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Re: Calling all EMSAM experts

Posted by johnnyzero on November 29, 2006, at 8:21:59

In reply to Re: Calling all EMSAM experts, posted by want2breal on November 28, 2006, at 20:44:44

I've been using Emsam for about 6 months now with quite a bit of success, after suffering with crippling depression for about 25 years - for me it's been nothing short of miraculous. Perhaps my experience will be helpful to you & others.

Over the years I had tried literally EVERY known treatment under the sun: all classes of meds, alternative therapies, participated in a TMS clinical trial, importing unapproved meds from other countries, etc, etc, ad nauseum.

Last spring, while I was trying to get my insurance company to agree to coverage for a VNS implant, I heard about Emsam and thought it might be worth a try. Even more so because my only real success in the past had been with MAO Inhibitors - Nardil, Parnate, or Manerix. I was a bit dubious because I had even tried liquid Selegilene (active ingredient of Emsam) without any effect about 10 years ago.

Lo and behold, Emsam helped me function & feel much better almost immediately. I did, however, experience the jittery feeling you describe - bordering on hypomania - and that's at the lowest dose, 6mg/patch. I knew from past experiences that I could experience hypomanic symptoms from MAOI's, although it usually occured only at very high doses. Perhaps my brain chemistry is just particularly sensitive to Selegilene.

In any case, my solution was to just use a 6mg patch EVERY OTHER DAY to cut the effective dose in half, without having to go thru the hassle of cutting the actual patch in half or whatever. Even though the lit says it's designed to deliver it over a 24-hour period, this seems to work fine for me - I'm able to go 2 days and the patch seems to be able to do its thing over the 48 hours without any "withdrawal effects" like shocks in extremities, mood nosedive, etc. Even over the 2-day time frame, the Selegilene seems to be delivered very evenly - as compared to Nardil that I could literally feel "kick-in" with a rush about 45 min after taking it.

One word of caution: I wouldn't recommend going any longer than 2 days. On those few occasions where I forgot to change my patch, I started to get some withdrawal effects some time into the 3rd day - mostly the "shocky" sensations in the extremities that you can get when weaning off any MAOI. Not life threatening, but rather uncomfortable.

To be honest, I've gotten to the point where I can self-regulate my Emsam dose as needed. Occasionally if I start to feel a little "down" (oe even in anticipation of an upcoming stressful event, like an impending visit from my mother-in-law ;-), I will switch to 1 patch/day for a few days. That seems to boost my mood & energize me a little. Contrary to what you would think, this doesn't seem to cause any type of "rollercoaster" effect, at least for me.

I hope my experiences will be helpful to you.

best to all,
JohnB


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Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:johnnyzero thread:707935
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061129/msgs/708539.html