Pharmacist says yes, but should I ask the doctor?!
Question: I am presently taking 40 mg. of fluorextine (prozac) a day. I feel the need to increase because it seems its not working like it used to. I asked the pharmacist today what the highest dosage is. She said 80 mg. a day. Said I could take 2 - 40 mg
a day. She also said I should talk to my doctor. I don't want to pay a co-pay if the doctor is just going to say the same thing as the pharmacist. Should I trust the pharmacist and try it or should I go to the doctor?
Answers: I am presently taking 40 mg. of fluorextine (prozac) a day. I feel the need to increase because it seems its not working like it used to. I asked the pharmacist today what the highest dosage is. She said 80 mg. a day. Said I could take 2 - 40 mg
a day. She also said I should talk to my doctor. I don't want to pay a co-pay if the doctor is just going to say the same thing as the pharmacist. Should I trust the pharmacist and try it or should I go to the doctor?
Not a good idea.
Your pharmacist has given you the dosage that is AVAILABLE for prozac (fluoxetine). She is not telling YOU what dose to take.
You need to talk to your doctor about it. You also don't want to jump from 40 to 80 right away without going halfway up first. There are side effects to watch for as well as you raise the dose.
Lastly, the doctor, who knows you best may just have a different drug in mind for you. There are MANY other choices of SSRI's out there these days. There are those that are more and less stimulating than fluoxetine.
Depending on just what your issue with the current dose is, your doctor may opt for a different drug. In fact he/she probably will before upping your dose all the way to 80mg. That is not a common dose.
The pharmacists can give you general information, but they are NOT doctors.
Why not just put a call in to your doctor to ask. He may ask you to come in for a visit, or he may feel comfortable just answering your question without it. You won't know if you don't try.
You should ask your doctor first.
Weeeelll.... how much is the copay?
Strictly speaking, you really should talk to your doctor. But I think you're right, your doc would probably just up the dosage. All the same, I'd suggest taking a pill and a half, and work up to two. It's not a great idea to experiment like this, but as long as you can stop yourself if things go bad, you should be okay.
If you start to have rage, stop immediately. Happened to me on Prozac, I bruised my knuckles more than once that way.
No no no no no....don't change your dosage without asking your doctor first. The Pharmacist is not a medical doctor. She shouldn't have suggested that you double your dose. She could probably be fired for doing so.
You gotta get the prescription changed anyway, so call the doctor and ask them.
You really ought to go to your doctor first. They'll probably bump you up to 60mgs or they may want to switch you to another medication in the same family that will be more effective for you.
Doubling your doseage on your own would probably be a bad idea.
If you double your dose, you'll go through your prescription two times as fast. You'll run out of refills twice as fast and then have to go back to the doctor early and explain yourself. Also, your prescription says "40mgs a day". One month's supply is handed out once a month. It may be difficult for you to have it refilled every 15 days instead. Both doctors and pharmacies have issues with people self medicating.
I would talk to your doctor first She may only want to up your medication alittle at a time instead of such a large jump.
Pharmacists recommend doses all the time to MDs. Most of them will accept a pharmacist recommended dose without question.
You need to talk with your doctor before changing your prozac dose. You have a monthly prescription for Prozac 40mg. Your prescription company isn't going to allow you to refill early.