![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by darcan on June 14, 2006, at 23:47:06
Has anyone discontinued EMSAM 6mg patch and experienced withdrawl symptoms?
I took EMSAM for a month to help with atypical depression. It did not work.
As a matter of fact it increased my depression and anxiety. My doc told me to stop 2 days ago cold turkey.
I am experiencing weakness, diziness, and slurred speech or difficutly speaking at all.
Has anyone had a similiar experience?
Posted by SLS on June 15, 2006, at 8:34:25
In reply to EMSAM Withdrawal, posted by darcan on June 14, 2006, at 23:47:06
> Has anyone discontinued EMSAM 6mg patch and experienced withdrawl symptoms?
>
> I took EMSAM for a month to help with atypical depression. It did not work.
>
> As a matter of fact it increased my depression and anxiety. My doc told me to stop 2 days ago cold turkey.
>
> I am experiencing weakness, diziness, and slurred speech or difficutly speaking at all.
>
> Has anyone had a similiar experience?
You might not get any responses to your question because very few people have reached the same point in their Emsam trial as you. The weakness and dizziness would be expected from an MAOI. I would also expect fatigue, given the stimulant nature of Emsam. As far as your difficulties with speech, I don't know what to make of it. Hopefully, it will resolve quickly.Please continue to post your experiences. It will be very helpful to others who must withdraw from Emsam.
Good luck.
- Scott
Posted by Miriamne on July 6, 2006, at 23:57:17
In reply to Re: EMSAM Withdrawal, posted by SLS on June 15, 2006, at 8:34:25
I'm planning on going off my 9mg EmSam in a few weeks (after I get back from a trip) and am wondering what to expect. I just survived 2 months of Effexor withdrawal hell, and I'm praying it won't be like that.
Since it's administered with a patch, I can't imagine how one could gradually cut down on the dose... so am I correct in assuming it will be cold turkey or nothing? Ugh.
Any help, advice, or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated!
Sincerely,
Miriamne
Posted by SLS on July 7, 2006, at 8:35:55
In reply to Looking into EmPower » SLS, posted by Miriamne on July 6, 2006, at 23:57:17
> I'm planning on going off my 9mg EmSam in a few weeks (after I get back from a trip) and am wondering what to expect. I just survived 2 months of Effexor withdrawal hell, and I'm praying it won't be like that.
>
> Since it's administered with a patch, I can't imagine how one could gradually cut down on the dose... so am I correct in assuming it will be cold turkey or nothing? Ugh.
>
> Any help, advice, or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated!
> Sincerely,
> Miriamne
I am terribly sorry that Emsam didn't work out for you. What did you find disappointing about the drug? What dosage did you work up to?Some people have successfully tweaked their dosing of Emsam by cutting their patches into fractions. The transdermal delivery of the drug remains proportional to the surface area of the patch in contact with the skin. I would try tapering Emsam by cutting the patches and see what happens. I doubt the withdrawal syndrome would be as intense as that you experienced with Effexor, though, even if you weren't to taper. My guess is that fatigue would be a problem.
- Scott
Posted by Miriamne on July 7, 2006, at 17:06:44
In reply to Re: Looking into EmPower, posted by SLS on July 7, 2006, at 8:35:55
Thanks, Scott, for your reply. I will try the incremental approach as you suggest, when the time comes. Although I thought the EmSam package insert said you should not cut the patch... I imagine the reason for that would be that it changes the dosage, but since that is exactly what I'd be trying to do, I can't see why it would be a problem.
I have been on 6mg of EmSam for a month and 9mg for a month, and the only difference I can detect is that I'm not feeling the crushing anxiety I was up to about 3 weeks ago. But I certainly don't feel less depressed, hopeless, sad, despairing, etc. I have almost no patience with anyone, still have unpredictable mood swings, and frequently feel angry (even obsessively angry). I still can do almost no serious work because my focus is nil. If this is how I feel if the EmSam is actually DOING something, I'd probably need a patch that covered my entire body to feel truly better!
