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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by UgottaHaveHope on December 8, 2006, at 0:32:04
I have been diagnosed with GAD (anxiety) and then depression. None of the SSRIs did anything. Please share your story. Michael
Posted by SLS on December 8, 2006, at 5:43:53
In reply to Which is better? Ensam or Nardil?, posted by UgottaHaveHope on December 8, 2006, at 0:32:04
> I have been diagnosed with GAD (anxiety) and then depression. None of the SSRIs did anything. Please share your story. Michael
I did not react well to my trial of Emsam, although others have. People do report that this drug produces both an energizing effect and an anxiolytic effect, although I question the degree to which it produces a true antidepressant effect in more severe cases of depression.
Nardil is a more proven drug for both depression and GAD. Since I was introduced to Nardil early in my treatment history, I am accustomed to the dietary precautions and do not find them very restrictive. I would thus choose Nardil before trying Emsam.
Good luck, whichever you choose.
- Scott
Posted by Honore on December 8, 2006, at 8:11:50
In reply to Re: Which is better? Ensam or Nardil?, posted by SLS on December 8, 2006, at 5:43:53
Hi, Michael.
I can't answer the question, really, but have a few thoughts.
I consider myself to have had severe lifelong depression, which was at its worst about five years ago.
SSRI's make me sufficiently sick that I have no idea if they work, but I doubt it. The only drugs I've gotten any positive benefit from are parnate, cymbalta, and emsam. So I can't speak to nardil.
I really think it's an individual response. I found the emsam to be the only drug that's helped me significantly. There may be multiple other factors, but after four months of Emsam, when I had to stop temporarily, my mind stayed clearer and my mood was much more stable than at any time in my life. I can honestly say that although I'm had moments when I lost it, I've regained my equilibrium quickly-- there's no time in my adult life when I"ve felt half this good.
I wouldn't say I"m not somewhat depressed, or am out of the woods, but I'm much closer to the place where the trees aren't as dense and you can see the sky.
On the other hand, my mood was better before then emsam, although very at the edge of not being. So I wasn't in the deepest place of depression, but not stable.
To some degree, it can be such an individual biological thing-- how you tend to react. My pdoc sometimes has categorized drugs as sedating or activating.
As he saw it, Nardil is more toward the sedating end of the spectrum; Emsam is more toward the activating. I usually respond well to stimulants, for example, and think that's consistent with my reactions to Emsam. (Not that that's a general rule, but in my case.)
But Emsam, while it caused some brief spells of agitation (esp. when accommodating), did make me feel more confident, and more willing to contemplate going out, not wanting to sit around alone, but rather pursue some things, see people, etc. Which I normally dread, and avoid.
But if you are overly agitated, and something that's more directly calming might be better, Nardil might work for you. (I again can't speak to Nardil; I really know only what I've read about it-- no direct experience)
Hope my individual experience can give you at least a sense of some ways Emsam works.
Honore
Posted by Phillipa on December 8, 2006, at 10:59:05
In reply to Re: Which is better? Ensam or Nardil?, posted by Honore on December 8, 2006, at 8:11:50
I'm e-mailing with some people who are on the high patch dose of EMSAM and love it. Love Phillipa
Posted by psychobot5000 on December 8, 2006, at 13:37:45
In reply to Which is better? Ensam or Nardil?, posted by UgottaHaveHope on December 8, 2006, at 0:32:04
> I have been diagnosed with GAD (anxiety) and then depression. None of the SSRIs did anything. Please share your story. Michael
According to my talk with a doc who was very experienced with both those drugs, the one that would be most likely to be beneficial (for anxiety) is Nardil. Everyone responds differently of course, but Nardil is usually considered the best MAOi for anxiety, and is sometimes also considered the most powerful for depression.
I was on Nardil for three and a half weeks (not a full trial), and I found that it made me feel very, very laid back--to the point of not being motivated. So it was not entirely a good thing, depressionwise, but quite anxiolytic.
This is the end of the thread.
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