Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide
Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA)
INDICATIONS
FDA
FDA
- Major depressive disorder (applicable to all expect for the ones listed below)
- Doxepin: anxiety, depression, insomnia (sleep maintenance), pruritus
- Clomipramine: obsessive-compulsive disorder
NON-FDA APPROVED USES
NON-FDA APPROVED USES
- Amitriptyline - Cyclical vomiting syndrome prophylaxis; fibromyalgia; headache treatment/prophylaxis; irritable bowel syndrome; chronic neck pain; neuropathy; postherpetic neuralgia treatment/prophylaxis; tinnitus; temporomandibular joint disorder
- Imipramine - Binge eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, neuropathy due to diabetes mellitus, panic disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, urinary incontinence
- Doxepin - Cyclical vomiting syndrome prophylaxis; urticaria
- Clomipramine - Autism spectrum disorder; depression; panic disorder; premature ejaculation
- Nortriptyline - Cyclical vomiting syndrome prophylaxis; neuropathy due to diabetes mellitus; postherpetic neuralgia; smoking cessation assistance
- Desipramine - Neuropathy due to diabetes mellitus; postherpetic neuralgia
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Last updated: August 24, 2025
Citation
Yang, Michelle. "Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA)." Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide, The Johns Hopkins University, 2025. Johns Hopkins Guides, www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787540/all/Tricyclic_Antidepressants__TCA_.
Yang M. Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA). Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2025. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787540/all/Tricyclic_Antidepressants__TCA_. Accessed October 28, 2025.
Yang, M. (2025). Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA). In Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. The Johns Hopkins University. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787540/all/Tricyclic_Antidepressants__TCA_
Yang M. Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA) [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2025. [cited 2025 October 28]. Available from: https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787540/all/Tricyclic_Antidepressants__TCA_.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
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