What I do from here is complicated by the fact that I'm trying to deal with Bipolar 2, not just depression; ADD may be a factor too (in fact, I've become convinced of it). And let's no forget female hormones, and that blessed time of "renewal" (read "menopause")for women of a certain age. No wonder I feel like giving up sometimes.
Again, thanks for the info. I'll let you now if I find some wonderful solution over the next few weeks/months.
Sincerely,
Miriamne
Posted by crazy777girl on July 10, 2006, at 4:11:59
In reply to EMSAM Withdrawal, posted by darcan on June 14, 2006, at 23:47:06
I discontinued EMSAM, also, (cold turkey) after almost 2 months use. No withdrawal that I was aware of. I actually felt better, because its side effects were more bothersome, and those went away, so my focus was on that, as opposed to any other changes there might have been. If there were any - they were not significant enough for me to have taken note of them.
A.
> Has anyone discontinued EMSAM 6mg patch and experienced withdrawl symptoms?
>
> I took EMSAM for a month to help with atypical depression. It did not work.
>
> As a matter of fact it increased my depression and anxiety. My doc told me to stop 2 days ago cold turkey.
>
> I am experiencing weakness, diziness, and slurred speech or difficutly speaking at all.
>
> Has anyone had a similiar experience?
Posted by Miriamne on July 10, 2006, at 10:04:26
In reply to Re: EMSAM Withdrawal » darcan, posted by crazy777girl on July 10, 2006, at 4:11:59
Thanks for the feedback. I, too, am wondering if I might actually feel better when I go off it. I can't tell anymore whether some of my "side effects" are just that or part of some other problem. Sometimes it all seems so impossible to unravel.
Miriamne
Posted by CaseyAzalea on November 12, 2006, at 10:20:02
In reply to Re: Looking into EmPower, posted by SLS on July 7, 2006, at 8:35:55
I'm also sorry that Emsam didn't work for you. It is hard to figure out what's what, especially when some of us have to add middle-aged hormones into the mix!
Since there's so little info on it, I thought I should share my experience with it - I've been on the 6mg patch just over two months, and I'm very pleased with it. It's the first thing that has broken through my depression without causing hypomania and/or other physical side effects that were worse than the good effects.
The only problems I've had with it are the red mark it leaves on my skin (which I can live with) and plain old insomnia, which is getting to be a problem. Since the pharmacist said not to cut it because of the way the drug is delivered, I tried taking the patch off before bed. It's only been a few days but that seems to have helped, without making me feel any worse in any other way.
I'm still cautiously optimistic about Emsam in the long run since in all of these forums and groups I visit, I haven't heard of anyone else having success with it. It's a bother being on something so new (and so expensive!!!!) that few people have used it for long.
I hadn't heard about the withdrawal symptoms before, so I'm glad to know that in case I ever have to go off it it. Thanks for the info.
Miriamne, I hope you find something else that works for you soon!
Casey
> > I'm planning on going off my 9mg EmSam in a few weeks (after I get back from a trip) and am wondering what to expect. I just survived 2 months of Effexor withdrawal hell, and I'm praying it won't be like that.
> >
> > Since it's administered with a patch, I can't imagine how one could gradually cut down on the dose... so am I correct in assuming it will be cold turkey or nothing? Ugh.
> >
> > Any help, advice, or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated!
> > Sincerely,
> > Miriamne
>
>
> I am terribly sorry that Emsam didn't work out for you. What did you find disappointing about the drug? What dosage did you work up to?
>
> Some people have successfully tweaked their dosing of Emsam by cutting their patches into fractions. The transdermal delivery of the drug remains proportional to the surface area of the patch in contact with the skin. I would try tapering Emsam by cutting the patches and see what happens. I doubt the withdrawal syndrome would be as intense as that you experienced with Effexor, though, even if you weren't to taper. My guess is that fatigue would be a problem.
>
>
> - Scott
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Withdrawal | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.