Emsam Patch for MDD or atypical depression

[PatienceP]

Hey all,

I am a newbie to the boards and have an interesting story and I am hoping someone out there is able to help me out at least some.......

I am 36yr, female who had gastric bypass 3 years ago and lost 154 pounds (no small feet right?), well I say don't DO IT! I have never been the same since. So to make a long story short, I have tried a lot of things in my depressive life and the best one so far was Lexapro. 11 yr run on it that worked pretty good, i thought. After bypass surgery life went down hill. My moods were never the same, depression was kicking in and out (more in than out) till i finally wound up in a psychiatric hospital for fear of killing myself. AFter meeting with a psychiatrist that amazed me (and that is a big shoe to fill) she recommedned taking the Emsam Patch. Her logic made sense, in that being, if I am malabsorbing my food, then I am malabsorbing my meds, duh, right? Anyway, so I had to do the requisite 2 weeks off all other antidepressants and started the patch 2 days ago. I have not been able to stop crying at the drop of a hat for about two weeks. I'm sure it has to do with going off all meds cold turkey but I ahve about had enough. So my question is this, it was recommended to me that maybe I should try a mood stabilizer with the Emsam. Does anybody recommend one over another? I have heard Lamictal and then someone else said Namenda.

Any thoughts, comments would be greatly appreciated. I really just want to get back to my friggin life!

Thanks,

Patience

[notfred]

If you have only been on Emsam for 2 weeks then it is too soon to start augmenting. Give it 6 weeks at least. Emsam does not hit the neurotransmitters thought to effect mood until you hit the higher strengths. 9 mg and 12 mg.

So you really need to try the higher strengths if you can tolerate them.

[Kodos]

Whoa, give the patch more than 2 days. I'm using Emsam and I find it works quite well - even the 6 mg patch.