Citalopram For Reactive Depression

[237SJ]

I finally gave up the ghost and went to the doctor the other week. He has put me on 20mg Citalopram. I already feel better but I understand that the drug can take a couple of weeks to work. I have no experience of these kind of drugs. Could it be the placebo effect?

[Jackdaw33]

You are lucky. My experience was the opposite. After 10 days I felt so much worse that I stopped them of my own accord and immediately began to feel better.

[237SJ]

The doc did say that you can feel worse before you feel better

[Jackdaw33]

Perhaps I should have persevered.

[wolf63]

I was a couple of weeks before I felt better. Well done for going to the doctor

Antidepressants aren't miracle drugs but they do help you cope. There IS light at the end of the tunnel.

[237SJ]

From what I have been told, it takes more than 10 days to get completely into your system. Maybe that is why you felt bad - because the drug hadn`t had a full effect. I have taken it for 9 days and I`m not sure about it`s effect either which is why I asked on here.

[woofgang]

I wouldn’t call it placebo exactly but sometimes just the act of getting help can make you begin to feel....if not better, then as though feeling better is a possibility.

[237SJ]

Woofgang - I think you might be right. I don`t think I am depressed and for most of the time I function completely normally and am happy. Sometimes though, I just seem to go into a kind of trough (due to my Mum`s death) which lasts for a day or two. My friends say that I am being too hard on myself and maybe they are right. Maybe asking for help is what I need to pull myself together

[Peter Pedant]

looks as tho it is was working

[chrissa1]

I think everyone's different, 237SJ. I'm glad it's working for you. Keep on, keeping on.

[LD_DOLL1611]

I was prescribed Citalopram as well and didn't take them at first.
I had come through cancer treatment and was struggling with life in general with all the after effects and was crying all the time.
I eventually took them but did not think there was any difference but my partner said he could see a huge change in me for the better.
They did take a few weeks to kick in according to him.
Hope this helps ....

[andy-hughes]

This type of medication does affect different people in different ways, over different timescales, so the 'three wekes' rule is typical, but not binding.

You do need to give any antidepressant medication time to settle before deciding if it works for you or not - by no means every version suits every patient, but once you have found one that works, it can be a massive help in keeping you balanced.