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Antidepressants How do they work? |
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Antidepressants change the way the message of pain is relayed to the brain by a group of chemicals known as neurotransmitters.
They affect how the body breaks down certain neurotransmitters that block the pain message.
Although these medicines also are used in much higher doses to treat depression, they can be very effective in pain relief for people who are not depressed.
Antidepressants are used most often to relieve nerve pain, but other types of chronic pain may respond as well.
Antidepressants do not relieve pain immediately; the pain-relieving effects usually take a few weeks to develop.
