Posted by psychlover on February 6, 2008, at 16:24:52
Hooray! I have some wonderful news! I have been a poster and reader on this forum for 4-5 years now, relating all my experiences with various meds for depression and anxiety. I had some partial success from some meds, but there were always problems, some side effects more serious than others, or they didn't help enough, or both.
Well, I am VERY happy to say that I seem to have found a medication that REALLY works: EMSAM! Yay! I have been on it now for about 2 months, and I am so very pleased with it! I tried Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, Wellbutrin, Ritalin, and Adderall. I also tried some SJW, following Larry Hoover's great recommendation of it. It worked, but not enough. So an enlightened psychiatrist said that I liked the response to SJW than a stronger MAOI might be a good try, and he suggested EMSAM which he had never actually prescribed before, although he said that in his home country he had prescribed a lot of MAOIs.
Well I went home and read about EMSAM and MAOIs and that led me to find out about atypical depression, which sounds exactly like me and my symptoms. Too bad psychiatrists don't know about atypical depression! In any case, I eventually got around to trying the EMSAM, and it has been amazing!
It has literally saved my marriage and maybe my life too. My wife probably would have left me, and I might have even killed myself, I was so miserable and unpleasant to live with and so depressed while on the other meds.
And EMSAM has been almost 100% free of side effects! The only side effect I have noticed is that my anus is always clenched (I know, it's a weird one), which can be uncomfortable, but that's about it. I have noticed some rare orthostatic hypotension when I urinate first thing in the morning, but that is not a big deal. No sexual side effects (Paxil and Lexapro), no sleep problems (Lexapro, Ritalin, and Adderall), no weird numbness or vertigo (Wellbutrin). I just feel MUCH better! Hooray!
The only thing that sucks is the high price -- with my insurance it's still $150 a month -- but reclaiming my life, my happiness, and my marriage is really priceless!
I hope that other people read this and those people who have struggled with depression for many years and tried lots of meds should read up on atypical depression and see if perhaps EMSAM would be good for them.
If anyone has any questions about EMSAM, I would be happy to answer them.
All the best!
-psychlover
poster:psychlover
thread:811119
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080124/msgs/811119.html