Posted by grazce on May 6, 2008, at 2:17:46
I have been on the EMSAM patch since October. I started at 6 mg and was able to go up to 9 mg in March upon finding a sleep/insomnia solution - which is to take 1/3 of my sleep meds ( that I was already taking) a couple of hours before I want to go to bed and then take the rest of the sleep meds and apply the patch. I was/am also removing the patch after about 18 hours so I have some "down time" before the next patch. I really don't know if this provided help in the transition to sleep, but I can say that at this point I am able to sleep fairly well, and at least fall back to sleep when I wake up at night.
I have to be extremely cautious with caffeine intake, which has caused sleep problems for me in general as I get older. EMSAM makes it even more of an issue.
I knew I was feeling better on EMSAM but it was hard to access or articulate to what extent. And then I had to go off of it in anticipation of surgery ( which hasn't even been scheduled yet - but with a 10 day washout I wanted to be ready).
And that is how I discovered that the EMSAM patch was really doing it's job -so to speak - as I tumbled into an inconsolable depression after being off the patch for a week.
Now I am back on it and feeling almost OK.
Besides the (now) obvious to me, treatment of my ever so resistant depression, and now that I have the sleep issues a bit more under control, I have to say that the best part of using this patch after the "getting used to it time period" is the lack of the familiar nasty side effects of SSRI's and even Wellbutrin.
I did have sinus problems for the first six to 8 weeks, followed by a nasty urinary tract infection - both lesser known side effects of this drug. Both have since resolved, but I am careful about the UTI issue not coming back as urinary retention seems to be a common side effect with many of the antidepressant drugs.
FYI - I am a slow responder to antidepressant drugs. It took 9 weeks for me feel even minimal relief when taking Wellbutrin.
For sleep I take .5 mg of klonpin (40 hour half life) several hours before bed, and then take .125 to .250 mg xanax ( 6 hour half life) with 1mg klonopin and then put on the patch at bedtime and I read for about an hour and find that then I can then fall sleep.
I often wake up after 4 to 5 hours, but now I can fall back to sleep, which I could not do when I was putting on a new patch in the morning and keeping it on all day and night.
These problems may have resolved themselves over time without my intervention, ( found the- put on the patch at night advice - on a website (here?) which helped me to be compliant in taking this med - and to discover it really does work for me - as I learned to appreciate in the last week to 10 days.
poster:grazce
thread:827450
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080430/msgs/827450.html