10/11 weeks, took longer than what I would have liked but starting to feel better on them now.
Just started these myself.
Colin, I was in the same place as you just a few months ago. Was TERRIFIED to start my 5mg of Escitalopram. I experienced heightened anxiety, some vivid dreams, and fatigue, but it was not as dramatic as I imagined it to be. Time moved fast and before I knew it, side effects were gone and the meds were working. Shortly after I got bumped up to 10mg and that helped even more.
When I tell you I was soooo afraid to take these pills I mean it. I thought they were going to kill me or something. I literally cried over it and couldn't sleep alone. But now, after taking them, I wish I took them sooner. 5mg is a super low dose so if u do experience any side effects they'll be minor and manageable. Do it
Has anyone tried citalopram before? That's what I'm currently on but wondering if escitalopram is better. I've been on it three weeks and still anxious x
Some claim escitalopram is better, others that citalopram is. They share the same active chemical, the 'S' isomer of citalopram, aka escitalopram. The difference is citalopram also contains they mostly inactive 'R' isomer of the drug which has little therapeutic impact, but which may inhibit the active isomer to a small extent, however, despite this citalopram may be fractionally more effective at blocking serotonin reuptake than escitalopram.
Antidepressants typically take 3-12 weeks to kick-in from the time a therapeutic dose is first taken (usually at least 20mg for citalopram). Therefore, the lack of response at 3 weeks is not a cause for concern. Escitalopram would take just as long.I've been on it three weeks and still anxious x
I took 5mg Escitalopram for about 8 or 9 months, the last 2 months it was doing the opposite effect. I moved to the UK right in the middle of treatment and was fine.
It was prescribed for me to take for 6 months only, so I probably took it for too long and it started messing me up. But I got the same side effects as most for the first 3 weeks, very sleepy, couldn't drive for all that time, nausea and some stomach ache, but after that it did wonders. So keep it up and probably don't take it for longer than advised.. At least for me it started to backfire.
For most 5mg is a sub therapeutic dose and taking less than the recommended minimum dose for such a long time may have be unwise.
Antidepressants 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 (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 this requires a minimum level of the med in the system to initiate and sustain.
The problem with taking sub/borderline therapeutic doses is neurogenesis may be interrupted whenever plasma levels drop below the amount needed to sustain it which may lead to the second issue, the growing evidence antidepressants become progressively less effective every time they are stopped and restarted. Two studies, Amsterdam JD, 2016 and Amsterdam, 2009 found the likelihood of antidepressants working after each restart drops by between 19-25% (see also: Amsterdam JD, 2009; Leykin Y, 2007). This applies whether returning to a previously taken antidepressant or a different one. Taking a low escitalopram dose for 9 months may have often created a similar situation as stopping and restarting it. While the neurogenesis interruptions will only have be of short duration, they will would have been much more frequent.
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