People on antidepressants: how long did it take to see a difference?

[everydayiloveyou]

I've been on Zoloft for a week and I feel exactly the same, except now I get bellyaches/nausea which really sucks. Plus my legs are really restless. Besides that though I feel no different at all. I think my anxiety is still really bad too since I still freak out about things as usual.

I'm not that depressed, by default I'm a very calm and optimistic person. So I'm kinda confused as to when I can expect changes on my anxiety. My psychiatrist told me to keep expectations low because I'm not going to go from jittery anxious unsociable --> social butterfly, but she said I could start seeing a reduction in two weeks, sometimes even one week for severe anxiety like I have.

How long did meds take to have an effect on you guys? Did you notice or was it more in the background? I don't see the point in taking these if I'm just gonna be sicker than usual. If the effects take 6+ weeks as advertised then who's to say that it's not just normal changes in weather/circumstance/surroundings? By that time I'll be back home for college break so I'm worried I'll just be extra sick + as anxious as ever until then.

 

[Pure]

It didn't. I was on zoloft for three years during that time it killed my sexual pleasure, gave me insomnia and daytime fatigue, and made me terribly hungry and throw in some nausea too all the time.

I got off it a few months. Worst 2 weeks of my life but now I microdose shrooms which has done more for me than zoloft and any other ssri I've tried with no side effects

 

[EOL4ME]

Pristiq worked better than Zoloft ------ I had same outcome as @financialrhino with Zoloft ------ Zoloft took about 30 days to start working

 

[Angst Filled Fuck Up]

Took about 3 or 4 weeks for me to notice a difference. One week is too short. Keep taking it. Don't worry about anything else. Just do it. You'll start to feel unfazed gradually and much less on edge. Overall, I much prefer being on an antidepressant.

 

[everydayiloveyou]

It didn't. I was on zoloft for three years during that time it killed my sexual pleasure, gave me insomnia and daytime fatigue, and made me terribly hungry and throw in some nausea too all the time.

I got off it a few months. Worst 2 weeks of my life but now I microdose shrooms which has done more for me than zoloft and any other ssri I've tried with no side effects

I was so worried about the insomnia or fatigue but I've slept perfectly fine since starting. It's really weird, I feel exactly like myself except with a constant stomach ache. I never felt stress/anxiety in my stomach before. I feel like I have food poisoning that comes and goes. It sucks since the physical symptoms of anxiety was one of the reasons I even bothered trying meds.

Did any other SSRIs work better for you?

Pristiq worked better than Zoloft ------ I had same outcome as @financialrhino with Zoloft ------ Zoloft took about 30 days to start working

When it started working, did you notice it? or was it a very subtle change?

Took about 3 or 4 weeks for me to notice a difference. One week is too short. Keep taking it. Don't worry about anything else. Just do it. You'll start to feel unfazed gradually and much less on edge. Overall, I much prefer being on an antidepressant.

Yeah I'm going to stick with it for at least 8 weeks (or if it makes me suicidal). I'm on 25mg rn so maybe that's why I feel nothing except the side effect? I move up to 50mg in a week but I'm so worried the restless legs/nausea will be worse and I'll have no improvement in my anxiety. I also don't want to feel numb or anything

 

[Pure]

was so worried about the insomnia or fatigue but I've slept perfectly fine since starting. It's really weird, I feel exactly like myself except with a constant stomach ache. I never felt stress/anxiety in my stomach before. I feel like I have food poisoning that comes and goes. It sucks since the physical symptoms of anxiety was one of the reasons I even bothered trying meds.

Did any other SSRIs work better for you?

I was on 100mg. The insomnia and fatigue was gradual until I realized one day that I was having such bad sleep and day time fatigue that I thought I had narcolepsy so I went to a sleep doctor to evaluate for sleep apnea mainly and other disorders. Found nothing. Got off sertraline almost a year later and my sleep and fatigue hasn't been better in years (with the aid of some other sleep medicine).

The only med of note that really helped my suicidality was lithium from when I was misdiagnosed with bipolar 2. BUT the fatigue and lack of attention was ruthless and severely affected my ability to function as a student at the time.

