How fast do antidepressants work?

It usually takes anywhere from four weeks to six weeks..

I have been on a variety of antidepressants over the years. You can start feeling better within one week but it can take up to 2 months to feel the full effects of the medication. Don't let that get you down though, because just the act of going to a therapist for help will make you feel better right away. I take effexor, which is one of the best I think - so few side effects, no weight gain, nothing like that. I started feeling more like myself in the first week, but after a month or so I felt fantastic. Good luck! And good for you for getting help!

I actually takes 3-6 weeks for any real changes to take place. At the age of 16 the antidepressants could also make your depression and anxiety worse than it is now.

It takes between 2 and 8 weeks for antidepressants to kick in. The "fastest" one I've read is Lexapro which can work in as little as 1 to 2 weeks. Best of luck...

It depends on the drug in question and your body's reaction to it. For example, most SSRIs (the more common form of antidepressant) take a good 30 days before there is a basal level of drug to even out the ups and downs that are experienced with disorders (and then it will take another 30 days after that for that level to become consistent). Remember, the drugs are not going to make you "happy", they will take the edges of the spikes into extreme happy and extreme sad (this is one of the reasons why some folks report that their sexual drive decreases -- because they don't get the same "high" from it as they once did)

my advise..DO NOT START ANTIDEPRESSANTS.

i am studying child and adolescant psychiatry and when someone starts taking antis at a young age, its like starting smoking. it would be hard to quit taking the pills because you get addicted to the fact that the pills will make you feel like your on drugs-you'll be feeling all laid down and happy.

so, dont take them. instead try getting talk therapy and any other kind of psychiatric therapy that does not involve pills.

if you do take pills, take them atleast once a week..if you do every single day..then you'll be like my mothers friend who started taking the pills at 18 and now is 46 and still on pills and is going crazy because she thinks shes 'depressed'.

pills start working from a few weeks.

depends on how the organism reacts to them.

good luck.

aww im sorry to here that, me grand mum takes anti depressants all the time though legaly or not im not to sure..

Apparantly antidepressant medicines need to reach a certain level in your body before they begin to work. This level varies for different antidepressants. They might not work to fast. ask ure phycolagist.

It probably depends on the individual - everyone is different. My experiences have been with Prozac and Effexor - both took about 2 weeks to get over the initial jittery feeling and "even out." I've also noticed the same kind of thing with Wellbutrin and others taken for bipolar disorder.

How Fast Do Antidepressants Work

It can take up to a month to see it work. A lot of it depends on your body and if it likes that particular drug or not.

What makes you think you have "social anxiety disorder/ paranoia"? How long have you felt this way? Can you link it to any event in your life?

Antidepressants differ in how long they take to build a theraputic level in your system.