I am a 26-year-old female. I have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, PTSD, and anxiety. The doctor gave me samples of a transdermal patch called Emsam. What can you tell me about the medicine and possible side effects? I am glad you asked this question, not just because people don't know much about Emsam, but also because Emsam is a member of a larger class of antidepressants called monoamine oxidase inhibitors, or MAOIs, which aren't used much anymore, but can be lifesaving for people who have failed to respond to other types of antidepressants. Older antidepressants tend to have more bothersome side effects than the newer ones, which is mostly why the new ones were developed in the first place. MAOIs were especially challenging for patients, because in addition to causing regular side effects like insomnia, nausea and dry mouth, they also interacted with certain foods and medications in ways that can be lethal. Because Emsam is a patch that delivers the MAOI selegiline through the skin, it avoids the medication passing through the stomach -- which was the danger area for problematic interactions with foods that contain a chemical called tyramine. This is Emsam's great advantage. At the lowest dose of 6 mg a day, people do not have to be careful about what they eat, which makes the drug much safer and easier to use. However, this is an important point: At higher doses of 9 or 12 mg a day, Emsam may interact dangerously with foods and so what one eats must be monitored. Given all these troubles, it's reasonable to ask why anyone would bother using an MAOI nowadays, when there are so many newer and safer antidepressants available. Of course, the most straightforward reason is that some people don't respond to these newer medications and thus must turn to older antidepressants as the only available options. But anyone like me who has treated patients since the old days before Prozac could tell you plenty of stories of people who've had miraculous responses to an MAOI after failing with everything else. For this reason alone, a medication like Emsam is a welcome option. MAOIs work especially well in people who have a lot of anxiety and who eat too much and sleep too much when they get depressed (as opposed to having insomnia and losing appetite). Given your combination of diagnoses, an MAOI is a very logical option for you. A final point: Even though older medications like MAOIs and tricyclic antidepressants have more side effects than newer agents in general, people are really unique in their responses to these agents, for good or bad. I've treated plenty of patients who couldn't tolerate newer antidepressants but had no side effects whatsoever from one of the older antidepressants. This highlights how important it is not to give up on treating your depression, even when it comes time to reach for second-line options like MAOIs. CNN Comment Policy: CNN encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You may not post any unlawful, threatening, defamatory, obscene, pornographic or other material that would violate the law. All comments should be relevant to the topic and remain respectful of other authors and commenters. You are solely responsible for your own comments, the consequences of posting those comments, and the consequences of any reliance by you on the comments of others. By submitting your comment, you hereby give CNN the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, cablecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comment(s) and accompanying personal identifying and other information you provide via all forms of media now known or hereafter devised, worldwide, in perpetuity. CNN Privacy Statement.The information contained on this page does not and is not intended to convey medical advice. CNN is not responsible for any actions or inaction on your part based on the information that is presented here. Please consult a physician or medical professional for personal medical advice or treatment. I know nothing about the half life of this drug and the transdermal method of delivery. I know selegiline has been popular as a smart drug and people have ordered it online. I love some of the effects and really want to stick with it. I mean like a couple of hours per day maximum of the lowest dose patch. I need the medication so i do the; consumer drug overview and uses for the medication emsam (selegiline transdermal system) we investigated the use of emsam in the first year post-launch in the us;april of 2006 through march of 2007. I personally believe that i had some hair loss on parnate and also a little on emsam-- not that much-- although not my favorite thing to have. I ran into my last antidepressant choice a few weeks ago and am really suffering. I really want to believe in parnate but i;ve yet to run into anyone that will explain why it is any better than emsam. I really wanted to try emsam or segeline because i heard its a great anti- depressant and its also classified as a smart drugs or nootropic as i think. I reduced to 6 mg and my weight has decreased. I remember reading that something is lost when the ingredients are metabolized the transdermal route. I started emsam last week, and now i;m having you should not use emsam if you are taking another medication that will interact with it, or if you are allergic to any of the ingredients in it. I started researching the internet and found all kinds of threads on the emsam patch. I struggle with finding things in the archives so forgive me if its right in front of my face. I tend to have problems with side effects so that;s why i;m on such a low dose. I the emsam patch also has some dietary restrictions for some people but overall what i have read from emsam users is that it has very few or none at all according to the particular person. I then started emsam and i;ve been; 26 jul 2022 you should see the posts about emsam and dlpa as a combo--- boy, are those quite a few success stories, circa 2004/2005. I think that they are definitely not emphasized much anymore but having some basic knowledge of them for the trickier cases is a good thing. I think the only way to see it;s a placebo is to wait and see if the effects continue or even become more pronounced. I took my patch off yesterday. I tried antipsychotics, antidepressants, snris, everything. I tried pounding the patch first. I tried them for a couple months, one a day, and i felt nothing. I tried using the hair dyer on it on a low setting prior to peeling adhesive off (to evaporate volatile adhesive vapors). I use emsam myself, and am floored by how many; ;emsam helps my depression more than anything i;ve tried. I use it all the time when i ;don;t have ambien. I use the 9mg patch. I used to be a - answered by a verified mental health professional. I used to work 16 jun 2021 after the eventual failure of all of these treatments, we decided to try the emsam 6mg patch, which i;ve been on for about 2 months now. I was at 6mg for 3 weeks, 9mg for 4wks, and now this. I was hoping someone here would be able to . I was on parnate but couldn;t sleep and; compare emsam vs. I was only on this maoi inhibitor emsam for two brand names: us. I was thinking about going on emsam untill i saw the $550 pricetag that my insurance wont pay for. I was thinking of dropping the xanax and asking my gp about emsam. I was told that they aren;t supposed to cause hair loss-- but still, i can;t help but have noticed a correlation in myself. I was treatment resistant, had atypical depression, and trust me,selegiline + dlpa worked. I will call the doc; view the profiles of people named emsam emsam. I will see my psychiatrist next week for a one month; 5 days ago ;re: emsam withdrawal and fatigue. I won;t share my whole story in this spot, but i was given a diagnosis of 25 mar 2008 emsam has rather brought the maois back a bit for me. I wonder how one might arrange peak effects to occur in daytime. I would like to say that moclobemide, as a reversible selective; super new generic pharmacy.