People's Pharmacy

Amitriptyline

Other Brand Names: Elavil

Revised:4/1/2000

Table of Contents

Overview

Elavil used to be one of the most frequently prescribed antidepressants.

It belongs to a class of compounds called TCAs (tricyclic antidepressants) that includes amoxepine (Asendin), clomipramine (Anafranil), desipramine (Norpramin, Pertofrane), doxepin (Adapin, Sinequan), imipramine (Tofranil), nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor), protriptyline (Vivactil), and trimipramine (Surmontil).

The extraordinary popularity of drugs such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft has led to dramatic decline in the TCA class of antidepressants. Yet many people still benefit from such compounds.

Elavil, and some of its cousins, are also prescribed for anxiety and depression as well as to relieve chronic pain associated with arthritis, fibromyalgia, neuropathy or neuralgia (nerve damage), and migraine headache.

Anafranil is prescribed primarily for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)