Escitalopram and Citalopram too similar if one quits working??

Treatment and medication
1

Hi guys!

​So, after being on 40 mg of Citalopram for 5 years and doing great, it quit working for me. This happened at the beginning of April. I gave a month and half in case it was a blip, didn't improve, and went to see my doctor.

​She prescribed me Escitalopram. I started low on 5 mg, and have slowly made my way to 10 mg. I've been on 10 mg for exactly 4 weeks now.

​I thought maybe I was doing a bit better, but the last few days have been really rough again. I feel like I'm regressing. I've been reading online, and, some people say that if Citalopram is no longer working for you, then Escitalopram won't work either, because they are so similar in chemical make up. It sounds like the only thing different from the two is the severity of side effects (escitalopram supposedly has less).

​Well, now I'm not sure what to do. I had originally planned to be on this dose for a good 8-12 weeks, before possibly increasing. But, it seems foolish to stay on the escitalopram at all, if it isn't going to work for me. I'm considering going back to the doctor, and asking to switch to a different SSRI (ugh!). I'm now annoyed that my doctor switched me to the escit since they are so similar, and wish I had done my homework a bit more before switching, so I could have requested something else.

​Does anyone here have experience switching from one to the other, if the one quit working for you, or never worked to begin with??

2

like citrolopram you have too give it 8/10 weeks so that the ssri will show in your body,4 weeks is not enough time too give it

3

the 2 types of anti depressant might work the same way,however escitalopram is stronger than citrolopram .10mgs of escitalopram is the equivalent of 20 mgs citrolopram 

4

Thanks for your replies, Marsh :-)!

​I figured it would be too early to feel any positive effects, but I'm afraid I won't ever feel any positive effects, since the Cit was no longer working for me.

I was on the highest dose of Citalopram at 40 mg, which is equivalent to 20 mg. escitalopram. My doctor said I could eventually go up to 30 mg or even 40 on the escitalopram if needed.....but, I hate to "waste" any more time (months!!) on a medication that probably won't work for me anyway.