Antidepressants for Hot Flashes

Select antidepressants are used to treat Reference hot flashes Opens New Window affecting menopausal women. They may also help with irritability, depression, and moodiness. They can be used before and after menopause as a symptom treatment alternative to hormones (birth control pills or Reference hormone therapy [HT] Opens New Window).

Antidepressant therapy helps many men and women who have hot flashes from cancer treatment. But if you take tamoxifen to treat your cancer, you need to avoid certain antidepressants. Talk to your doctor about what medicines for hot flashes are right for you.

Do not take venlafaxine if you:

• Have had an allergic reaction to this medicine in the past.
• Are currently taking an MAOI (monoamine oxidase inhibitor). This is an antidepressant and antianxiety medicine. Examples include isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine sulfate (Nardil), and tranylcypromine (Parnate).

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