Mood Change is a Potential Side Effect of Prescription Drugs
Taking prescription drugs carries the potential risk of side effects. For many drugs, depression has been reported as a side effect but the evidence to support this has been often questionable and weak. Depressive mood may be a consequence of a wide spectrum of drugs, including steroids, anticancer and antimicrobial agents, antihypertensives, antiarrythmics, antipsychotics, antihyperlipidemic agents, immune modulators, hormonal therapies, and neurological therapies. People who are taking prescribed medications should be monitored for signs of depressive or anxious symptoms. The medications listed below do not necessarily cause depression or mood changes, but are mentioned as possibly increasing the risk of mood changes. The list below is not comprehensive of all medications implicated in having a depressive side effect.
If you feel that a drug is causing depression, then talk to your doctor right away. Do not discontinue prescription drugs on your own.
Credible risk
The following prescription drugs have been associated with depression by case studies or replicated studies:
Corticosteroids
Digoxin
Interferon-alpha
Anabolic steroid withdrawal
[1-4]
Possible risk
The following prescription drugs are believed to pose a possible risk of inducing depression in some patients:
Methyldopa
Reserpine
Clonidine
Barbiturates
Vigabatrin
Topiramate
Flunarizine
Cinnarizine
Mefloquine
Efavirenz
Sedative hypnotics
Antipsychotics
Hormonal agents
Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors
[6-11]
Note: There is currently no in vitro or in vivo approved test for the detection or prediction of the mood effects of medication, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) only issues general alerts on specific therapeutic classes.
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[8] Celano CM, Freudenreich O, Fernandez-Robles C, Stern TA, Caro MA, Huffman JC. “Depressogenic effects of medications: a review.” Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2011;13(1):109-25.
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[11] D. Capellà, J. R. Laporte, J. M. Castel, C. Tristán, A. Cos, and F. J. Morales-Olivas. Parkinsonism, tremor, and depression induced by cinnarizine and flunarizine. BMJ. Sep 17, 1988; 297(6650): 722–723.