Posted by SoozyWoozy on April 13, 2007, at 11:36:54
I researched EMSAM using this board before I started on it 23 days ago. I wanted to add my 2 cents. I really like what I feel so far. I have had severe atypical depression and some mild OCD for as long as I can remember. I was being treated with SSRIs before I decided I wanted to try a more natural route - which I did for almost a year before giving up. I got a new doc and he suggested that I try the "new" EMSAM. I had never tried an MAOI before.
I am only getting one side effect - some insomnia. The patches don't bother my skin at all thank heaven. I do put on a little Aveeno skin cream where the previous day's patch was in order to help my skin stay healthy. I first noticed that my energy was up and I felt motivated to do more. I have been more productive at work and my home is spotless. My mood has improved - but that has been slower to come around. I had been so incredibly paralyzed that the motivation made a huge difference just by itself. Now at almost 4 weeks, I am getting a much improved mood and, my gosh, I can't stop thinking about sex. And I am driven to seek out people, conversations and company - YAY!
The lack of sleep is the only trouble I am having but my pdoc said it was ok to take some melatonin at night. That has helped me tremendously. I am still not getting all the sleep I would like (8-9 hours per night is what I need) but I am getting 5-7 on average. Even on nights where I wasn't taking enough melatonin and got relatively little sleep, I still felt good the next day - alert and productive.
I haven't been eating as much. Food just isn't terribly appealing - I love that side effect. I definitely don't crave carbs (bread, pasta, crackers, etc.) like I did on SSRIs.
I am only on the one med - the 6 mg/24 hr patch of EMSAM. EMSAM is great so far.
poster:SoozyWoozy
thread:749498
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070413/msgs/749498.html