Posted by Jakeman on June 7, 2006, at 21:02:02
In reply to Re: EMSAM not working, posted by pulse on June 7, 2006, at 17:39:14
Pulse and others,
I've been on Emsam for two weeks and I have to say it's a work in progress. Upside: heightened cognitive ability (on most days). More motivation (I'm opening my bills and paying them on time). More libido, (not sure what to do about that). Less social fear most of the time. No emotional numbness that I've gotten from SSRI's. In fact my therapy sessions have been more productive than before.
Sleep is more difficult but I'm taking a several things to combat that. I was already taking Lyrica, it seems to help with sleep and anxiety. Plus tryptophan, taurine, magnesium before bed. I also take Restoril (have been for months) and have been experimenting with Roserem (splitting 8 mg pills into quarters.) I upped my night-time klonipin dosage to .5 to 1 mg.
I feel that Emsam has pulled me out of a major depression but I feel it's too early to form any conclusions. I think its definately not a silver bullet (for me at least) but has potential, maybe by adjusting the dosage or with adjunct medications. But take everything I say with a grain of salt, I may change my mind in a week.
Oh and about GI problems, I has a little of that. I started taking a probiotic and the problem went away, by coincidence- I'm not sure.
warm regards and good luck to everybody, Jake
> robert david is the one who was told by dr. bodkin that it could be cut in half, and i seem to recall that rob tried the 1/2 for awhile, and has since gone back to the entire
> robert david is the one who was told by dr. bodkin that it could be cut in half, and i seem to recall that rob tried the 1/2 for awhile, and has since gone back to the entire patch, and removing it at night. *i may not be up to speed on his latest with emsam, so i don't want to state this as a definite.*
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> far as i've seen here, i'm the only one (yet) cutting into 1/4s and even 1/8s. i've then fluctuated betwen applying 1/4 OR 3/8, but more often 3/8. the longest i leave it on EVER is 4 hrs. per day. i feel i'm - at around 1 week or so - in as close to full remission as i've been in many, many years. i must admit, though, that the half-life that remains feels a tad better. kinda wish i could bottle the half-life.
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> the stickiest wicket side-effect of all the many i had was with my lower GI tract. now, completely gone, as is the anxiety, and the urinary retension.
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> only some sleep trouble remains, mostly falling to sleep and waking too often, but i do now get 7-8 hrs vs. none -2 hrs. on the full patch at 24 hours...or applying every other day...or taking it off at 15-16 hrs. for the night. i also wake up refreshed almost every day.
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> i think it may have been jake who suggested this: perhaps always a good idea to start (or, i'll add) go back to low, and go slow.
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> i have a hunch that, for some, it's going to turn out that less really IS more with emsam. it IS a med that seems to require alot of patience and possibly also alot of tweaking. i thought i was finished for sure - now i'm so glad i took the risk i did to find my solution.
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> pulse
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> p.s . - sorry, but i have no idea what titrating down some on emsam would be like, as my four failed trials were of short duration. when i quit, each of those times, not once did i have any problems whatsoever, just fyi.
>
>
poster:Jakeman
thread:653593
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060604/msgs/654244.html