Posted by Cassidy on February 28, 2002, at 18:22:03
In reply to Re: Do ANY of the alternative supplements/herbs work, posted by petey on January 13, 2002, at 10:37:39
I can report on SAM-e's effects in my situation. I had been on various SSRIs and a tri-cyclic over a number of years; going off resulted in serious symptoms, but each either pooped out or had problem side effects.
I started SAM-e 2 1/2 years ago and have generally used 1200-1400mg to control depression (yes, it's a lot of money, but gave me my life back). It has worked as well or better than any of the other ADs I used, and it has essentially no side effects for me (it does affect bowel habits). Still, the depression was not entirely gone (low energy, rather dysthymic, etc.).
The biggest change since starting SAMe was adding an estradiol patch about 10 months ago (body's form of estrogen). (Blood work through the years had not shown a need for estrogen replacement until last year, but based on the following experience, I no longer trust the blood level as a reliable indicator.) As soon as the estradiol kicked in, I found that I could reduce the amount of SAMe, and I started feeling better. By the time estradiol was gradually increased to .1mg (still MUCH less than standard Premarin dose) I found that I felt better than at any time in the last decade (!) and on only 300mg of SAM-e.
I have been feeling NORMAL again with this combination (.1mg estradiol, 300mg SAMe) for about 3 months now,and am SO grateful. I wanted to share this experience with other women who might benefit from it.
poster:Cassidy
thread:89549
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020222/msgs/95873.html