Pharmacy have given me a lower dose. What to do?

[Limeslime]

Can anyone help!
My GP increased my dosage from 20mg to 30mg about 5 weeks ago. I am feeling a little better with the increased dosage.
Today I went to collect my repeat meds. I brought them home from the pharmacy in a sealed paper bag and went about my day. Tonight I have opened them up to take one, and they’ve given me 20mg instead of 30mg!! I’ve been online to check my GP prescription and according to my account, he did prescribe 30mg so this appears to be the pharmacy’s error.Unfortunately both the pharmacy and GP are closed now til Monday! (It’s Friday night as a I type)
Does anyone know how I can use my 20mg capsules to still get a 30mg dose? Or will taking 20mg for a few days have a negative impact?
I’m so confused about what to do, as the 20mg dose was doing nothing for me which is why the dose was increased.
Sorry if I’m rambling, I’m in a bit of a panic!

[nomorepanic]

Are they tablets? Can you not just split one?

[panic_down_under]

Does anyone know how I can use my 20mg capsules to still get a 30mg dose? Or will taking 20mg for a few days have a negative impact?

You could dissolve 2 capsules in 100ml of water, or a fruit juice (but not grapefruit juice), stir and drink 3/4 of it, i.e. 75ml.

However, fluoxetine has a very long half-life, about 6 days for it and up to 16 days for its metabolite which does most of the work so blood plasma levels won't drop much if you only took 20mg for 2-3 days.

[Limeslime]

Thank you! However, would you suggest taking 20mg one day, followed by 40mg the next, then alternating like that until I run out and can then request the correct 30mg dose from the gp? Would this work?

[panic_down_under]

would you suggest taking 20mg one day, followed by 40mg the next, then alternating like that until I run out and can then request the correct 30mg dose from the gp? Would this work?

Yes, it would work, but I'd be demanding the pharmacy rectified the error. Changing the dose on alternate days increases the potential for making a dosing mistake.

[WorryRaptor]

In my opinion, I wouldn't mess around with the dosages too much. If you can't measure exactly, you don't know how much you're getting, and a few days of a lower dose isn't going to make a massive difference. I'd just stick with the 20mg, and then call immediately on Monday morning to have it rectified.


would you suggest taking 20mg one day, followed by 40mg the next, then alternating like that until I run out and can then request the correct 30mg dose from the gp? Would this work? This doesn't sound like a good idea at all.