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When Do You Take Your Midodrine?


Guest brianala

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Guest brianala

My doctor said that most of his patients tend to take their doses around 8 am, noon, and 4 pm so that's when I take mine. I was reading in another thread that it might help to take your first dose as soon as you get out of bed. Taking my last dose around 4 seems to work for me, since I'm nodding off by 3:30 and it lasts through dinner and allows me to get tired again around 8.

How do you space out your doses? Do you find that taking your first dose earlier in the morning helps?

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Guest brianala

For those who take it more than three times a day, do you have to wait an hour after you take it before you can go to bed? I was told not to lay down for an hour after taking it.

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it's not really a choice for me. i cannot GET out of med until i have not only taken my midodrine but until it has actually "kicked it" (aka taken effect). the time on the clock has no bearing for me. and my understanding - as well as what has been passed on to me from several docs over the years - is that the recommended 8am first dose is only designed as a representation of when many might wake up, get up, start their day, etc.

when i was able to work i used to actually set two alarms 30 minutes apart; the first was to take my meds - most importantly midodrine - while the second was to actually get up in case i had fallen back asleep in the interim, though many times the midodrine "kicking in" would itself help me to wake up that second time (combined with the fact that i obviously couldn't be sleeping deeply at that point). i attempt the same thing now (the double alarms) if/ when i'm trying to get up for mid-day church, an appointment, &/or a "goal wake-up/ get-up time", but it's not all that successful these days. but i digress.

there have actually been more than a few discussions re: midodrine on the forum, several of which have been very recent (i.e. within the past week or so); for more detailed replies re: the "don't sleep/ lay flat right after taking" precaution, other people's dosing schedules & doses, & more i would HIGHLY recommend doing a search for midodrine. you'll get more info than you'll know what to do with. to get you started, however, i know there is some discussion here: http://dinet.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=11838&st=15. the post's title does not suggest that it necessarily contains a lot of discussion re: midodrine but i promise you that it's there. while i'm not the only one who chimed in, i know that my LONG reply (including a lot of commentary re: the timing of midodrine doses) is in the middle of the second page of the post. definitely take the time to check it out.

hope this helps,

:blink: melissa

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I take midodrine AROUND THE CLOCK, including before bed and when I wake up if it's about four hours later, in the dead of night. I know that this is not officially what's recommended, but I was getting so sick when I'd get up to use the bathroom that it was triggering chest pain. We found that adding pm midodrine at night helped a lot. I also sleep with compression stockings for the same reason.

I did not decide this on my own, and am followed by my cardiologist who supports this. I do not seem to get supine hypertension on it, which is really the main concern. From what I understand, most of us do not develop supine hypertension on midodrine. It's more typically a population with Parkinson's. But doctors not familiar with this drug have often a knee jerk reaction about never lying down on midodrine. you could try during the day and see what your bp does on midodrine in different positions.

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Guest brianala
it's not really a choice for me. i cannot GET out of med until i have not only taken my midodrine but until it has actually "kicked it" (aka taken effect). the time on the clock has no bearing for me. and my understanding - as well as what has been passed on to me from several docs over the years - is that the recommended 8am first dose is only designed as a representation of when many might wake up, get up, start their day, etc.

when i was able to work i used to actually set two alarms 30 minutes apart; the first was to take my meds - most importantly midodrine - while the second was to actually get up in case i had fallen back asleep in the interim, though many times the midodrine "kicking in" would itself help me to wake up that second time (combined with the fact that i obviously couldn't be sleeping deeply at that point). i attempt the same thing now (the double alarms) if/ when i'm trying to get up for mid-day church, an appointment, &/or a "goal wake-up/ get-up time", but it's not all that successful these days. but i digress.

