Posted by donnam125 on December 25, 2009, at 11:34:36
In reply to Re: SSRIs in Elderly, posted by mtdewcmu on December 24, 2009, at 18:00:34
49er, first of all, Merry Christmas, and to all as well.
I'm a bit confused here, you say not to do the every other day routines, but then later you say " I would rather you not taper your mom from the meds vs. going the every other day route." Also, where is this Paxil progress board you speak of?
Is there an easier way to cut these pills daily rather than halfing or every other daying as it already sounds you don't advise either of these? How about cutting a quarter off each day, or a third, or something like that, and for what duration? A week, two?
You also mention something about medical reasons for not giving PS . . . what does that stand for? Sorry, but I'm not too up on some of these abbreviations.
Last night we had a family dinner with some relatives. My mother was not as interactive as usual, but didn't seem to be in any distress. Her sister, now 94, seemed to be more interactive, but also much more argumentative, loud, and annoying, but she's not on any type of med for it.
> > Donna,
> >
> > Do not do the every other day routine with your mom. That will put her in withdrawal. Please do not listen to the doctor.
> >
> > She needs a consistent dosing.
> >
> > Please go to the paxil progress boards. Laurie Yorke, is an RN who runs it. She will tell you exactly what I am telling you
> >
> > I would rather you not taper your mom from the meds vs. going the every other day route.
> >
> > You don't need to take her to a doctor. Of course, make sure there aren't any medical reasons to not give the PS but if there aren't, why not give it a shot? If it doesn't work, you can discontinue it.
> >
> > Anyway, if you give your mom the zoloft every other day, that will be a huge mistake.
> >
> > 49er
>
> Unless the doctor knows something we don't, I concur. My drug book lists the half life of zoloft at 24 hours. It may be longer in the elderly, but still, that does not seem like enough to hold somebody for two days. Paxil has a half life of 21 hours, and the manufacturer considered that short enough to justify a time-release form. So donnam's mother will be seriously bottoming out by the time she takes her next dose.
>
> If it was Prozac, I would say that every-other-day dosing was perfectly natural. But with Zoloft, I'd cut it in half.
poster:donnam125
thread:929718
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20091217/msgs/930831.html