# On average, how long until meds kick in?



## mcsiegs (Apr 27, 2005)

I started Anafranil a week and a half ago (25 mg the first week, now up to 50mg). The doc has me up to 125mg total at week 6. I am also tapering off Lexapro while doing this.

My question is - is it normal for symptoms to get worse for a while when switching meds like this? How long does it take a new med to "kick in" on average?

So far, not much change on the Anafranil, but I do get dry mouth and last night I couldn't ejaculate when having sex with my wife (if that's too personal, I apologize)

Mike


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## Matt210 (Aug 15, 2004)

Can't tell you about Anafranil but usually with meds it takes while. You could also be experiencing side effects from Lexapro withdrawal. Both those symptoms sound common with withdrawal.


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## Ty010 (Feb 10, 2009)

I started taking prozac about a month ago and it hasn't kicked in until about a week ago, so it can take anywhere from 1-5 weeks usually.


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

With tricyclic anti-depressants like anafranil (clomipramine) it can take atleast 2 weeks to kick in so it's about the same as most ssri's. Prozac for some reason takes longer to kick in then just about any other med i know and can take a month to kick in.

Also with anafranil it has a higher rate of sexual side effects then most tricyclics so it's almost as bad or as bad as ssri's in that regard. Also if you are tapering off lexapro but still on any dose of it your going to be getting a double whammy of delayed ejaculation. Atleast the women won't be complaining  . Yes it is normal for symptoms to get worse while tapering off a med and onto another. Atleast you won't get hit with lexapro withdrawal too bad since clomipramine is a pretty strong sri.

I assume your taking clomipramine for depersonalization or OCD. If your taking it for depression i would suggest amitriptyline or noritriptyline first.


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