 

[oliviahurts]

I was similar to @financialrhino I was on SSRIs and they made some difference to anxiety but lithium carbonate was the most helpful in terms of making me less suicidal (and also made my nightmares less intense). Different SSRIs work for different people. if your side effects stay this bad, you'll probably want to ask to switch to another SSRI.

 

[NearlyIrrelevantCake]

A week is nowhere near long enough to feel effects. It can take up to a few months.

If you haven't had success with SSRIs, ask if you can try a different class of anti-depressants. SSRIs only ever made my depression worse, but the first SNRI I was put on worked well and I'm still on that drug ~6 years later.

 

[EOL4ME]

I was so worried about the insomnia or fatigue but I've slept perfectly fine since starting. It's really weird, I feel exactly like myself except with a constant stomach ache. I never felt stress/anxiety in my stomach before. I feel like I have food poisoning that comes and goes. It sucks since the physical symptoms of anxiety was one of the reasons I even bothered trying meds.

Did any other SSRIs work better for you?


When it started working, did you notice it? or was it a very subtle change?


Yeah I'm going to stick with it for at least 8 weeks (or if it makes me suicidal). I'm on 25mg rn so maybe that's why I feel nothing except the side effect? I move up to 50mg in a week but I'm so worried the restless legs/nausea will be worse and I'll have no improvement in my anxiety. I also don't want to feel numb or anything

Subtle -

 

[H0110W]

I think I will be put on something soon. I have an appointment with my doctor to discuss the fact I'm depressed. As usual he didn't seem to care much when I first talked to him about this a few days ago, I had to mention that I was having problems at work for him to give me an appointment. It his kinda disheartening to read that they take so long to have any effect, for some reason I thought the effect would be much quicker if not instantaneous.
Anyway, I hope the meds will free me of these feelings of utter desolation that I have, so that I can resume going to the gym or talking to my colleagues at least. Removing the suicidal thoughts would also be very appreciated.

 

[LittleJem]

6 weeks for me, but allow 12 and then raise dose. My suicidal thoughts much reduced if not gone (I currently have PMT which brings them back a little).
Facebook groups on Zoloft, Prozac etc are really useful to hear success stories and also get encouragement for side effects
My third medication is Prozac - best so far for me.

 

[ChobaniFlipSmores]

Wellbutrin made me suuuuuuper hyper & full of energy within a couple of hours of taking the first dose and I couldn't sleep the first night...and pretty much every night after that. I also take Adderall and taking the Wellbutrin felt similar to the rush or "come up" you get when taking a stimulant. As far as improvement of mental health on it...man I don't know. At least for me Wellbutrin started effecting me almost immediately, but that didn't resolve years of trauma, and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Maybe I could have been on a more effective antidepressant, but pretty much after the first day I was physically/mentally unable to sleep in bed all day. As to whether or not that was effective is up for debate.

 

[DthrowawayA]

I have been on antidepressants for a while now. And unfortunately cant tell a difference besides insomnia

 

[Ren Elsie Jewelria]

@everydayiloveyou
I was on Zoloft and dozen other "meds". Messed me up even more.
Good luck.

 

[TotallyIsolated]

The first time I took mirtazapine it almost immediately made me fall asleep.

It took months to start feeling positive effects on my current meds but that's because I needed a higher dose.

 

[PartlyHuman]

On zoloft and felt effects only second-third week. It helped me greatly, I'm way less suicidal, almost not depressed. Apparently, I have high sensitivity so I can't take 100 and only managed to move to 75 after a couple of months of taking it. On 100 I slept poorly and was shaking so badly I could barely sign papers at the clinic. I think it's called serotonin syndrome or sth like this. Be careful and contact your psychiatrist if you feel bad.
Zoloft doesn't really remove anxiety, so first weeks before it kicked in I was additionally taking ararax. Maybe you can contact your doctor and ask to prescribe you sth for anxiety?

 

[everydayiloveyou]

On zoloft and felt effects only second-third week. It helped me greatly, I'm way less suicidal, almost not depressed. Apparently, I have high sensitivity so I can't take 100 and only managed to move to 75 after a couple of months of taking it. On 100 I slept poorly and was shaking so badly I could barely sign papers at the clinic. I think it's called serotonin syndrome or sth like this. Be careful and contact your psychiatrist if you feel bad.
Zoloft doesn't really remove anxiety, so first weeks before it kicked in I was additionally taking ararax. Maybe you can contact your doctor and ask to prescribe you sth for anxiety?

