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
There's more to see -- the rest of this topic is available only to subscribers.
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 7, 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 07]. 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
TY - ELEC
T1 - Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCA)
ID - 787540
A1 - Yang,Michelle,Pharm.D., BCPP
Y1 - 2025/08/24/
BT - Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide
UR - https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787540/all/Tricyclic_Antidepressants__TCA_
PB - The Johns Hopkins University
DB - Johns Hopkins Guides
DP - Unbound Medicine
ER -
