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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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No Results Of Medication Seen. On Clozapine, Changed Dosage. Advise?

I have been using colozapine for 6 weeks and have gone from using 12 and half mg now up to 75mg and have gone back to 50mg the last couple of nights as I find Im feeling shit and find Im feeling the opposite to what I want to feel have been told this medication is the top of the range and am not seeing any results at all as yet is this normal or where do I go from here?
Thu, 9 May 2013
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Psychiatrist 's  Response
Hi
Welcome to health care magic
Clozapine is the drug of choice for treatment resistant schizophrenia. When other antipsychotics fail we try clozapine. Clozapine has several side effects and some of them are dose dependant. So usually clozapine is started in a very low dose and increaments in the dose are made in small amounts till the effective dose is reached.(over a period of 2 to 4 weeks) Especially in older patients the dosage should be increased very slowly. The usual effective dose of clozapine is 300 to 450mgs. For some patients this is upto 600mgs. The maximum dosage recommended is 900mg. As you are still on only 50 to 75mg of clozapine please wait till the dosage is adjusted before drawing any conclusions regarding the effectiveness or response of the drug. Also it takes 6 to 9 weeks time and sometimes upto even 6 months time to see a response with clozapine. Your doctor will be the best judge to know when to change the medication or adjust the dosage.
Hope this helps you
Thanks and regards
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No Results Of Medication Seen. On Clozapine, Changed Dosage. Advise?

Hi Welcome to health care magic Clozapine is the drug of choice for treatment resistant schizophrenia. When other antipsychotics fail we try clozapine. Clozapine has several side effects and some of them are dose dependant. So usually clozapine is started in a very low dose and increaments in the dose are made in small amounts till the effective dose is reached.(over a period of 2 to 4 weeks) Especially in older patients the dosage should be increased very slowly. The usual effective dose of clozapine is 300 to 450mgs. For some patients this is upto 600mgs. The maximum dosage recommended is 900mg. As you are still on only 50 to 75mg of clozapine please wait till the dosage is adjusted before drawing any conclusions regarding the effectiveness or response of the drug. Also it takes 6 to 9 weeks time and sometimes upto even 6 months time to see a response with clozapine. Your doctor will be the best judge to know when to change the medication or adjust the dosage. Hope this helps you Thanks and regards