Posted by em_kath on February 22, 2010, at 0:05:27
In reply to Re: emsam, posted by mommyron on February 21, 2010, at 23:12:09
>My pdoc is a bit timid with it (I'm his only pt on it), but I'm going to see if he thinks we could use a stronger patch (9 mg maybe) since I'll be taking it off sooner. Then of course, the food issues come up...but if it's only on for a few hours, is the dose being delivered going to warrant the MAOI diet, or would it be in the 6 mg range since the patch won't be on all day????
If it's any comfort, I have been on the 9mg patch for a couple months with no food issues whatsoever. When I first started this dose I was very careful, but gradually I started reintroducing "forbidden" foods to my diet and honestly, I don't even get mild headaches. I eat most cheeses, soy, etc. I know the official word is that you have to follow the diet on 9mg, but from my own experience and the research I've done (partly asking others on this site) the diet seems to be just a precaution. My understanding is the medication never goes through your intestines so there's no reason that dietary tyramine would be a problem, and it's just a legal thing that they want people to follow the diet. My pdoc is kind of worried about the diet thing too, since like you I think I'm his first and only patient on it, but I asked around and researched it couldn't find any reported incidents of hypertensive crisis on higher doses of the patch. I suppose everyone reacts differently, but I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, especially if you're only wearing it part of the day. Since the 9mg in each patch is released steadily throughout a 24 hour period, if you only wear it 8 hours, it seems like you'd be getting about 3mg per day.
poster:em_kath
thread:937320
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100216/msgs/937611.html