Yeah I've been hearing so often that Zoloft is a complete dud for anxiety, especially social anxiety. The shitty thing is that the most effective meds for severe anxiety -- benzos and MAOIs -- are really unpopular with psychiatrists. i don't want benzos so thats whatever for me, but I'm afraid my psych will only consider MAOIs for me once I've spent too much time on SSRIs. I'm gonna ask about beta blockers but I'm not sure how much good those will do.

It's the end of week 2 for me now, still feel no changes at all. At least the GI problems are gone now. What dose were you on when you started seeing results? I'm gonna take my first 50mg doses today, hopefully I see some improvement but I'm starting to lose hope.

 

[H0110W]

I've gotten my meds. Xanax for sleeping and venlafaxine for everything else. Starting with a small dose and then a bigger dose in a week. Doc claimed I should takethe venlafaxine for at least 6 months.

Anyway I hadn't taken Xanax in nearly a decade, and man this shit actually does something. Could be placebo but I slept like a log tonight, and quickly after taking it (1h or so) I was uber sleepy. I'm usually not sleepy until 2-3am usually. It probably removed whatever made it hard for me to fall asleep and all the sleep deficit I had came back with a vengeance and made me sleep very quickly and deeply.

I'm a bit worried about the venlafaxine, read some contrasting things about it on here and on the internets as well..
.

 

[PartlyHuman]

I think

Yeah I've been hearing so often that Zoloft is a complete dud for anxiety, especially social anxiety. The shitty thing is that the most effective meds for severe anxiety -- benzos and MAOIs -- are really unpopular with psychiatrists. i don't want benzos so thats whatever for me, but I'm afraid my psych will only consider MAOIs for me once I've spent too much time on SSRIs. I'm gonna ask about beta blockers but I'm not sure how much good those will do.

It's the end of week 2 for me now, still feel no changes at all. At least the GI problems are gone now. What dose were you on when you started seeing results? I'm gonna take my first 50mg doses today, hopefully I see some improvement but I'm starting to lose hope.

50 mg, I think. It's really very early to say if they're working. Wait at least a month before deciding anything, okay? Placebo works both ways so like, better believe than not to lol.
Also, it's important to help your body now. I've noticed that when I have stable sleep schedule and eat regularly (especially breakfast) I get depression swings less often. I try to think of it this way: depression is an illness. I'm ill and should be kind to myself now. Give myself rest and food.
Also, antidepressants don't make you magically happy. They give you energy and this energy helps you to severe so called depression cycle. Anxiety can also be very draining, so if you have a severe one, mention it to your psychiatrist and insist getting anything for it (I know, it's difficult to do it now, but I promise, it's worth it! It'll be easier if you write what you want to say before going to the doc). I believe it'll work best together in your case.

 

[mayday]

I was on zoloft back in 2017, 50 mg a day for three years. It took about 6 weeks for it to start working properly and for the first time i was actually okay and had no anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I stopped taking it in 2020 and soon after my mental health became bad once again. Now im on 50 mg of zoloft again, since july this year and it took about 4-5 weeks for it to start working again. I had the bellyache/nausea side effects as well, but they will disappear soon, i dont think that you will have any more issues with them!

 

[everydayiloveyou]

I was on zoloft back in 2017, 50 mg a day for three years. It took about 6 weeks for it to start working properly and for the first time i was actually okay and had no anxiety and suicidal thoughts. I stopped taking it in 2020 and soon after my mental health became bad once again. Now im on 50 mg of zoloft again, since july this year and it took about 4-5 weeks for it to start working again. I had the bellyache/nausea side effects as well, but they will disappear soon, i dont think that you will have any more issues with them!

this is really good to hear!! The GI stuff has gone away completely so that was great.

When you noticed Zoloft was working, what did that feel like? Were you aware of the change?

 

[Flippy]

They have never, literally never worked for me. They turn a bad but retrievable situation into an insurmountable one.

