Posted by Jakeman on June 3, 2006, at 22:15:22
In reply to Re: Who's having luck with EMSAM?, posted by jetcity10 on June 1, 2006, at 11:46:38
Jetcity,
I've been on it about 10 days. Overall it has been worth it, time will tell. I've had mostly good days, sleep is an issue that I'm working on but I don't consider in insolveable at this point. It doesn't make me emotionally numb which I appreciate. Cognitive abilities and motivations have improved, but nothing real dramatic overall.
Thanks for your feedback, please keep us posted.warm regards, Jake
> I have a history of major depression as well as anxiety and have struggled with significant suicidal thoughts most of my life. I had tried just about everything but the MAOIs and had no real positive response and a lot of nasty side effects. (Cylert mixed with another AD had been the "best" response but even that was weak and not worth it).
>
> I am about a month and a half into EMSAM. The first few weeks were full of increased anxiety and a major increase in lethal suicidal thinking. Now the suicidal feelings have decreased some and overall I think this is the best response I have ever had to an AD. Minor side effects include some postural hypotension, mild GI disruptions, snd skin rashes easily taken care of with cortizone. Another positive is that I have started working out, which I never had the energy to do before.
>
> I am still on the lowest dose. I saw my pdoc after 3 1/2 weeks, and due to the reluctance on both of our parts to consider possible dietary restrictions we decided to stay at the lowest dose for now. I had mostly given up on ADs and I have been off of everything but Klonipin (which allowed me at least 4-5 hours of decent sleep a night) for years and just struggled with the depression.
>
> Like I have said, it has been worth it. I have never had as noticible a difference. I still get suicidal, but it doesn't last as long and I am thinking much more rationally about it, as well as the rest of my life. I would say my biggest problem right now is figuring out how to deal with feeling better. It has been longer than I can remember since I have felt even this good. It seems like a strange problem, but it has been a significant challenge thus far. Still worth it though.
poster:Jakeman
thread:648037
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060530/msgs/652575.html