diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 9964eedb..5de391f5 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 - adding docker automation [#184](https://github.com/xmidt-org/caduceus/pull/184)
+- fixing caduceus queue cutoffs [#185](https://github.com/xmidt-org/caduceus/issues/185)
 
 ## [v0.2.3]
 - updated release pipeline to use travis [#174](https://github.com/xmidt-org/caduceus/pull/174)
diff --git a/outboundSender.go b/outboundSender.go
index 7fcfc7bf..cc2e01de 100644
--- a/outboundSender.go
+++ b/outboundSender.go
@@ -603,6 +603,10 @@ func (obs *CaduceusOutboundSender) send(urls *ring.Ring, secret, acceptType stri
 // queueOverflow handles the logic of what to do when a queue overflows
 func (obs *CaduceusOutboundSender) queueOverflow() {
 	obs.mutex.Lock()
+	if time.Now().Before(obs.dropUntil) {
+		obs.mutex.Unlock()
+		return
+	}
 	obs.dropUntil = time.Now().Add(obs.cutOffPeriod)
 	obs.dropUntilGauge.Set(float64(obs.dropUntil.Unix()))
 	secret := obs.listener.Config.Secret