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Re: Serzone

Posted by Iden on July 18, 2000, at 14:50:34

In reply to Re: Serzone, posted by yona on July 17, 2000, at 16:35:03

> hi there. i am a new serzone recruit.. from paxil. i too need a little support on the side effects. day three here and i feel very dizzy and like i have to throw up all the time. this is especially difficult with my highly physical and fast moving job... ....... for dealing with the nausea.. ....... does anyone know?? also any suggestions on just how long i should put up with this before i try something else. i didn't have side effects on paxil, except that my sex drive dropped to absolute nil. advise from you experienced ones out there would be most helpful.
> yona

Yona,

I was on Prozac for years and switched to Serzone. On May 17, I started to taper off the Prozac and taper on the Serzone. I (60 year old, 190 pound male) have been very sensitive to every antidepressant I have tried. The max Prozac I could tolerate was about 13.3 mg / day but it did help. It kept me from deeper depression in the decades-long course of dysthymia. I mention this to point out my sensitivity.

So, I started Serzone at 25 mg once a day and experienced obvious, unpleasant side effects. After 5 days I went to 37.5 mg once a day for 6 more days. Then to 25 mg in the morning and 37.5 at night. I have been working up slowly like this and, for me, feel it is about as fast as I would want to go. I am now at 75 mg in the morning and 100 mg at night. I started 63 days ago on Serzone. When I went from 75 mg in the morning and 75 mg at night to 75 in the morning and 100 mg at night, I felt the return of side effects (irritability, reduced optimism, reduced productivity, grogginess, etc.) as amazing as this may seem to some. I feel that many patients and doctors conclude that a particular antidepressant is not suitable for a particular patient when, in fact, the initial dose may be too high and the dose increase too fast for that aptient.

How does this relate to you? My feeling is that some people are just far more sensitive than others to a particular antidepressant. Maybe your starting dose was just too high for you and you will have to work up like I am doing. It is possible that Serzone is right for you, but starting at a lower dose and working up slowly.

Small doses do take some effort to make. You can buy pill cutters in drug stores which helps in making 25 mg pieces from half of a 100 mg tablet after it is broken in two. You can also powder a tablet and visually divide it up.

My doctor responded to my request to change from Prozac. He is aware on my sensivity to antidepressants so simply told me what the average and maximum Serzone doses are and said to work it up in dose at my own rate. I am pleased to have his understanding and blessing but I would have done it my way anyway.

Iden (first post here)



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