EMSAM Reviews (SELEGILINE)Average Rating: 3.6 (67 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare EMSAM with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR EMSAM | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 4 | major depressive disorder | insomnia, anxiety, muscle twitching | It has made me increasingly anxious (especially before I cut out caffeine) and the insomnia is terrible, even now that the doctor has advised me to take the patch off around 7. At first I had really weird muscle twitches in my mouth and hands but those have gone away for the most part. It has given me increased energy and helped me out of a suicidal bout of depression, though I still feel flat and humorless. I am going up to 12mg tomorrow and hopefully that will help; I’ve read that the true anti-depressant effects don’t really kick in until higher doses. This has helped where most other anti-depressants have failed; I just wish it helped a little more. | F | 34 | 6 weeks 9 1X day | 8/19/2015 | 4 | Treatment resistant depression | Insomnia, loss of appetite. | 6 mg patches work best for me. I went up to 9 mg but I had major insomnia and greatly increased depression. 6 mg patches greatly decrease my anxiety and help with the depression without the sleepiness caused by most other depression meds. Though it does not make sense to me, on several occasions I have cut 12 mg patches in half, and it does NOT work the same as whole 6 mg patches do. I have a huge increase in depressive symptoms, agitation and insomnia. Last time I cut a 12 I thought I would have to go to the ER for the severe depression I experienced. | M | 51 | 3 weeks 6 mg patch 1X day | 4/27/2015 | 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 | 4 | Severe Panic anxiety and MMD | Occasional orthostatic hypotension, I find this is helped by staying well hydrated. | I have tried over 10 medications for my anxiety and depression over the past 4 years and the only thing that came close to working was a combination of Effector XR, Remron and Xanax. I experienced terrible side effects (30 lb weight gain, brain zaps, lightheadness, insomnia, upset stomach, and still had periods of depression and occasional panic attacks) on these medications and eventually decided it wasn't worth it. I am a nursing student so when my psychiatrist suggested an MAOI I said absolutely not because at 21 I was not ready to make that kind of lifestyle/diet changes. I was happy to hear that on a 6mg/24 hour dose I would not have to worry about diet interactions. The only concerns are medication interactions which I was used to from other antidepressant/ antianxiety medications. After a week of starting the patches I have not had a single anxiety attack! (I was averaging about 1 or 2 an hour prior - these were untriggered). My heart rate which was a resting rate of 120 before is now within normal range and I only experience rapid heart rate with caffeine intake. I was extremely hesitant to take this step in treatment but it has been the only thing to work for me. I have slightly low days but I am never too depressed to function any more and my anxiety attacks have completely vanished even with old triggers. | F | 21 | 5 months 6 mg 1X day | 11/1/2013 | 2 | Atypical Depression/EDS | No real side effects. No problems with patch sticking, even in the shower, or while sweating while doing yard work. No issues with alergic reaction to patch site. | Let me first start by saying, if you're willing to try Emsam, be aware of the price. Most insurance companies will still leave you paying close to $600 a month. The 6,9,12mg patch all cost the same. If your doctor wants you on the 6mgs patch, have him write the script for 12mgs and just cut the patch in half. You will save money and have a two month supply. This patch did nothing for me, except suppress my sugar/carb cravings that come with Atypical Depression. I was really hoping for relief in my excessive daytime sleepiness/fatigue but it didn't help that at all. I had no issues with following the diet, though I must admit I had some parmesan cheese and tried 1 tab beer and had no problems. Caffeine did seem to increase my heart rate a bit, but nothing over 110bpm. If you're going to try a MAOI, start with Parnate or Nardil. They are the gold standard, cost MUCH less, but you MUST follow the diet restriction on them to a T! | M | 31 | 2 months 6/9 1X day | 8/27/2013 | 5 | Fibromyalgia | Yes, Emsam is inexplicably flying under the radar. I'd been around the block from time to time with antidepressants for dysthymia or depression. Then I developed fibromyalgia and the treatment methods most doctors use are still in the dark ages. They don't understand fibro and they don't care. After fibro, I became intolerant to many meds that had been effective in the past. Or, those old meds no longer worked. I also have IBS (common in fibro patients) and everything ruined my stomach for days. Realizing that I needed to try something completely different from the mood stabilizers, SNRIs, SSRIs, etc. it was either transdermal selegiline or Viibryd. My doctor had a eureka moment when I suggested it. It won't go through my GI system, I don't have to watch my tyramine at 6mg, and he had samples right there in his desk that no other patient would've benefited from. They were almost expired, that's how little attention anyone in his practice paid. Since he was more familiar with MAOIs than new Viibryd, we gave it a chance. I'm not exaggerating: overnight my depression and anxiety began to lessen. Within a week I had sustained energy, improved mood, clearer thinking, and no dude effects. Here's the major breakthrough and the reason Emsam is seriously, for everyone's sake, grossly undervalued. Within 10-14 days I noticed that MY PAIN WAS GONE! Muscle aches, spasms, parasthesia, tender points, all GONE. I had my sense of humor and libido back. No more brain fog. Normal word rec | F | 35 | 1 years 6 | 8/16/2013 | 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 | 2 | major depression | anger, stabbing pains on lower side of ribs, slight diarrhea. | while my depression improved a bit, as well as my libido, it wasn't worth the tradeoff of SEVERE anger. i felt the exact same rage when i was on Wellbutrin -- both drugs inhibit the reuptake of norepinephrine -- which is the cause of the anger side effect. | F | 48 | 7 days 6mg 1X day | 5/18/2013 | 1 | deprecion | gain weight feom 133 to 140 my sugar go from 100 to 217 i dont like this medicine, i have to loose weight because my tipy 2 diavetis. | no comments! | F | 50 | 5 weeks 6 mg 1X day | 1/10/2013 | 3 | Atypical Depression | Agitation, insomnia, weight loss | EMSAM is very stimulating in addition to being a great antidepressant. My underlying depression feels much improved compared to my 20 years on Prozac. However, the agitation offsets these mood gains. The agitation is both physical (reminds me a LOT of my trial of amphetamine salts) and psychological (anxiety, irritability). My doctor raised the dose to 9 mg to see if the serotonin would bump up relative to dopamine and norepinephrine, which EMSAM boosts first apparently. Unfortunately, the agitation has gotten worse, so I am starting Nardil, which is supposedly less activating. My doc says EMSAM is less likely to cause hypotension and, at the 6 mg dose, doesn't require dietary restrictions. Therefore, it seems like a great first try MAOI, but it's just too stimulating for me personally. | F | 40 | 4 months 9 mg 1X day | 5/17/2012 | 3 | Major depressive disorder | Severe insomnia at first, constipation, weight gain, addictive tendencies, skin irritation, headaches, increased anxiety. I've been on a few antidepressants that would work for a bit and then just peter out. The best one at first was Effexor, but when I weaned off of that to get on Emsam it was HORRIBLE. I think I was weaned off too quickly. I'm using Emsam 12mg with lamictal and I definitely have more energy, but I can't say that I actually feel "good". I feel okay, and for how this drug ws described to me, I should be feeling fan-frickin-tastic. I'm a vegetarian and have had to severely alter my eating habits. No soy products is not good for me. Also, I HATE that I can't take any form of allergy or cold medicine when I'm sick. Too many restrictions for not having a great effect. I'm going to ask for something else. I'm also still extremely irritable and quick to anger. Not for me. Sigh. Back to the old drawing board. | F | 40 | 3 months 12 | 3/19/2012 | 5 | major depression, recurrent, severe | redness and petichiae at the application site, increased general muscle tension, chronic daily headaches along with increase in frequency and severity of migraines, odd form of acne on back/upper arms/chest/neck | is it perfect? nope. but no med is going to be a miracle cure with no adverse effects. as a vegetarian who likes asian foods, the dietary restriction that i have the hardest time with is the soy sauce/tofu/miso restriction, but i manage. the side effects have been all slowly getting better the longer i am on the med, and i noticed a change within the first week. it took about 4-5 days after increasing from 6mg to 9mg to get a "full effect" which is to say that i feel like myself in a way i never thought possible again. everything i tried before (SSRI's, SNRI's, wellbutrin) felt like a floatation vest -- enough to keep me from drowning but not actually helping me engage well in therapy or helping me feel different. and that's how i feel on this patch...not "better," but "different" in such a positive way. i can engage in therapy in a meaningful way, i have a range of emotions now that is near normal, and i feel more relaxed and at ease than i think i ever have before in my life. and good riddance to pills! | F | 35 | 6 months 9mg/24hr 1X day | 1/5/2012 | 5 | social anxiety | Weight gain, constipation, diarrhea | Because of EMSAM I am able to go to work and earn a living and get health insurance. The weight gain is the same as on when I took Nardil years ago but EMSAM is more effective. | F | 33 | 2 years 6 MG 1X day | 10/23/2011 | 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 | 3 | Major Depression & PTSD | Welts at site of patch for 24-48 hours after removal. Itching and redness for 48-72 hours after removal. Redness remains for at least a week after removing patch. | This is the first medication out of 7 I have tried that seems to be improving my mood. However, I am very uncomfortable with the checkerboard pattern on my thighs from where I've removed the patches. I called Dey to ask for advice on reaction and they have no information. | F | 48 | 4 months 12 MG 1X day | 9/7/2011 | 3 | Major Depression - severe | Emsam worked great for treating many of the symptoms of my depression. I was on the lowest dose, which supposedly has no drug interaction. I had a stroke (TIA /mini-stroke) while on the patch. It appears to have been caused by a food interaction (I did not take any other medications while on the patch). I wish that their claims of no food interactions at lower doses were true, because Emsam did seem to help my depression. | The other scary thing was that the ER staff was unfamiliar with Emsam and almost gave me a med that interacted with it and did actually prescribe a take-home med that had an interaction (I realized it before taking the med, thank God). I should note, the hospital that made the error was a highly rated teaching hospital. I think that providing patients and the medical community with better education and easier access MAOI's and drug / food interactions information would be a responsible step on the part of the drug manufacturer. | F | 29 | 2 weeks 6 mg 1X day | 8/16/2011 | 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 | 4 | major depressive disorder | F | 34 | 1 years 6mg 1X day | 6/7/2011 | 5 | atypical depression, panic,anxiety | Redness at patch site with fading after 3 wks but still visable. Main problem...erratic heartbeat (multiple pvc's) that started after a week on patch. Finally had to go to cardiologist and they are running tests. I also get the chills alot. Insomnia at first but not now. | This med has brought me out of my depression completely. I have lots of energy and a positive outlook for the first time in years.The running negative and angry, hopeless thoughts are gone. The panic is still there when i face a trigger issue (driving on the freeway) but it is dulled somehow and my dr. gave me low dose xanex to help as i work through it. I hope I can continue with emsam....maybe cutting the 6 mg patch by 1/3 will help. I'm going to try it. | F | 50 | 1 months 6 mg 1X day | 5/16/2011 | 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 |