Citalopram for 4 weeks - how long till it works

[mcohen]

Hi all,

I have now been on Citalopram (20mg) for nearly 4 weeks for my worsening HA. I had no side effects for the first week, in the second week I hit a real low point, and for the past two weeks I've levelled out, basically the same as I was at the start. I have, however, noticed no improvement with my HA. I knew it wasn't going to work overnight, but thought that after a month I may be beginning to notice a difference.

Any body on Citalopram recall how long it took for it to 'kick in'?

[panic_down_under]

Any body on Citalopram recall how long it took for it to 'kick in'?

Antidepressants (ADs) typically take 4-12 weeks to kick-in.

They have no direct effect on anxiety, or depression in the way say aspirin has on a headache. They work by stimulating the growth of new brain cells (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC60045/) (neurogenesis) to replace cells killed, or prevented from growing by high brain stress hormone levels. The therapeutic response is produced by these new cells and the stronger interconnections they forge, not the meds directly, and they take time to bud, grow and mature. For a more detailed explanations see: Depression and the Birth and Death of Brain Cells (PDF (https://www.americanscientist.org/sites/americanscientist.org/files/20057610584_306.pdf)) and How antidepressant drugs act (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3025168/).

[keta]

4 weeks it’s definitely not long enough to feel any major benefits as yet, I m on my 4th round and from what I recall you need to give it good 8- 12 weeks . Definitely stick with it .