If I'm being really generous, they have probably caused a few manic episodes that grant me the ability to catch up on all that shit I couldn't get done because of the depression and anxiety.

Might be different for you though. I have bipolar and taking SSRIs in the main, is a bad idea. My moods were like a terrifying rollacoster for the year and a half they made me take them, with the constant reassurance they would start working soon.

All I can say is, go back to the doc if you haven't had any sustained improvement within two months. Dealing with restless legs is something I can relate to and it can be the worst thing, particularly if it kicks in at night. Also if the med is stoking up your anxiety, then honestly, really how is it helping you?

I hope that you will find that they start to have a genuine therapeutic effect soon. But if they don't, they really need figure out which anti anxiety med actually helps.

Turning up the volume on anxiety for a sustained period will likely make it worse, at least in my experience. I stopped taking the SSRI and told my care coordinator as soon as possible. But to punish me, my "psychiatrist" added "history of none compliance with medication." To my medical records. Despite the fact that ditching the SSRI very quickly stabilised my mood and decreased the anxiety.

It's been nearly two years and I still don't feel fully recovered.

So don't persevere with meds that don't help. Give them a chance then move on, is my advice.

 

[Feeding Pigeons]

I've been on Zoloft for a week and I feel exactly the same, except now I get bellyaches/nausea which really sucks. Plus my legs are really restless. Besides that though I feel no different at all. I think my anxiety is still really bad too since I still freak out about things as usual.

I'm not that depressed, by default I'm a very calm and optimistic person. So I'm kinda confused as to when I can expect changes on my anxiety. My psychiatrist told me to keep expectations low because I'm not going to go from jittery anxious unsociable --> social butterfly, but she said I could start seeing a reduction in two weeks, sometimes even one week for severe anxiety like I have.

How long did meds take to have an effect on you guys? Did you notice or was it more in the background? I don't see the point in taking these if I'm just gonna be sicker than usual. If the effects take 6+ weeks as advertised then who's to say that it's not just normal changes in weather/circumstance/surroundings? By that time I'll be back home for college break so I'm worried I'll just be extra sick + as anxious as ever until then.

I've been able to notice if a medication has an effect pretty damn fast. Medications, the few that helped me, I've been able to feel their positive effects really damn quick, but thats because I'm very sensitive. Frankly if you're not feeling any better after a week? And I'm not talking major difference, I'm saying if you do not feel even 1% better after a week? I would doubt its going to do anything. You see how your psych said to keep your expectations low? Thats because those fucking things don't work half the time, if that. I'm not a doctor, and everyone is different when it comes to reactions to medications, so don't take my word on it. Good luck, I hope you find something that works. Don't let the psychiatrist run a game on you. They love adjusting dosages by 5-10 mg and then going "ok lol see you in a month" and not even caring about the side effects.

 

[MiseryWithoutCompany]

Zoloft turned me into a paranoid monkey-brained imbicile near overnight. (2 weeks)
Most anti-depressants have a two week wait time here with current doctor... Just have to watch for side effects. And some medication tends to lose its edge the longer you've been on it too...
Can't personally take Zoloft (it is SUPER awful for me...), but hope you see improvements.

 

[callme]

Zoloft turned me into a paranoid monkey-brained imbicile near overnight. (2 weeks)
Most anti-depressants have a two week wait time here with current doctor... Just have to watch for side effects. And some medication tends to lose its edge the longer you've been on it too...
Can't personally take Zoloft (it is SUPER awful for me...), but hope you see improvements.

Trying to compare what my therapist's website says: "Antidepressants, if taken properly, don't lead to an addiction" yeah right.

Sorry you had to take this torture. The side-effects alone migut be unbearable when you've had them for years.

 

[everydayiloveyou]

I've been able to notice if a medication has an effect pretty damn fast. Medications, the few that helped me, I've been able to feel their positive effects really damn quick, but thats because I'm very sensitive. Frankly if you're not feeling any better after a week? And I'm not talking major difference, I'm saying if you do not feel even 1% better after a week? I would doubt its going to do anything. You see how your psych said to keep your expectations low? Thats because those fucking things don't work half the time, if that. I'm not a doctor, and everyone is different when it comes to reactions to medications, so don't take my word on it. Good luck, I hope you find something that works. Don't let the psychiatrist run a game on you. They love adjusting dosages by 5-10 mg and then going "ok lol see you in a month" and not even caring about the side effects.

