Posted by Larry Hoover on June 2, 2005, at 21:40:34
In reply to When Did People Discover Low Doses of AD's Work?, posted by Phillipa on May 31, 2005, at 22:06:52
> It seems that a lot of posters are taking very low doses of AD's like prozac for depression. I've noticed it with cymbalta too. How did you discover that they worked better than the recommended doses of the drugs? I always thought you needed the recommended dose for them to work. And then sometimes higher. Thanks, Phillipa
The recommended dose is an average dose. There are always people who don't fit into the concept of average.
Another thing is that both drugs you mention depend, at least in part, on a liver enzyme (2D6) for metabolizing the drug....a liver enzyme that some people do not have a functional copy of. Those "poor metabolizers" have a harder time getting the drug out of their system. And, they have different metabolite ratios. The ratio of parent drug to metabolite(s) has a strong bearing on side effects.
Combine that with natural differences in pharmacokinetics....the peak blood concentration from a 20 mg dose of Prozac varies by a factor of four! It's like one person took four times as much as the other already. The half-life varies by a factor of three. That suggests that people can vary by a factor of twelve (4 X 3) on their pharmocokinetics alone.
I couldn't tolerate 20 mg of Prozac. I felt over-dosed, and I truly believe I was. And I met a woman who was half my weight who was complaining that 100 mg Prozac did nothing. No side-effects. No main effects. Nothing.
You can get liquid Prozac (and generic versions). That way, if you want, you can titrate the dose right down to the miligram, with excellent precision.
If I ever think I might need an SSRI again, that's what I'm going to ask for. A bottle of liquid Prozac, and I'll titrate it myself.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:506072
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050601/msgs/507136.html