Posted by BrightEyed+Blueberry on July 19, 2008, at 11:25:18
In reply to Re: EMSAM Success Story » BrightEyed+Blueberry, posted by atmlady on July 17, 2008, at 16:37:13
At 6 weeks or so, magic seemed to wear off at the 6mg level. Not sure if it was coincidence (I don't know if I've heard of 6 week poop out; mostly seems to be that it starts working right away, at 2-3 weeks, or at 6 weeks, or "give it 3 months" to start working- that's what I can recall, I think....what have you heard? And poop out seems to take a ...i dont know, year+?
It coincided, pardon me, with PMS/"period" week....though why that would effect it and not return to feeling ok perhaps after the week of excess/crazy hormones doesn't make sense to me. And, why wouldn't being on the EMSAM help me have a less distressing/depressed period - they prescribe fluoxetine (under the name S....? instead of "Prozac") for PMS, to be taken only just before or during that week of symptoms - so that anti-depressant , if that helps some women, makes me think the PMS is soothed by something serotonin-related (that doesn't require the 4-6 weeks of being on an SSRI continuously to work, like a total rebalancing of the neurotransmitters).
EMSAM at 6mg, being an MAO-b inhibitor, is only hitting dopamine among others, and doesn't hit MAO-a inhibitory effects--serotonin/norep--until the dosage is raised to at least 9mg--is my understanding. So, dopamine didnt help my period in any case!
Maybe it only felt like a really depressing PMS (cuz I never got PMS symptoms previously - noticeable to ME, anyhow--though wouldn't be surprised if I was irritable towards others but didn't notice myself!--because I was doing quite all right, and then had farther to fall--so I really noticed.
Plus, I stopped exercising (its a commonly used excuse I notice I use to take a break from exercising in general--pain is, physical). Worse yet it seemed I began to eat sweets like crazy, bags of cookies and gallons of milk like I couldn't stop! Whereas, the first 6 weeks of EMSAM my willpower kept me going with exercising and monitoring and being disciplined with food, eating salads, drinking water, taking vitamins, being consistent with good habits in general. --so after 6 weeks of positive behavior, I felt really bad and couldn't get back on that horse....
I'm not overweight; though I would like to shed 15+ pounds-I'm 5'6" and 140 lbs. Which is also depressing though, to me, because pre-pregnancy I was 115-120.
EMSAM - is it making me voracious for sugar or fats possibly? I've noticed others being hungry on EMSAM, and noticed others the exact opposite. I'm noticed excess energy, and then noontime naps. I've seemed to experience both....
So, perhaps at around 6 weeks the EMSAM was finally really "settling in" - and its working so effectively, so quickly, initially for those 6 weeks - could that have been more of a side-effect? And then hitting the wall at 6 weeks--maybe that an indication I need a higher therapeutic dosage?
Anyway, I'm supposed to go up to 9mg but I've kind of lagged on that. However, as things haven't changed, (I started "coping" by over-relying on my xanax) - relying on meds depresses me further! Xanax doesn't depress me like klonopin, but I have less energy, and using it regularly instead of sporadically prn seems to lessen its therapeutic benefits for me - I become avoidant)--Im working up to starting 9mg in a week.
I'm kind of scared to go to 9mg - I feel like I'll be into a more dangerous med situation - like Nardil, Parnate - "real" MAOIs. The kind when you first start out on the AD treadmill, and you read overviews about the meds, and you're like, <shudder> geez, I'm never gonna get to THAT class of meds...and you settle in for the SSRIs to do the trick, as even getting to that point, for some of us, was quite a ... an acceptance. Back then, it was, everyone else was on Prozac, it could never be me. now its like, i hope it works for you and you don't have to continue down the road and your depression clears up with good habits and CBT and you can get off the pills in 6 months and lead a normal life again.
So...9mg next, and I don't know if I've gotten much of a response to what to expect in terms of sexual dysfunction at the higher dosage. I dont want that.
Thanks for asking. You thinking about it/have experience with EMSAM/the other MAOIs?
-Bright
> Bright, how are you doing with your EMSAM? Did the magic of the first 6 weeks ever return? Still on 6mg? You may have posted elsewhere and I missed it .....
poster:BrightEyed+Blueberry
thread:826188
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080718/msgs/840754.html