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Indications & Dosage
DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION
Effexor XR should be administered in a single dose with food either in the morning or in the evening at approximately the same time each day. Each capsule should be swallowed whole with fluid and not divided, crushed, chewed, or placed in water, or it may be administered by carefully opening the capsule and sprinkling the entire contents on a spoonful of applesauce. This drug/ food mixture should be swallowed immediately without chewing and followed with a glass of water to ensure complete swallowing of the pellets. Initial Treatment Major Depressive Disorder Text Continues Below
For most patients, the recommended starting dose for Effexor XR is 75 mg/ day, administered in a single dose. In the clinical trials establishing the efficacy of Effexor XR in moderately depressed outpatients, the initial dose of venlafaxine was 75 mg/ day. For some patients, it may be desirable to start at 37. 5 mg/ day for 4 to 7 days, to allow new patients to adjust to the medication before increasing to 75 mg/ day. While the relationship between dose and antidepressant response for Effexor XR has not been adequately explored, patients not responding to the initial 75 mg/ day dose may benefit from dose increases to a maximum of approximately 225 mg/ day. Dose increases should be in increments of up to 75 mg/ day, as needed, and should be made at intervals of not less than 4 days, since steady state plasma levels of venlafaxine and its major metabolites are achieved in most patients by day 4. In the clinical trials establishing efficacy, upward titration was permitted at intervals of 2 weeks or more; the average doses were about 140 to 180 mg/ day (see Clinical Trials under CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY). It should be noted that, while the maximum recommended dose for moderately depressed outpatients is also 225 mg/ day for Effexor (the immediate release form of venlafaxine), more severely depressed inpatients in one study of the development program for that product responded to a mean dose of 350 mg/ day (range of 150 to 375 mg/ day). Whether or not higher doses of Effexor XR are needed for more severely depressed patients is unknown; however, the experience with Effexor XR doses higher than 225 mg/ day is very limited. (See PRECAUTIONS-General-Use in Patients with Concomitant Illness.) Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Next >>
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