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Posology: MAJOR DEPRESSIVE EPISODES: Adults: Selon should be administered as a single oral dose of 20 mg daily. Dependent on individual patient response, the dose may be increased to a maximum of 40 mg daily. In general, improvement in patients starts after one week, but may only become evident from the second week of therapy.
As with all antidepressant medicinal products, 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, if after some weeks on the recommended dose insufficient response is seen, some patients may benefit from having their dose increased up to a maximum of 40 mg a day. Dosage adjustments should be made carefully on an individual patient basis, to maintain the patient 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.
PANIC DISORDER: Adults: A single oral dose of 10 mg is recommended for the first week before increasing the dose to 20 mg daily. Dependent on individual patient response, the dose may be increased to a maximum of 40 mg daily.
Patients should be started on 10 mg/day and the dose gradually increased in 10 mg steps according to the patient's response up to the recommended dose. A low initial starting dose is recommended to minimise the potential worsening of panic symptoms, which is generally recognised to occur early in the treatment of this disorder. Although there may be an increased potential for undesirable effects at higher doses, if after some weeks on the recommended dose insufficient response is seen some patients may benefit from having their dose increased gradually up to a maximum of 40 mg/day. Dosage adjustments should be made carefully on an individual patient basis, to maintain the patients at the lowest effective dose.
Patients with panic disorder should be treated for a sufficient period to ensure that they are free from symptoms. This period may be several months or even longer.
Elderly patients (> 65 years of age): For elderly patients the dose should be decreased to half of the recommended dose, e,g, 10-20 mg daily. The recommended maximum dose for the elderly is 20 mg daily.
Children and adolescents (< 18 years of age): Citalopram should not be used in the treatment of children and adolescents under the age of 18 years.
Reduced hepatic function: An initial dose of 10 mg daily for the first two weeks of treatment is recommended in patients with mild or moderate hepatic impairment. Depending on individual patient response, the dose may be increased to a maximum of 20 mg daily. Caution and extra careful dose titration is advised in patients with severely reduced hepatic function.
Reduced renal function: Dosage adjustment is not necessary in cases of mild or moderate renal impairment. No information is available in cases of severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance <20 mL/min).
Poor metabolisers of CYP2C19: An initial dose of 10 mg daily during the first two weeks of treatment is recommended for patients who are known to be poor metabolisers with respect to CYP2C19. The dose may be increased to a maximum of 20 mg daily depending on individual patient response.
Withdrawal symptoms seen on discontinuation of citalopram: Abrupt discontinuation should be avoided. When stopping treatment with citalopram the dose should be gradually reduced over a period of at least one to two weeks in order to reduce the risk of withdrawal reactions. If intolerable symptoms occur following a decrease in the dose or upon discontinuation of treatment, then resuming the previously prescribed dose may be considered. Subsequently, the physician may continue decreasing the dose, but at a more gradual rate.
Method of administration: Citalopram tablets are administered as a single daily dose. Citalopram tablets can be taken at any time of the day without regard to food intake.
