51 Antidepressants Ranked by Drugs.Com Users

[biasedregret]

Hi folks, I'm working late and bored so I scraped a little less than 100 rows from the Drugs.com antidepressant table containing user reviews. Here's what I found:

• The best antidepressants as ranked by actual people (not by corrupt meta analyses performed by perversely-incentivized "researchers") appear to be things like opioids (Tramadol), tricyclic antidepressants, MAOIs, wakefulness-promoting agents & stimulants, and ketamine.
• Overall, SSRIs and SNRIs get low marks.
• This is in line with research done by psychopharmacologists like Dr. Ken Gillman who postulates that psychiatrists under utilize old school drugs like MAOIs and TCAs. Additionally, this data points to the use of stimulants as augmentation agents for severe depression.

If you're currently on the SSRI pinwheel and want off, maybe some of these medications are worth bringing up with your doctor. If there's any interest in more data like this, I'd be happy to keep doing more research!

Drug Name	Sum of Review Count​	Sum of Weighted Average​
Amitriptyline / Chlordiazepoxide	5​	9.60​
Amoxapine	6​	9.60​
Protriptyline	3​	9.50​
Nefazodone	77​	9.40​
Tramadol	226​	9.30​
Desipramine	22​	9.26​
Isocarboxazid	14​	9.10​
Folate	3​	9.00​
Trimipramine	2​	9.00​
Amitriptyline / Perphenazine	1​	9.00​
Methylphenidate	70​	8.82​
Modafinil	74​	8.80​
Niacin	57​	8.70​
Alprazolam	104​	8.70​
Tranylcypromine	217​	8.45​
Phenelzine	246​	8.41​
Olanzapine / Fluoxetine	45​	8.41​
Lisdexamfetamine	27​	8.40​
Armodafinil	44​	8.40​
Amitriptyline	137​	8.10​
Selegiline	76​	8.01​
Ketamine	29​	7.60​
Levomefolic Acid	232​	7.52​
Lamotrigine	180​	7.20​
Citalopram	1093​	7.20​
Escitalopram	1546​	7.20​
Atomoxetine	8​	7.10​
Bupropion	1816​	7.06​
Fluoxetine	1160​	7.00​
Brexpiprazole	309​	6.90​
Doxepin	29​	6.90​
Sertraline	1885​	6.87​
Desvenlafaxine	1660​	6.85​
Clomipramine	42​	6.80​
Fluvoxamine	36​	6.70​
Mirtazapine	827​	6.69​
Trazodone	140​	6.61​
Quetiapine	244​	6.55​
Paroxetine	503​	6.55​
Aripiprazole	715​	6.40​
Imipramine	38​	6.39​
Duloxetine	1364​	6.30​
Lithium	63​	6.10​
Nortriptyline	76​	6.08​
Venlafaxine	1720​	6.00​
Vilazodone	1220​	5.95​
Esketamine	135​	5.55​
Risperidone	56​	5.00​
Olanzapine	267​	4.96​
Levomilnacipran	195​	4.85​
Paliperidone	12​	3.90​

 

[justcallmeJ]

Oh this is handy, thanks! <3

 

[Life_and_Death]

im not sure id trust drugs.com. i cant remember for sure if it was that site or another one (pretty sure that one) but i was looking for drug interactions, it told me i was fine while another site was saying absolutely not.
plus drugs do different things for different people, that might be the top rated drug, it might still completely destroy someones life because that drug just isnt for them.

 

[Ash]

But different meds work for different people so isn't this just subjective? For example, I can't take amitriptyline as it makes me hallucinate, codeine makes me nauseous and constipated, but I don't get any side effects from morphine.

 

[Forveleth]

Not really a good way to judge these. Antidepressants affect everyone differently. Also, who where the people surveyed for this? What was the control group? What are these ratings specifically based on?

It's interesting to see but if it were up to me, bupropion would be at an 8, escitalopram would get a -5, and venlafaxine would be on fire in a dumpster. So maybe take this with a hefty serving of salt.

 

[Yarani]

The first thing that strikes me is the "sum of review count".
I don't know what I'm misinterpreting or missing here, but why would you trust like 5 random people on the internet judging a medication? Please educate me here. I don't mean that sarcastically, I want to know what I'm not understanding. Did I read this wrong?

Apart from that, what were the rating criteria, and does it make sense to express the rating of those criteria in a single number?

Researchers aren't necessarily perversely-incentivized, and random people on the internet rating medication could also be and I find that much less transparent than a scientific study

Why do you say that SSRIs get low marks? For ex., how is 7 or 7.2 low? What is "low"

Table also contains meds that aren't antidepressants per se but could be classified as augmentation therapy, then the question would be what are they being combined with

Co-morbidities aren't being controlled for and neither are dozens of other things

Also, ketamine rated 7.6 by 29 people vs esketamine rated 5.55 by 135 people. Did those people really know what they were clicking because the two are not exactly the same

Personal opinion at this point: No. Just no.

 

[Leech]

Very very interesting and a considerable result. Definitely not a big enough response pool even with weighted averages. I'd be curious how it changes with more answers.

 

[Life_and_Death]

The first thing that strikes me is the "sum of review count".
I don't know what I'm misinterpreting or missing here, but why would you trust like 5 random people on the internet judging a medication? Please educate me here. I don't mean that sarcastically, I want to know what I'm not understanding. Did I read this wrong?

because they more than likey took the medication, its not a 'medical study' so much as its a personal opinion "this is how i felt on this medication". its like saying why shouldnt i trust people that want to destroy medication or people that "push it" (i mean in a 'good' way. not docs), theyre both right, and theyre both wrong. yes the medication hurt you or helped you, but thats you.

 

[Yarani]

because they more than likey took the medication, its not a 'medical study' so much as its a personal opinion "this is how i felt on this medication". its like saying why shouldnt i trust people that want to destroy medication or people that "push it" (i mean in a 'good' way. not docs), theyre both right, and theyre both wrong. yes the medication hurt you or helped you, but thats you.

I'm very aware that it's personal opinions and not a scientific study. That was not what my confusion was about.

 

[DyingToDie123]

This is interesting though I agree I think it should be taken with the biggest grain of salt that exists lol.

For people trying to sort out which anti-depressants to try I strongly recommend trying something like Genesight or Genomind (genetic testing to see what's likely to be more effective/tolerated for you.)