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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by natg on December 9, 2000, at 12:29:28
Hi everybody:
I'm trying to find some alternatives to adrafranil as it is no longer working for me.
I'm thinking about SAMe. Can one take it with AD's? I read somewhere that it works on Serotonin and Dopamine receptors, anybody know if this is correct?Lastly, what is the average dosage?
Any information and experience appreciated.
Thanks!Nat
Posted by jay samson on December 9, 2000, at 13:55:41
In reply to SAMe info. and experiences, please!, posted by natg on December 9, 2000, at 12:29:28
My wife suffers from recurrent depression and has never been willing to take AD's. She tried St. John's Wort which was somewhat helpful but gave her side effects - so she stopped. She started taking a combination of Omega-3 oils(2grams/day) and SAM-e 200 mg/ day and she has not had a serious bout of depression since. It's been amazing. Most articles we found said that people often need 400 Mg or more of SAM-e but she's very small - and it is pretty danged expensive so she started low. And it seems to have worked. Yay! I hope it is as helpful to you as it has been to her. Good Luck. Jay.
Posted by mist on December 9, 2000, at 14:07:59
In reply to Re: SAMe info. and experiences, please!, posted by jay samson on December 9, 2000, at 13:55:41
May I ask how long it took for the SAM-e to take effect? Also, does your wife take B vitamins with it? I have also heard that you should start with 200/mg twice a day. (It's great that a smaller dose works for your wife.) Does she get the Omega 3s from flaxseed oil? Thank you for any more information you can provide. It's always great to know about something that works for someone--there's hope!
> My wife suffers from recurrent depression and has never been willing to take AD's. She tried St. John's Wort which was somewhat helpful but gave her side effects - so she stopped. She started taking a combination of Omega-3 oils(2grams/day) and SAM-e 200 mg/ day and she has not had a serious bout of depression since. It's been amazing. Most articles we found said that people often need 400 Mg or more of SAM-e but she's very small - and it is pretty danged expensive so she started low. And it seems to have worked. Yay! I hope it is as helpful to you as it has been to her. Good Luck. Jay.
Posted by shar on December 9, 2000, at 14:18:53
In reply to SAMe info. and experiences, please!, posted by natg on December 9, 2000, at 12:29:28
I recently went to a psychopharmacologist (the "real" deal) and was telling her the meds I'd tried. I mentioned SAMe and she said that it usually takes a pretty high dose (1200 or more per day) and can take a while to kick in, and gets very expensive.
I took it up to about 600 while I was taking Effexor and Wellbutrin, and never noticed a thing. BUT there are many people on this board who have had great results with it!
Shar
Posted by jay samson on December 10, 2000, at 3:06:27
In reply to How long did it take for SAM-e to start working?, posted by mist on December 9, 2000, at 14:07:59
It seems like it took about a month for the SAM-e to start working for my wife - and it kind of crept up on both of us. It wasn't a sudden brightening or anything - just less vulnerability to the depressed and hopeless feelings she had been having all her life.
She gets the Omega-3's from flaxseed oil capsules and Fish Oil capsules from the Vitamin Shop catalog . She takes a good quality multivitamin that has all the B vitamins - I guess thats esp. important when taking SAM-e so it doesn't raise your homocysteine level or something(which would be bad for your heart).
I know a lot of sources say to start off with 200mg twice a day with SAM-e and then move up in dose if needed to as high as 1600 mg/day. Given how expensive it is I'm not sure if too many people could afford that. Of course Rx meds aren't cheap either.
Personally I take Effexor XR - natural is good but I prefer going with the tried and true. I hope that if you give SAM-e a try it works for you - my wife really likes it and I am grateful that she doesn't have to suffer with her depression. Plus there doesn't seem to be any of the side effects that go along with so many of the prescription meds - I know from trying lots of meds how fun that isn't. Good Luck! Jay
Posted by shellie on December 10, 2000, at 18:37:49
In reply to SAMe info. and experiences, please!, posted by natg on December 9, 2000, at 12:29:28
Nat, there's an excellent message board about SAMe on delphi : www.delphi.com/samesupport . You should go back and do searches on there; there's an incredible amount of information written by people who have found sam-e to be very successful for them, as well as several posters (myself included) that did not have success with sam-e. There's information on dosage, how to tell when to increase, where to buy it for the best prices etc. If sam-e is going to work for you, (and sometimes it takes up to 1600mg a day), you will know within a few days of hitting the right dose. shellie
Posted by Bill L on December 11, 2000, at 9:08:17
In reply to How long did it take for SAM-e to start working?, posted by mist on December 9, 2000, at 14:07:59
I have taken SAM-e for 2 years. I take it with 20 mg of Celexa. This combo works very well for me. I used to take SAM-e with Prozac but they are both activating and I felt too hyper.
I think that you are correct that it works on both dopamine and serotonin. It might also work on norepinephrine. I have "double depression"- dysthymia plus uni-polar depression. SAM-e gives me a feeling of well being (including confidence). That might be the dopamine effect- I'm not sure. But SAM-e alone still leaves me with too much anxiety and low level depression. The Celexa takes care of those symptoms.
The SAM-e doses people need range from 200 to 1600 mg when SAM-e is taken alone. If you take it with another AD, then you would probably only need a lower dose.
I take 300 mg (one and a half pills) of Nature's Rx. That brand is only available by mail order- from the internet. Most people take NatureMade which is sold at Walmart, K-Mart, Target, and most other stores. The best prices are at wharehouse clubs such as BJ's and Costco.
For me, Nature's RX works better than NatureMade. But I have read other posts where people said that NatureMade worked better. So I do not feel comfortable recommending one brand over the other. As I mentioned, most people take NatureMade.
Richard Brown is a psychiatrist at Columbia University. He wrote a book on SAM-e called "Stop Depression Now". He uses SAM-e in combo with a variety of antidepressents on his patients. He also uses it alone on some patients. He cautions against combining SAM-e with MAOI's. Also, don't take it if you are bi-polar.
In any event, check with your doctor before taking SAM-e, especially with other AD's since there is the risk of serotonin syndrome.
SAM-e should be taken with vitamins. I take a multi vitamin/mineral called Centrum A to Zinc. Dr Brown recommends 800 mg folate and 1,000 mg B12 when taking SAM-e. I tried that but it made me feel too hyper so I cut back to the multi.
SAM-e should take effect withen a few days but it may take longer to play around with the dose to find the right amount. If you take too much, you may have trouble sleeping.
> May I ask how long it took for the SAM-e to take effect? Also, does your wife take B vitamins with it? I have also heard that you should start with 200/mg twice a day. (It's great that a smaller dose works for your wife.) Does she get the Omega 3s from flaxseed oil? Thank you for any more information you can provide. It's always great to know about something that works for someone--there's hope!
>
> > My wife suffers from recurrent depression and has never been willing to take AD's. She tried St. John's Wort which was somewhat helpful but gave her side effects - so she stopped. She started taking a combination of Omega-3 oils(2grams/day) and SAM-e 200 mg/ day and she has not had a serious bout of depression since. It's been amazing. Most articles we found said that people often need 400 Mg or more of SAM-e but she's very small - and it is pretty danged expensive so she started low. And it seems to have worked. Yay! I hope it is as helpful to you as it has been to her. Good Luck. Jay.
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