If someone quits an SSRI after only being on it for 1 week...?

Question

Is there A chance that the SSRI out of no where could start to work days later even after quiting? Or will it just get out of the persons bloodstream and have no effect at all?. Im just wondering because A friend of mine said she quit because the side effects where bad AFTER ONLY 1 WEEK, and she thinks 3 days after not taking it she feels better. I think its all placebo, right?

Answer 1

Well, if she was experiencing bad side effects, she probably DOES feel better after discontinuing the medication...but that has nothing to do with the medication actually working as it's supposed to. It is possible that your friend was starting to recover from depression anyway, and the timing is coincidental. Or, as you say, it could be just a placebo effect.

During the first week or two, it is also common for people starting SSRIs to experience a very energized feeling. Some people have compared it to an amphetamine-like rush. This can make you feel temporarily uplifted, but it does go away pretty quickly. It does NOT indicate that the medication has already started curing the underlying depression -- that takes several weeks to really start working.

Answer 2

A selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor takes a long time to build up in the body before becoming effective. It actually takes up to a month for a drug like that to have an impact. If she took it for only a week before quitting, any benefit she is getting from the SSRI will be gone very quickly. It's not impossible that she'd have some minor improvement, but it won't work as intended unless she resumes her treatment.

Answer 3

One week is not enough time for the medication to have it's therapeutic effect but side effects can exist. That not means they will happen to you. Anyway you have to give the medication a couple of weeks before having it's good effect. Be tough.