I see my psychiatrist weekly, plus I don't pay her so I'm not worried about my side effects being ignored or being left on ineffective meds because of the easy money.

I'm not sure how sensitive I am to things but usually I don't feel any effects from drowsy medicines (like Benadryl or Nyquil) or from things like caffeine. However I've never taken any other meds, substances or drugs so who knows. You might be right about the lack of effects

when you had positive effects on meds, was it mostly for the depression? And did you feel it was an obvious, clear difference or more subtle, like you wouldnt notice unless you thought about it?

 

[Feeding Pigeons]

I see my psychiatrist weekly, plus I don't pay her so I'm not worried about my side effects being ignored or being left on ineffective meds because of the easy money.

I'm not sure how sensitive I am to things but usually I don't feel any effects from drowsy medicines (like Benadryl or Nyquil) or from things like caffeine. However I've never taken any other meds, substances or drugs so who knows. You might be right about the lack of effects

when you had positive effects on meds, was it mostly for the depression? And did you feel it was an obvious, clear difference or more subtle, like you wouldnt notice unless you thought about it?

Wow, if you don't feel effects from benadryl, you have a naturally high resistence to things. I have no idea if thats better or worse for things like antidepressants cause I'm on the other side of the spectrum.
The "positive" effects I had from the antidepressants was odd. I would say they did nothing good. When I started taking them I would be very dilligent to make sure I was taking them at the same time each day, I would discuss any sort of feelings I'd have with my therapists/psychiatrist and basically any positive thought I had would end up being attributed to the medication, when my mood has always gone up and down. The discussions and the regiment acted as a distraction. When the antidepressants did "help" with my depression, it was because of two things:
a) The meds would put me in such a funk, it felt different from my natural depression, it wasn't BETTER, but it was slighty different.
b) When the meds would make me sick enough that I'd have to stop taking them, I'd feel a little bit better knowing I wouldn't have to take them anymore and would be relieved that I wouldn't have to deal with nausea and other awful side effects anymore.
The illusion of being cared for and "making progress" gave me a little hope, and that was the antidepressant effect, not the pills.

 

[Flippy]

I've been able to notice if a medication has an effect pretty damn fast. Medications, the few that helped me, I've been able to feel their positive effects really damn quick, but thats because I'm very sensitive. Frankly if you're not feeling any better after a week? And I'm not talking major difference, I'm saying if you do not feel even 1% better after a week? I would doubt its going to do anything. You see how your psych said to keep your expectations low? Thats because those fucking things don't work half the time, if that. I'm not a doctor, and everyone is different when it comes to reactions to medications, so don't take my word on it. Good luck, I hope you find something that works. Don't let the psychiatrist run a game on you. They love adjusting dosages by 5-10 mg and then going "ok lol see you in a month" and not even caring about the side effects.

This is the case for me, so when I say they never work, I should probably qualify that by saying, that probably 50% of the time, I get a rapid improvement in mood within a few days, followed by a rapid drop in mood. From then on it's up and down at a rate of every month or two. So I don't count that as "working". They are just making the bipolar worse.

 

[Remember-Me-Not]

I'm on 300 mg of wellbutrin XL and lexapro 15 mg - Those worked great for me. It took a whole month for me to see actual results.

It lifted some of my lack of motivation, enough for me to actually start taking care of myself.

 

[mayday]

this is really good to hear!! The GI stuff has gone away completely so that was great.

When you noticed Zoloft was working, what did that feel like? Were you aware of the change?

At first i wasn't aware of the change, but as the time passes im feeling better every day, the biggest change so far is the lack of suicidal thoughts and constant anxiety! I got pretty lucky as Zoloft was the first antidepressant i've ever been on and it worked great for me. I'm not sad and anxious every day anymore, i'm pretty emotionless most of the time but that's better than the anxiety i guess! My social anxiety isn't that bad anymore and in general i feel like im more at peace with myself and my emotions.