What Is The Point Of Being On Such A Low Dose????

I am on Effexor at a dose of 37.5 mg. But I've been told that it actually too low to have an effect. What is the point of being on such a low dose.....my doctor wanted me on it for 10 days and then I go back and up the dose. Why the low dose initially?

Not sure why. But Ive know people who have gone though the same adjustment . The right person to ask would be your doctor call him up or go see him its your right to know why.

Doctors start with low doses on many medications and slowly increase (titrate) the dosage. This is done so the doctor can monitor the patient for side-effects, adverse reactions, and efficacy. A dose that is extremely low could possibly be effective for one person and have no effect at all in another. Let's say 50 mgs of something is an effective dose for one person...if the doctor automatically started that person on 100 mgs because that is the average effective dose, then they would never know that person could have efficacy with a lower dose. It's also important to allow the body time to adjust. Exercise is a good analogy here. If a person has not been exercising and suddenly goes out an tries to run a marathon, there are going to be problems. It is much better to start exercising slowly...be able to walk a mile before trying to run one. It is the same idea with medication.

because if you were to take a high dose of effexor rather than tapering it up slowly you would experience severe anxiety and heart palpitations and the shakes and difficulty sleeping etc etc etc. basically... a worsening of your symptoms.

effexor is always started and stopped very gradually indeed.

also: a 'theraputic' dose for one might be sub-theraputic for another and a theraputic dose for another might be an overdose for someone else. everyone is different and wherever possible less is more.

They often do this with me and meds, because I react a lot to most things as soon as i'm on them, and so a lower dose to start with is safer. This could be a reason why along with the other ones people have mentioned.

Not only will you begin with a low dose, but you quit the medication you'll be weened off of it as well. My last Dr. did not realize that I was on Effexor when she changed my meds. I quit cold turkey and what a horrible couple of months that was. I thought that it was side effects of the new meds and was going to refuse to take it.

It's like an exercise program, you're not going to run the Boston marathon after a week of training.

a little dose can go a long way.