EMSAM Reviews (SELEGILINE)

Average Rating: 3.6 (65 Ratings)

Filter Results

Compare EMSAM with similar:
 ANTIDEPRESSANTS

 Type: Rx Drug

  

EMSAM  (SELEGILINE):  Selegiline is an antidepressant (monoamine oxidase inhibitor) that treats depression by restoring the balance of certain natural substances (neurotransmitters) in the brain. Selegiline can improve your mood and feelings of well-being. This medication is a patch for use on the skin.   FDA Approval Date: 2006-02-27 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

  

Results are sorted by Age oldest to youngest.

Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.)
5=HIGH (this medicine cured me or helped me a great deal.)

Page: 1 2 3 4


RATING  REASONSIDE EFFECTS FOR EMSAMCOMMENTSSEXAGEDURATION/
DOSAGE
DATE ADDED
 
 5  History of atypical depression So far just falling asleep. Benadryl helped. Perhaps this is a bit premature, but on my 4th day I am feeling terrific. The first antidepressant I took was Nardil 30 years ago. That worked liked a dream but had to stop because of severe insomnia, Like most people on this thread, I have tried almost every antidepressant that was available before 2010. None alleviated my depression as well as Nardil. I "winged it" for the next 14 years. Retirement, Covid, and some serious health problems set me back and I found myself unable to get out of bed and could not complete the simplest of tasks. Causing problems with my spouse. Because of my experience with Nardil I requested Emsam. I was surprised my HMO approved it. Like Nardil, I started feeling good within 3 days. This is my 4th and I am up, dressed, and ready to go! My only complaint is the cost. Fortunately my insurance covers all but $75 but the retail is almost $2000/month - so this is out of reach for many people. Well off patent time and needs a generic. M 70 4 days
6 mg 1X day
1/23/2024
Email
 5  Major Depression After more than three years, I have had no side effects. I had tried every Anti-Depressant since 1994, nothing worked. At my wits end, I decided to try ECT, hoping it would kill me, but the psychiatrist said to try EMSAM 6mg patch. He said it would work. After three weeks of feeling like I had the flu, I read all of the instructions again, and it said, "Do not cut." So I cut it from 6mg to 4mg and in 45 minutes I felt better than I had ever felt in my life. Two days in a row, I would cut 1/3 of the patch off, and on the third day, I would use the 2 pieces of 2mgs which equalled 4mgs. Two boxes lasted me three months. My life changed completely; my depression was gone, except in times of great stress, but it still worked well enough. F 69 3 years
4mg
9/27/2015
Email
 5  Major Depression (suicidal) 6 mg made me feel like I had the flu, so I cut it down to 4 mg (I'm 5 ft tall, 125 lbs) and that worked perfectly. I had insomnia, but Melatonin tablets helped. I've been using EMSAM for four years and it is the only thing that ever worked. It saved my life. F 69 4 years
4mg
4/2/2015
 5  Atypical depression No noted side effects. I started experiencing depressive bouts in my late teens...40 years of therapy, every known medication but few with efficacy. An insightful physician and friend recognized my chronic depressive pain and arranged an evaluation at the Mayo Clinic. They prescribed Emsam and it was like a switch...like going from black and white tv to color. The effects were immediate and have been consistent for over 10 years. It’s a miracle medication for those that have struggled. My only complaint is it’s cost...about $2000 a month. With Medicare its about $700 . At times I am unable to afford the prescription and within 2 weeks I return to a deep sorrow, complete lack of mental clarity, frustration and anger... But quickly recover once I’m back on “the patch”. Highly recommended . M 67 10 years
6mg 1X day
1/29/2021
 1  bi-polar disorder back outs, due to sudden drops in bp I finally found a Dr. who nailed my black outs right away. since being off the drug, I have never even had a dizzy spell M 65 2 years
12 mg 1X day
6/12/2013
Email
 2  Severe major depression Insomnia, irritability, fatigue, "myoclonic jerks," "visions/hallucinations in side vision, dry mouth, balance issues etc. I feel a little dumb, in that I only just have realized most of the above are side effects of Emsam. I thought most were due to untreated depression. I even went to an ophthalmologistfor the visions--I now know I also have cataracts--tho' the doc said the visions were due to that. 3 yrs. ago, I had horrible pain and almost every symptopm of depression you can think of. The pain was physical. I got 6 mos of IV ketamine treatments which took the edge off the pain. Then the Emsam plus Ativan for sleep. It probably helped some along w/ the ketamine--but there's been no further improvement. I am going back to Pristiq which is helpful to me unless the depression is very severe. Or I might try Viibyrd. F 63 3 years
12.5 mg pa 1X day
10/1/2015
 1  Depression The patch left marks on my chest een after 30 days. In addition my heart rate become even more irregular and pulse was low 42bpm then at the normal Brady Cardia rate 58bpm. Dr's were considering a pace maker. Emotionally I was not much better either. Discontinued Emsam and heart returned to normal as test by Dr. in a running stress test. So Emsam can have heart rate impact for certain people. M 60 45 days
10/4/2009
Email
 3  Major Depression and Severe Anxiety Major insomnia and Severe diahrria. Stomach cramps. I liked the way it made me feel. But not sleeping and diahrria is just too much. F 59 2 weeks
6mg
10/16/2016
 4  depression Lexapro and Wellbutrin alone were not quite enough. I was still findng it hard to get up and face work. I gained weight on Abilify. Emsam worked after a short time and got me feeling much better and able to face some actual crises that arose. The only complaint about Emsam is that I have recently experienced insomnia, which we are watching. M 58 120 days
6 1X day
9/17/2010
