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Therapeutic indications
Adults:
• Major depressive episodes.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder.
• Bulimia nervosa: Fluoxetine is indicated as a complement of psychotherapy for the reduction of binge-eating and purging activity.
Children and Adolescents Aged 8 Years and Above:
Moderate to severe major depressive episode, if depression is unresponsive to psychological therapy after 4-6 sessions. Antidepressant medication should be offered to a child or young person with moderate to severe depression only in combination with a concurrent psychological therapy.
4.2 Posology and method of administration
Posology
• Major depressive episodes
Adults and the elderly: The recommended dose is 20mgdaily. Dosage should be reviewed and adjusted if necessary within 3 to 4 weeks of initiation of therapy and thereafter as judged clinically appropriate. Although there may be an increased potential for undesirable effects at higher doses, in some patients, with insufficient response to 20 mg, the dose may be increased gradually up to a maximum of 60 mg (see section 5.1). Dosage adjustments should be made carefully on an individual patient basis, to maintain the patients at the lowest effective dose. Patients with depression should be treated for a sufficient period of at least 6 months to ensure that they are free from symptoms.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Adults and the elderly: The recommended dose is 20mg daily. Although there may be an increased potential for undesirable effects at higher doses, in some patients, if after two weeks there is insufficient response to 20mg, the dose may be increased gradually up to a maximum of 60mg.
If no improvement is observed within 10 weeks, treatment with fluoxetine should be reconsidered. If a good therapeutic response has been obtained, treatment can be continued at a dosage adjusted on an individual basis. Whilst there are no systematic studies to answer the question of how long to continue fluoxetine treatment, OCD is a chronic condition and it is reasonable to consider continuation beyond 10 weeks in responding patients. Dosage adjustments should be made carefully on an individual patient basis, to maintain the patient at the lowest effective dose. The need for treatment should be reassessed periodically. Some clinicians advocate concomitant behavioural psychotherapy for patients who have done well on pharmacotherapy.
Long-term efficacy (more than 24 weeks) has not been demonstrated in OCD.
For full data sheet go to: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/5787/smpc