Posted by em_kath on April 7, 2010, at 16:50:39
In reply to Delayed response with antidepressants?, posted by Economist on April 6, 2010, at 20:35:24
> Is it possible to be on an antidepressant for 5 weeks and feel absolutely nothing, not even a slight improvement, then all of a sudden have a response on the 6th week? Has anyone here had an actual experience like this?
> I have been on 6mg EMSAM now for 4 weeks and keep waiting for something to change. Nothing's happening.
I was on 9mg EMSAM for 7 weeks with no noticeable improvements or side effects. Then one day I began to have hypotensive side effects, and around week 8 I felt a mood lift. It wasn't super sudden as if I woke up one morning and felt like a different person, but I can recall the day that I could tell something was different. I didn't really believe my pdoc when he said it might take that long, I thought he was just being overly efficient by keeping me on it. I was extremely frustrated and I had made up my mind that I was going to switch off of it, and then I felt the change. So I guess I would say that I've experienced what you're asking about.Unfortunately it was not a sufficient improvement and I am switching back to a Wellbutrin/SNRI combo (currently on washout). If I could've had my way I would probably have abandoned EMSAM after 6 weeks, but my pdoc wanted me to wait and see. Even after it became apparent that it was not the drug for me, my pdoc had me go up to the 12mg dose for 3 weeks just to be sure. I guess I'm glad I did, just so that I won't have to wonder if I might have had a miraculous recovery if I had just been patient a little longer, especially since I had already invested so much time in it. Now if I ever decide to try another MAOI I can cross EMSAM off the list knowing I gave it a fair chance.
I went from 6mg to 9mg after only 2 weeks, so you could probably try increasing the dose. I hope you feel an improvement soon!
poster:em_kath
thread:942557
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100406/msgs/942663.html