The Effectiveness of Antidepressants for Chronic Pain: What the Studies Say
Antidepressants commonly used to treat chronic pain lack evidence as to whether or not they work, researchers have said, declaring the situation a global public health concern. A new Cochrane review has revealed there is little evidence whether or not amitriptyline and many other common antidepressants work when it comes to tackling chronic pain. The team found that many of the trials involved very small numbers of patients, making the results unreliable. Only duloxetine and milnacipran had enough evidence for the researchers to have even moderate confidence in their findings, with the drugs found to have a small to moderate effect on substantial pain relief.