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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by aaalex on March 18, 2008, at 15:34:14
Hello,
I'm new here - MDD runs in my family, and I was diagnosed at a fairly
young age. I've juggled meds for a good part of my life, being through
Prozac, Wellbutrin, Zoloft, and Effexor, all discontinued due to
lack of effect or unpleasant side effects.I've been on Emsam 6mg for a bit over 3 weeks now. The difficulty
sleeping and being easily agitated started pretty soon after starting
the patch, and then after 2 weeks, it "kicked in". However, the kicking
in made me feel quite spacy and kind of head-buzzed, to the point where
sometimes I don't feel like I should even drive. I don't feel terribly
depressed, but part of the reason I went off of Zoloft in the first
place was to avoid the spacy feelings I had on it. I'm a bit confused,
because I haven't heard of anyone else having these side-effects, and
they generally aren't supposed to happen on Emsam.I'm sticking it out in the hope that it goes away, but I'd like to hear
if anyone else has experienced this, and whether it might go away with a
bit more time. Hopefully the irritability does, as that's not very good
for work or relationships. I still have high hopes for Emsam - it'd
be lovely to find something that can keep me stable without killing my
libido, causing weight gain or making me feel drugged.Thanks,
alex
Posted by greenmtn on March 21, 2008, at 9:50:51
In reply to Emsam spaciness, posted by aaalex on March 18, 2008, at 15:34:14
Alex,
I have been on Emsam for about 9 months. For me it has mostly cured my depression and allowed me to move forward with my life. I did have to increase the time I wear the (9mg) patch from 10 to 15 hours because I had a return of depression.
The main problems I have with it are insomnia and late day exhaustion.
I have not experienced too much easy agitation however maybe this is because I take 2 mg of clonazapam every night (and have for several years). The way Emsam affects me on a daily basis is pretty consistent: A. I usually sleep only about 4 hours per night, sometimes all at once and sometimes in pieces with awake times in between. When I tried wearing the patch for 24 hours I could only sleep about 2 hours of very light sleep. I try to get out of bed when Im awake for 20 or 30 minutes which isnt hard because I am wide awake. B In the early part of the day I am usually very clear headed and productive. This is usually about 8 hours and when I am feeling best. C In the afternoon I hit the wall meaning a rather sudden energy drop. If Im sitting down I often cannot resist falling asleep. At home Ill take a nap but I try not to nap more than 20 or 30 minutes or I end up feeling worse. At these times it is dangerous for me to drive because I have to struggle hard to stay awake. DAfter feeling knocked out for maybe 2 to 4 hours I revive a bit and feel OK the rest of the day but not High Energy like I did in the morning.
I hope the Emsam works for you and the side effects lessen. When I first started it it made my Crohns disease gastrointestinal problems a lot worse but this seemed to go away. For me the side effects are bearable and the upside (Lack of depression) makes it definitely worth it. My depression actually got even better when I went from 6 to 9mg patch. For skin irritation, if you start to get that, I would recommend cleaning the patch site with very mild facial type soap and then a little Aveeno anti itch cream after you remove the patch. The doc had me taking a supposed non sedating antihistamine. All antihistamines make me fell horrible and I quit taking the antihistamine.
Hope this helps some. Ill try to reply more quickly if you reply to this.
Greenmtn
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