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Suggest Dosage For Prozac And Ativan
Question: If Dr Sheppe is still available or open to talking to other psychiatrist . Hello again. Learned that over the course of 6 months I inadverdantly missed enough prozac that it dropped my dosage from 50 mgs to about 25 on average. Missing a few more doses caused me to relapse. No one to blame but myself. Went back to doctor quiteick and she pllace me on 60 mgs of Prozac and Ativan each day to help with the anxiety I have Comorbidly. The questions I have are as follows: I do not feel comfortable taking 60 mgs of Prozac. I felt more comfortable taking 50, after being on 60 mgs for a month and into my 5th week of treatment would 50 provide the same outcome as 60mgs. Although I beginning to notice some improvement, My 2nd question is when do you notice change I've been reading about 6 to 8 weeks. My Third question is this is my third time around on Prozac, if I stay the course will this great healing drug work as well. What is the time line seeing improvement? Thanks much XXXXXXX
Brief Answer:
It takes 4-6 weeks to start showing positive effects
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX
Thanks for using Healthcaremagic.
I Dr Ashok Kumar, consultant psychiatrist read your query with keen interest and understand your concerns.
Regarding your questions although 50 mg maintenance dose of prozac could be equally effective as 60 mg of prozac during acute phase. (The acute phase is defined by 6 months of initial treatment or more). I mean to say that yes we can expect similar results from 50 mg of prozac but it is too early to take such decision at this stage when there is little improvement or just initial phase of treatment for current relapse.
We often see some improvement in anxiety by end of two weeks. Practically speaking patients report around 15-20% improvement at the end of 2-3 weeks which goes to around 50% within 4-6 weeks. The complete response may take almost two to three months.
You are right to say that some text mention 6-8 weeks but this fact has been demolished in last three decades when we have better antidepressants and anti anxiety medications which act much sooner than older medications.
When a person presents with anxiety on second and third time, the first prescription is made of the same medicine which acted during first time. I mean to say that people tend to respond to same medicine again and again possibly because their genetic profile matches with individual drug. In your case I think prozac is the first choice since it helped in the past and have better chances of response.
I hope this helps you.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for my future patients.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-ashok-kumar/67386
Thanks and regards.
It takes 4-6 weeks to start showing positive effects
Detailed Answer:
Dear XXXXXXX
Thanks for using Healthcaremagic.
I Dr Ashok Kumar, consultant psychiatrist read your query with keen interest and understand your concerns.
Regarding your questions although 50 mg maintenance dose of prozac could be equally effective as 60 mg of prozac during acute phase. (The acute phase is defined by 6 months of initial treatment or more). I mean to say that yes we can expect similar results from 50 mg of prozac but it is too early to take such decision at this stage when there is little improvement or just initial phase of treatment for current relapse.
We often see some improvement in anxiety by end of two weeks. Practically speaking patients report around 15-20% improvement at the end of 2-3 weeks which goes to around 50% within 4-6 weeks. The complete response may take almost two to three months.
You are right to say that some text mention 6-8 weeks but this fact has been demolished in last three decades when we have better antidepressants and anti anxiety medications which act much sooner than older medications.
When a person presents with anxiety on second and third time, the first prescription is made of the same medicine which acted during first time. I mean to say that people tend to respond to same medicine again and again possibly because their genetic profile matches with individual drug. In your case I think prozac is the first choice since it helped in the past and have better chances of response.
I hope this helps you.
If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you.
If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for my future patients.
In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link:
http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/doctors/dr-ashok-kumar/67386
Thanks and regards.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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