How long til you noticed it working?

[Jakemje]

I know this is one of the more popular questions. I have been on this medication for almost 3 weeks and I have been up to 75 milligrams for 6 days but I have yet to notice any positive change. How much longer would you think I need to give it before trying to ask for a change?

[panic_down_under]

I know this is one of the more popular questions. I have been on this medication for almost 3 weeks and I have been up to 75 milligrams for 6 days but I have yet to notice any positive change. How much longer would you think I need to give it before trying to ask for a change?

It usually takes 3-12 weeks to kick-in, the same as for most antidepressants. Unfortunately, there is no way of speeding this up. These meds work by stimulating the growth of new brain cells and is these cells which produce the therapeutic response, not the drug itself. They don't bud, grow and mature overnight. Also, many need to take 100-150mg to get a good response.

[Jakemje]

This is my first run with tricyclics, but do they kick in all of a sudden or should I have noticed something by now? I've been thru the side effects, and gotten past most of them, but as for anxiety....its still full blown

---------- Post added at 19:05 ---------- Previous post was at 18:17 ----------

And do you know if I need to avoid tyramine rich foods on a tricylics, like you do on moai's?

[KK77]

I'm not aware of any restrictions re food on this med, but I would check that to be sure.

Whilst the full benefits of ADs do take up to 12 weeks to manifest, you should feel some benefit of the med within 4 weeks, especially if you're still experiencing "full blown" anxiety... Unless you can get an additional short-term med to alleviate your anxiety, I would question giving this med more than an extra couple of weeks max.

[Jakemje]

Thank you. I'm gonna tough it out. This is my second line of defense. I've been on ssri/snri for decades, but they all either didn't work, or pooped out after a few years

[panic_down_under]

This is my first run with tricyclics, but do they kick in all of a sudden or should I have noticed something by now?

They begin working pretty much the same as SSRIs. For some they kick-in overnight and they wake up to a bright new day, for others it can be a one step forward, two back roller-coaster for a while with the good hours/days gradually outnumbering the bad.

And do you know if I need to avoid tyramine rich foods on a tricylics, like you do on moai's?

No, and with modern food processing techniques most foods these days contain little tyramine so MAOIs are a more viable option now than in the past, though it might be difficult finding a doctor/psychiatrist educated enough to prescribe them.