Premenstrual Disorders

Dosages Prozac can be started with a 20-milligram dose but should not ex- ceed 80 milligrams per day. Those eighteen and younger are often prescribed a dose between 5 milligrams and 40 milligrams. For those who have mild feelings of anxiety, one pill can be taken every other day. This causes no problem because the medication remains in the body for several days. When treating depression, some patients may notice an im- provement of symptoms within two weeks, but most will need as much as four weeks. When treating PMDD or PMS, however, the results of treatment are in many cases immediate. Emily may begin to feel a difference the first month that she takes the medication. Those who have trouble sleeping while taking Prozac should take their dose in the morning. This is sometimes the only adjustment needed to alleviate this problem. Zoloft is another of the SSRIs approved for treating PMDD. It can be taken either every day of the month or for the two weeks prior to the onset of menstruation. The usual starting dosage for adults taking Zoloft is 50 milligrams once a day, either in the morning or the evening. For those having a problem with insomnia, Zoloft should be taken in the morning. It is available in 25-milligram, 50-milligram, and 100-milligram scored tablets that can be divided to allow ad- justment of dosages. Those who are sensitive to medications should start out at 25 milligrams, which can then be raised after a week or The FDA bases its approval on specific research results. Some- times, a particular use for a drug may have been thoroughly re- searched by many studies, while other uses lack the same amount of research. In that case, the drug label will only include the uses that have met the FDA’s stringent research requirements. Physi- cians, however, may continue to prescribe that drug for other “off-label” uses.

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Premenstrual Disorders •