Citalopram/Escitalopram from severe depression - how effective for you?

All these meds have side effects which include anxiety/depression. You will start noticing improvement after a few weeks. They say if sleep and appetite improve, the med is working for you.

Caroline, you are right about one thing: Everyone does react to psychopharmica differently. I noticed a difference within a couple of weeks. I've been taking it for about 4 years now (initially started on 10 mg, down to 5 mg, tried to go off it, back on 5 mg). But I also only take it as a supplement to 200 mg lamotrigine.

Finding out what med - or more often combination of meds - works for you is really a process (my opinion as a patient, not a medical professional). For me, that process took almost 5 years. But don't let that discourage you! However long it takes, it is absolutely worth the time and effort. And you never know: The escitalopram might be all you need to feel healthy again.

There are a few things you can do to support its effects (and take your mind off worrying about whether it's working or not). Go for a 30 minute (or longer) walk or a run. Outdoors in sunny weather is best for me, but if you feel more comfortable on a treadmill, then do that. And drink lots. Lots of WATER.

Caroline, I really hope your meds kick in soon and that you start to feel better. Don't give up!

Jack

I have been on 10 mg of Escitalopram a few weeks now and have just been increased to 20 mg as my mood has not improved. Have been told its a dip due to a change in medication. Time will tell. Have noticed anxiety increase but putting it down to meds and know it will pass..

Both Celexa and Lexapro are SSRIs working to reduce the re-uptake of serotonin in your brain. If these don't work for you, your doc may switch you to an SNRI which also stops the re-uptake of nor-epinepherine.  Regardless of choice, all these meds take a few weeks to really kick in.  Even when you titrate up to a higher dose, the results are not immediate.  Some people experience the situation of the med working for a while and then stop working.  In that case, your doc may increase the dosage or switch you to another med in the category.  Sometimes, you have to try a few before you find the one that works great for you.

Warning...  This is definitely not common but it happened to my wife twice.  Sometimes a doc will give you a second med to help "boost" the effectiveness of the first or even give you something unrelated to your depression.  If the drug is loaded with serotonin and you're taking an SSRI or SNRI, you end up with a build-up of serotonin in your brain.  The result is called "Serotonin Syndrome" or serotonin poisoning.  Within 10 days, you could be trembling and hallucinating...time to go to the ER.  It's so rare, the ER doc may not recognize it, but the staff pharmacist will!!!  So just make sure of any drug interactions beween the SSRI/SNRI and ANYTHING else you take.  My wife is on Cymbalta and the interactions came with Buspar and then with cough syrup containing codeine.  So make sure you check every drug interaction before mixing anything with serotonin blocking anti-depressants.