desipramine
Adjunctive therapy • Brands: Norpramin
Last reviewed: 2025-12-30
General information
- Class: Adjunctive therapy
- Common US brands: Norpramin
- Therapeutic drug monitoring recommended; reference range 100–300 ng/mL.
- Last reviewed: 2025-12-30
Dosing & forms
- Forms/strengths: —
- Frequency: —
- Food: —
- Typical range: —
Mechanism (brief)
Secondary-amine tricyclic antidepressant (TCA); predominantly norepinephrine reuptake inhibition with less antihistamine/anticholinergic effect than tertiary-amine TCAs.
Metabolism & Half‑life
- Metabolism: CYP2D6
- Half‑life: Single-dose range 15–18 h
Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM)
Recommended: Yes
Reference range: 100–300 ng/mL
Monitoring highlights
- —
Sources
- NORPRAMIN (desipramine) prescribing information — DailyMed (2025)
- Consensus Guidelines for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring in Neuropsychopharmacology: Update 2017 — Pharmacopsychiatry (2018)
- APA Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Depression — American Psychiatric Association (2023)
- CANMAT 2024 Clinical Guidelines for Major Depressive Disorder — Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (2024)