Posted by Amanda McCaffery on June 16, 1998, at 11:30:12
In reply to prozac...how long does it take to work?, posted by jeffrey kramer on June 12, 1998, at 13:50:46
I am a hospital pharmacist working on a psychiatric unit. It is my understanding that there is currently no convincing evidence to show that any antidepressants work 'more quickly' that others. Prozac takes about4 weeks to reach steady state in the body after beginning administration and antidepressant effects can be expected from 2-4 weeks onwards. There have been suggestions that some of the newer antidepressants, e.g. venlafaxine appear to have a quicker onset in action, however to date no proven data/ controlled studies have backed up this information. Any improvement usually seen in the first few days- week of treatment with an antidepressant is probably secondary to e.g. a sedative/ anxiolytic effect.... but as always I suppose you have to keep an open mind!! Generally patients I see who respond well to Prozac show signs of improvement after 10-14 days, however it can take longer, especially when prescribed for elderly patients.
poster:Amanda McCaffery
thread:10
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19980601/msgs/23.html