An Introduction to Dosing With Abstral
- The type and severity of your pain
- How you respond to the medication
- Other medications you are taking
- Other medical conditions you may have.
As is always the case, do not adjust your dose unless your healthcare provider specifically tells you to do so.
The initial dose of Abstral for treating breakthrough pain is 100 mcg. If this amount adequately relieves your pain, you should continue using the 100-mcg dose for each breakthrough pain episode. If Abstral 100 mcg does not adequately relieve your pain within 30 minutes, you may take one additional 100-mcg tablet. You must then wait at least two hours before taking another Abstral dosage.
If the initial 100-mcg dose does not adequately relieve your breakthrough pain, your dose of Abstral can be increased slowly until an amount is found that provides adequate pain relief with minimal side effects.
This is called dose titration. Normally, Abstral is increased by 100 mcg at each breakthrough pain episode, up to 400 mcg.
If a 400-mcg dose does not adequately relieve your pain, the next dose increase is usually to 600 mcg. If the 600-mcg amount is ineffective, the dose is then usually increased to 800 mcg.
During dose titration, you may be asked to use more than one Abstral tablet at a time to get to the correct amount. You should not, however, use more than four tablets at a time.
If you are still in pain 30 minutes after using Abstral, you may take another dose of the same strength. Do not take more than two doses to treat a breakthrough pain episode.
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