To ask when/ if I’ll feel better from my antidepressants?

[Funshrubs]

I’ve been on Citalopram for nearly 3 weeks now, with nearly a week of that on 20mg. I haven’t had massively hideous side effects, just a bit of a dry mouth and slight nausea, but these seem to have tapered off now.

However, I still don’t feel any better. Still getting loads of horrible, intrusive thoughts each day, still feeling anxious, still feel really low and snappy and irritable. I guess maybe, just maybe I feel a teeny bit calmer but that could be my imagination. But that’s it.

Im wondering if I’m expecting too much, and maybe just feeling a bit calmer on them is the best that I can hope for? The dr said I should be feeling the effects from them about 4 weeks in, I just can’t imagine it changing drastically in the next week!

How long did they take to work for you, if at all?

It can take a bit longer than that, so I would give it another couple of weeks and then if you're still seeing no improvement, go back to the doctor. It might be that you need to increase the dose or it might be that a different medication would suit you better.

It's good that you're not having too many issues with side effects, though. I would persevere for a bit. Hope you do feel a bit better soon.

Thank you! I guess I’m worried that Citalopram won’t do anything for me and I’ll have to change and I’d quite like to stay on it really as like you say, I haven’t had that many side effects which is good!

I wouldn't include the 1st couple of weeks on the lower dose as part of the 4 weeks. I've seen that before with many medications that start on a lower dose and work up.

I've been on Citalopram so long I can't remember how long it took to work, but wanted to say that 20mg is a low dose- you may find you need 30 or 40mg to make a difference. I would give it another 2 weeks, and if you still don't see any improvements, go back to the GP to ask about increasing your dose. I really hope you start feeling better soon.

I think it's 6-8 weeks or even a bit longer they like to keep you on it before switching to something else, so it's early days yet.