraline. Those taking escitalopram, paroxetine and duloxetine were most likely to experience weight gain.
Weight gain is a common side effect of antidepressants that causes people to stop taking their medication, leading to poor clinical outcomes. Bupropion had the highest adherence rate, at 41 per cent. “Patients and their clinicians could consider weight gain as one reason for choosing a medication that best fits their needs,” the study suggested.
The findings were published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.