How long for antidepressants to work?

[MamaL]

Ok so my doctor prescribed me a dosage when I first saw her, and I was on that dose for 3.5 weeks - when I saw her again she upped the dosage as it wasn’t having the desired affect. It’s now been over 1.5 weeks at the new dose and I don’t think anything has changed yet.. does anyone know how long it will take for them to work properly? Or should I be going back to my doc soon?

The physical symptoms I’ve been getting have been making it hard to do normal everyday activities on a day by day basis, so I’m trying to work out what to do. Maybe I’m just being impatient??

Also, I only noticed recently on the box that it says to “disperse the tablet in water and drink it or as discussed with doctor”, we never discussed this so I was just swallowing it like a normal tablet - am I supposed to be drinking it?! Would it be more effective if I did? The taste of it makes me gag as it is!

[geoff]

Hello MamaL, how long before anyone reacts to an antidepressant (AD) is different for anyone, some may feel the effects straight away, while others it may take up to 6 weeks, nobody can predict or ascertain, but from previous medications, you have taken from your doctor they could say whether or not a quick reaction may happen, but they still can't be sure.

Your certainly not impatient, everyone wants an AD to work straight away and rid us of any depression we may have, and I believe there are now AD's that are dissolvable, which means they have almost an instant effect, but tell your doctor about what it does when you drink it.

I would also go back to your doctor there are many other types of AD's that maybe more effective, please let us know.

Geoff.

[Tay100]

Hi MamaL

Welcome to the forum- it seems you are having a bit of a challenging time- medication can be tricky!

Honestly, it seems like getting clarification from your doctor may be best, and most direct thing to do here- especially about how to take the pills and when you can expect them to finally "kick in" and do their thing. Hopefully, you can get back to your yourself and your daily life soon- do keep us updated if you like!

Tay100