Posted by Larry Hoover on May 14, 2006, at 11:10:26
In reply to Re: What does half-life really mean? » Larry Hoover, posted by flip_flop on May 14, 2006, at 2:17:21
> OK, but is it always necessary to maintain stable blood concentrations of a drug? Seroquel, for example, is often taken in low doses for other disorders than schizophrenia. It has a short half-life and has to be taken several times/day. Unfortunately it's very sedating, which prevents some people from taking it in the daytime. But what if someone took a large enough dosage only at bedtime? This way the sedation might wear off, and the drug would be effective throughout the next day. Maybe it's not necessary to maintain stable concentrations of Seroquel when taken for other disorders than schizophrenia?
Under the circumstances you describe, e.g. employing Seroquel only for insomnia, then you are right on the money with your understanding. You have to understand the pharmacology of the drug, and then apply it to a specific situation.
The only unknown in your speculation is explicit knowledge of the drug's half-life in your unique body. You can't assume that the drug will have the same half-life as that found by experimentation during the drug development period. The published half-life is a statistical average. What is often missing from the published literature is the standard deviation for the mean half-life of the drug, or evidence for skewness.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:643354
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060510/msgs/643853.html