Who has actually been helped by medication?

[panic_down_under]

And how gast did it work for you guys? Don't want to wait another 6 weeks :(

Antidepressants typically begin working within 3-12 weeks. There is no way of speeding this up, new neurons take time to bud, grow and mature.

However, you could try taking hydroxyzine (Vistaril) to ease anxiety until the escitalopram kicks-in. Hydroxyzine is a prescription antihistamine with anti anxiety properties. It isn't as potent as the benzodiazepines (BZDs), but is often potent enough to make a significant difference and unlike the BZDs it doesn't block neurogenesis.

*Hydroxyzine comes in two forms, hydroxyzine pamoate (Vistaril) and hydroxyzine hydrochloride (Atarax). Anecdotally, the pamoate form is supposedly the more effective anxiolytic.

[mismashful2]

Hmm, I still didn't take it. I'm 19, and I read that under the 18 you can't take AD's, and that it's risky between 18 and 25..

[panic_down_under]

Hmm, I still didn't take it. I'm 19, and I read that under the 18 you can't take AD's, and that it's risky between 18 and 25..

This because of the "blackbox" warnings? They were much overblown. Suicide rates had been dropping steadily in the 2 decades before the warnings were issued based on dubious data and went up after them, just as many clinicians had predicted.

Spooked by the warnings many doctors simply stopped diagnosing depression and other disorders so they wouldn't need to prescribe meds. This articles gives a synopsis of the issue: Antidepressants' Black-Box Warning — 10 Years Later

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hmm, I still didn't take it. I'm 19, and I read that under the 18 you can't take AD's, and that it's risky between 18 and 25..

They prescribe them in the UK but it's the territory of the specialist in under 18's.

The warnings that stretch much further into the late twenties are catered for in the UK as doctors are advised to take greater care in monitoring younger patients.

If you let the side effects put you off, you wouldn't take any mental health med since drug companies have to include everything including the rarer events which are quite serious, or can be.