Posted by Ritch on August 22, 2002, at 23:27:51
In reply to Re: dosage » Anyuser, posted by pharmrep on August 22, 2002, at 17:26:50
> > What do you understand to be the typical dose of Celexa? How often is 20mg prescribed? Do you know if pdocs typically prescribe a lower dose for maintenance, less than the therapeutic dose?
> >
> > Does Forest have any expectation that some pdocs, presumably those that prescribe lower doses of Celexa, will prescribe 5mgs of Lexapro?
> >
> > Thanks for your help. I am interested in your view of what practitioners do with your product. If you don't know the answers, that's fine.
>
> ** Celexa rx's are as follows; 10mg-20mg=63% 30mg-40mg=32% 40mg+=5%. In my experience..General practitioners and Internists will use 20-40mg but refer out to psychs if not helping. My psychs are not afraid to go higher at all...20-40 is routine..i have many who write 60-80 (there are a few studies that show 80mg without probs) I even have a few that have gone to 100+.
> As for Lexapro..the indications are pretty clear, and dosing is easy...10mg for everybody as the starting and maintenace dose...they are scored if you want to go to 15 or a 20 mg tab is available. As for 5mg...no studies yet, probably wont be since 10mg appears to be close to 40mg of Celexa. Since so many other AD's have a "titration" regimen...10 and 20 might seem too easy.(and only 1 wk needed before titrating if needed). Remember, the studies showed 1-2 wks for most patients and efficacy will be seen. Some Dr's might try 5mg to start, but the efficacy probably wont be the same since all the studies were done at 10 and 20mgPharmRep,
Why can't most SSRI manufacturer's go for the very low-dose maintenace dosages with scored tablets instead of liquids? I realize that it probably is far cheaper to "tool" for a liquid version, than to create dies and whatnot for low-dose tablets (and add scoring to the costs). However, given that you mention that about 2/3 of the prescribers are on the low-dose end, why not market very low-dose tablet alternatives? With Celexa, the max. I can tolerate every day is nowhere near 10mg. A 5mg tablet of Lexapro that is scored FOUR-WAYS to enable one to take a quarter-tablet would be a fine marketing idea, HINT-HINT
Mitch
poster:Ritch
thread:109458
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020821/msgs/117458.html