 5   *started waking up at night after I've fallen asleep easily *I feel generally anxious all the time *lots of headaches *skin irritation from adhesive *thirsty all the time *cold all the time I started at 6 mg and until I got to 12 mg I didn't really feel better mood wise.I think if I wasn't so tired and having so many headaches I'd feel pretty good right now. But I don't know how long I can stand the side effects. F 57 5 weeks
12mg 1X day
1/13/2011
 1  depression eye pain, severe dry eyes, insomnia No benefit for depression, eye problems intolerable F 57 5 weeks
8/8/2007
 1  Atypical Depression Daily site-specific skin reaction to 6mg patch. Increased to 9mg for depression symptoms. Severe skin reaction under patch turned to severe auto-immune response (body-wide hives, welts, severe itching)within 4 days. Immediately stopped using Emsam, but required 2 weeks steroids to subdue hives. Also experienced insomnia on Emsam...any possible therapeutic effects got lost in side effects. Will try oral selignine next. If that doesn't work, next step is monastery in Nepal. M 57 3 months
9/21/2008
 5  SAD,ADD,and life extension the first couple of weeks I had a pick me affect and better concentration. sleeping was not sound until after two weeks. I had been in wellbutrun sr for the last cuople of years and very much liked that med. But when emsam came out i tried to get my doc to prescribe it for me, finally he gave me the prescription last month. I used to order liquid deprenyl from England. I will take this med and life extension med for life and living longer. look up IAS for more info M 56 15 years
12/15/2007
 4  Depression Dry mouth Just stared M 56 1 days
6 mg
3/13/2016
Email
 3  bipolar depression I haven't had any side effects. The patch doesn't bother my skin at all. I have noticed some improvement in my depression since starting Emsam but then I am also having ECT every couple of weeks. It is getting better. F 56 5 weeks
9 mg 1X day
9/9/2011
Email
 5  Severe Atypical Depression Insomnia responded to low dose quetiapene. Application Site Reaction responded to using skin lotion to remove. Life-saving and incredibly transformative medication. Too bad it took me 35 years to get on an MAOI. Psychiatry should be embarrassed that they don't use MAOIs frequently enough. M 54 6 months
12 mg 1X day
9/28/2021
 2  DEPRESSION NONE Felt a buzz the morning of the 2nd day, but do not believe its doing much now. I am at 6/24. M 54 19 days
9/27/2007
 5  Major Depression It's been a year since I stopped Emsam, so my memory of the side effects is reduced to just the most problematic ones. At the top of the list is insomnia. I normally sleep 7-8 hours, but on Emsam, I only slept 5-6 hours and much of that was "light" sleeping. As a disclaimer, I was also abusing caffeine (3-6 cups a day) and chocolate (1 very dark bar per day) and these couldn't have helped. Sexually, I found it difficult, but not impossible to have an orgasm. Erectile function and desire were normal - unlike my experience with many SSRI's and SSNRI's. Taste perversion. This is a term used in the literature to refer to drugs that change your sense of taste. What I noticed first was that a beer I had been drinking for years all of a sudden seemed extremely bitter. For the most part, this change in taste was not a bad thing because I strangely seemed to like only healthy foods (fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc.) and had little desire for unhealthy ones (desserts, fries, This is the best antidepressant I have ever been on. It wasn't perfect, but it brought me back from a suicidal brink that no other medications could do (or not without intolerable side effects). After decades of living a muted, desperate and unsatisfactory life, I was back reconnecting with friends, and doing activities that I had given up years ago because of lack of interest (surfing, hiking, traveling, photography, exercise). I quit taking Emsam after 3 years because of insomnia and a gradual lessening of efficacy. However, as I noted under the side effects, I was also abusing caffeine and chocolate as well as alcohol (2-5 beers/day). These may have played a part in both the insomnia and the sense that the efficacy was decreasing. I have read some anecdotal evidence that MAOI's can increase addictive behavior. I am not sure if this is what happened to me or not, but the key is not to get started with any of these substances in the first place. Once you are started with them, it is very difficult to stop. The good thing, at least for me, is that I am now off them. After a year of being off Emsam, I am ready to try again - sans caffeine, chocolate and alchol. M 53 3 years
9MG 1X day
6/11/2011
Email
 5  depression localized acne/skin irritation. difficulty with orgasm. the first drug that's actually helped me with my depression! M 52 3 months
24mg 1X day
7/26/2010
 5  Bipolar Disorder Some hypomania/mania and insomnia, see explanation Emsam was a wonder-drug for me. I believe it worked better than all the SSRI's and tricyclics I have tried over the last 15 yrs. My theory, the MAOI (Emsam) catches your depression BEFORE you can free fall into a full blown one, like a trapeze artist's safety net. For the mania side effect, my doctor decreased the patch (9mg) to every other day--worked great until I had some depression and anxiety over starting a new job. Then we went back to every day. Then some insomnia started, and I asked my doctor about removing the patch 2-3 hours before sleep. He thought that was a great idea and it worked like a charm. Sadly, I have to give the patch up as the lithium that I've been taking for almost 6 years, has shown some lousy side effects. However I praise lithium to the hilt--I initially lost 35lbs on lithium. I am soon to start tegretol as a mood stabilizer and you can't be on an MAOI with that. If it works as well as the MAOI, I'll be thrilled. Talk to your docs about ways to ge F 51 16 months
1/30/2008
  

EMSAM  (SELEGILINE):  Selegiline is an antidepressant (monoamine oxidase inhibitor) that treats depression by restoring the balance of certain natural substances (neurotransmitters) in the brain. Selegiline can improve your mood and feelings of well-being. This medication is a patch for use on the skin.   FDA Approval Date: 2006-02-27 (Sources: U.S. Centers for Medicare Services, FDA)

      Next Page

BACK TO TOP