there have actually been more than a few discussions re: midodrine on the forum, several of which have been very recent (i.e. within the past week or so); for more detailed replies re: the "don't sleep/ lay flat right after taking" precaution, other people's dosing schedules & doses, & more i would HIGHLY recommend doing a search for midodrine. you'll get more info than you'll know what to do with. to get you started, however, i know there is some discussion here: http://dinet.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=11838&st=15. the post's title does not suggest that it necessarily contains a lot of discussion re: midodrine but i promise you that it's there. while i'm not the only one who chimed in, i know that my LONG reply (including a lot of commentary re: the timing of midodrine doses) is in the middle of the second page of the post. definitely take the time to check it out.

hope this helps,

:blink: melissa

Oh, thank you for linking to that post! That is great information. I am almost as bad as you - I used to have 4 different alarm clocks. Some days are worse than others. Now that I'm married my husband helps make sure I get up but on my own I am lost. It's a lot better now that I'm on the Midodrine but I feel like I only get to feel human when I'm on it during the day. The idea of being able to take it round the clock is very appealing for me, so I'll be sure to talk to my doctor when I go back for my follow up.

Thank you!

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Just wondering if all who have replied to this post take 10mg each time you take a dose of M? I take 10 mg at 8:30, 12:30, and 4:30. Then by 8:30 p.m. I'm starting to go downhill again. I was told not to take any more than the 30 mg/day.

I have terrible mornings and would love to take 10 mg, or whatever the dr would allow, at 4:30 a.m. as I'm always up to the bathroom at that time. Maybe this would give me a better start to the day.

I have no choice but to lie down at leaset 2x/day in order to continue functioning and have never had a problem with supine hypotension. Then again, my problen was seriosly low BP and the M has brought that up to a normal reading.

Thank you to all for the great info each of you provides.

Mary P

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Hi all,

Just wondering if anyone else has problems taking their Midodrine? It seems to make me feel fluish, with a nasty headache, and I'm only on 2.5 grams 3x a day. Anyone else have this intolerance?

Thanks,

potsgirl

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Rachel,

I'm pretty hypotensive, and after being on the Midodrine for a week, my blood pressure before getting out of bed is around 85/60 with pulse 60, and when I stand, it falls to 65-75/55-65 and pulse between 110 to 140. It hasn't seemed to raise my BP at all, plus I feel nauseated and get migraines. How long did it take until your sister had to go off of it? Did the Midodrine work right away for you, or did it take a couple of weeks? I cannot tolerate Florinef at all, so I'm hoping I can make the Midodrine work....

Thanks so much for your help,

Potsgirl

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Potsgirl,

Midodrine works quickly. If the dose is working, you should notice an effect in 30 minutes or so. 2.5mg is actually a very small dose, and it likely isn't enough to raise your bp significantly. I'm on 10mg (and was even on 20mg in the past). Anything less than 10mg does nothing to improve my blood pressure.

My sister was only on midodrine for a couple of weeks, I think. 2.5mg increased her bp too much, but that dose did nothing for me. We're all different!

Has your doctor told you to slowly titrate your dose up? I hope you can find a dose of midodrine that helps you.

Rachel

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I thinkk the 30mg max limit is not used by most ans docs. I take closer to 40, spaced out in four hour intervals. I think docs less familiar with ans are afraid of hypERtension--but I think that's something you can monitor. I actually get more spikes if I don't take it regularly--my body swings high to compensate for lows. With midodrine and florinef I'm usually around 115/75, rarely under 100/60 or over 130/80. Off meds, it was a huge rollercoaster-- from 70/30- 170/100.

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I just started midodrine a few months ago...

I've had to do a LOT of tweaking, starting at 2.5 mg 3x a day. My dosing schedule is based on my sleep/wake schedule. I take my first dose before I get out of bed.

I am now up to 12.5 mg for the first dose of the day, and working up to that dose for the other times.

I take midodrine four times a day. If it's not in my system when I try to go to sleep, my bp crashes and I can't sleep. Sometimes I still have to take it in the middle of the night to stop a 'spell' and get my bp up enough to sleep.

I've had to go back and forth with my doctor a LOT to figure out dosing that works for me...

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