A loading dose is an initial higher dose of a drug that may be given at the beginning of a course of treatment before dropping down to a lower maintenance dose.
A loading dose is most useful for drugs that are eliminated from the body relatively slowly, i.e. have a long systemic half-life. Such drugs need only a low maintenance dose in order to keep the amount of the drug in the body at the appropriate therapeutic level, but this also means that, without an initial higher dose, it would take a long time for the amount of the drug in the body to reach that level.
Drugs which may be started with an initial loading dose include digoxin, teicoplanin, voriconazole and procainamide. Phenytoin for acute status epilepticus should also be given with an initial loading dose, co-administered with a benzodiazepine, to immediately stabilize neuronal membranes and electrical activity during a seizure.
Read more about Loading Dose: Worked Example, Calculating The Loading Dose, Sample Values and Equations
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