Does escitalopram work faster than citalopram?

Yes, based on clinical results, escitalopram appears to offer earlier symptom relief than citalopram. In the overall analysis of the clinical studies (including those for escitalopram, citalopram and placebo), statistical separation from placebo has been demonstrated on several key efficacy parameters at week 1, which is at least three weeks earlier than for citalopram (ref.1).

By week 1, escitalopram was statistically superior to citalopram on mean change in MADRS total score, on the MADRS inner tension item, and on the overall Clinical Global Improvement score (CGI-I).

In a study by (ref.2), the analysis of time-to-response revealed that escitalopram patients were responding some 8.1 days earlier than citalopram treated patients.

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References:

1. Gorman et al, (2002)

2. Lepola et al (2003)