Treating Chronic Pain with SSRIs: What Do We Know?

Table 2

Synopsis of the observed effect of the SSRI as treatment for chronic pain conditions.

SSRI	Significant reduction in pain	No significant effect on pain	Inconclusive results
Zimelidine	Different chronic pain syndromes [21]		Different chronic pain syndromes [22]
Sertraline	Noncardiac chest pain [26, 27]; Chronic pelvic pain [28]	Chronic pelvic pain [29]
Citalopram	Somatoform pain disorder [32]; Diabetic neuropathy [33]	Chronic tension type headache [34]; Chronic pelvic pain [35]; Fibromyalgia [36]	Painful diabetic neuropathy [37]; Fibromyalgia [38]
Fluoxetine	Fibromyalgia [41, 42]; Migraine without aura [43]; Persistent somatoform pain disorder [44]; Painful diabetic neuropathy [45]; Musculoskeletal pain [46]; Chronic pelvic pain syndrome [47]; Chronic daily headache [19]; Chronic tension type headache [18]		Migraine [19]
Paroxetine	Noncardiac chest pain [49]; Chronic headache [50]; Fibromyalgia [52]; Diabetic neuropathy [53]	Chronic low back pain [16]; Chronic low back pain [17]	Chronic tension type headache [54]; Painful diabetic neuropathy [37]; Chronic headache [51]
Fluvoxamine	Chronic tension type headache [56]; Prostatodynia [57]; Central poststroke pain [58]
Escitalopram	Chronic lower back pain [61]; Multisomatoform disorder [62]; Painful polyneuropathy [63]