Posted by floatingbridge on May 25, 2011, at 12:33:08
In reply to Re: Does EMSAM ever work for anxiety, posted by lepus on May 24, 2011, at 13:02:00
Hi Lepus,
I wrote two responses and lost them :( My apologies for the delay. I hope the post-storm situation is o.k. for you
> Can you tell me more about what is causing you such massive panic attacks?I just get wound up. I had them before emsam.
>Is it fear of starting the new med, the change in how you feel...
Yes. Med trials provoke anxiety for me. The start up, someone referred to as a possible therapeutic response happened for me about 24-48 hours after the first half patch. It felt very different than a snri start up. I panicked, took lots of xanax, wrote a flurry of emails. Finally went to sleep :-/
>the actual med itself or the errors in dosing?Not the med, in my belief, but the errors I mentioned. I didn't understand that I had made an error, and the 'response' was delayed in my case about 24hrs. I had difficulty tracing the error to the response. My default is usually panic :-/
> How are you feeling about the medication now?Good. I think it's helping me. Insomnia is a bear, but seems to respond to 5mg of Valium nightly.
> Any tips on how to cut the patch?
Sharp scissors. It is like Scotch tape. Cut the patch perpendicular to the split in the non-adhesive backing. Then you'll be able to peel it easily w/o touching the sticky med part with your fingers.
Med didn't show up in me for about 24hrs or so. I did 1/2 patch for about 5 days (I think) before going on to the full 6mg.
I still don't understand why the effect of the med changes as dosage increases, like going from a b inhibitor to an a, or something like that.
Right now 6mg is good. If you start, esp with partial patches, it seems safe enough. Any anxiety you might feel--everyone is very different--should abate esp with an anti-anxiety med. And be in touch with your doc.
Will you let us know how it goes?
Super best to you,
fb
* and whoever gazes at the stars will never again be quite alone...
c-ptsd & attendant health concerns
poster:floatingbridge
thread:985926
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110515/msgs/986197.html