Posted by JOP on September 18, 2006, at 0:56:16
In reply to Re: discontonuimg Emsam » Donna Louise, posted by Phillipa on September 17, 2006, at 22:27:13
> Please let me know as I was going to try it and now I'm crying cause I feel out of options and the thread I started last night didn't help. Love Phillipa
Phillipa—
I have been lurking on this board for quite some time and noticed that you are one of the first people to jump in and offer support to others who are dealing with emotional turmoil. However, it seems that you too are struggling with your own emotional turmoil and I would like to be here to support you in any way I can.
I can relate to your hesitation related to trying EMSAM. I too was hesitant and skeptical, as any antidepressant I have tried in the past has done zilch to raise my mood. While you seem to be very sensitive to medications and their side effects, I have the exact opposite problem. Of the 20+ “psychoactive” drugs I have tried over the past 17 years, I received no positive benefits and the only negative side effects were the pesky dry mouth on TCAs, 50 pounds of extra weight from Zyprexa, and some slight itching on EMSAM (so I guess they must be doing “something”—and yes I do realize I am EXTREMELY lucky not to have ventured into side effects hell like so many others on this board).
While I am thinking of increasing the dose of EMSAM, I am also thinking of throwing in the towel on this one and jumping to Parnate since I will have to follow the MAOI diet on a higher dose of EMSAM.
What I am getting at is that I have realized that this mood disorder that I have (chronic treatment resistant mdd) is something that is slowly draining the life out of me and frankly, that pisses me off. Yes, I am angry. I will not let this thing become some sort of terminal illness that I carry around with me for the next odd number of years suffering needlessly waiting for the day it kills me. We all deserve so much more.
So here is my point. Try EMSAM. You can read all of the experiences of others on this board, but those experiences will never be yours. If you are sensitive to medications, cut the patch in half. Cut the patch in quarters. Cut the patch in eights. Go low and slow and see how you react to it. If you start experiencing negative side effects that you can’t tolerate (i.e. increased anxiety) take it off, throw it away and move on to something else.
You will ALWAYS have the support of this board to help in any way we can. Yes, it is scary, but what if this drug helps your mood even slightly? What if it’s a true magic bullet at the lowest dose and gives you excellent relief? You won’t know until you try and if your pdoc is supportive, so is everyone else here.
Unfortunately, pharmacogenomics is not advanced enough at this point to help us out and point us to the right drug at the right dose so all we have right now is the experience of our pdocs and trial and error.
PLEASE don’t give up. We’ll all fight this together until we can wake up happy, go through our day experiencing a full range of healthy emotions, and go to bed and sleep soundly.
We’re all with you.
JOP
poster:JOP
thread:686465
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060909/msgs/687004.html