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Q: I am about to start on the EMSAM patch for migraine prevention. Any body else on it with success?
Hi tracsj,
Emsam or Selegiline is a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) that is used to treat depression and other disorders. Nardil another MAOI is used for Migraine prevention. There are some important precautions people taking these medications need to be aware of: they may increase the risk for high blood pressure if they consume tyramine-containing foods or beverages, including aged cheeses, most red wines, vermouth, dried meats and fish, canned figs, fava beans, and concentrated yeast products.
If this medication isn't for you, don't lose hope, there are over 100 medications for Migraine prevention. You can read more about these in this article: Migraine Preventive Medications - Too Many Options To Give Up!
I haven't used this particular medication, but maybe others who have will hopefully be along to lend their experiences. Or you may want to ask this question in the forum. You'll need to register again once there because it's a separate membership database, but you can use the same member name, email address, and password that you used here. You can find our forum at http://forums.healthcentral.com/discussion/migraine/forums.
I hope this helps
Hey there,
How is the patch working for you so far? Have you found it helpful? My Dr just started me on the Emsam patch. He has high hopes for it to start controling my migraines as I have not responded to any other treatment so far. I have only had it for about a week, so I can't tell you if it works for me yet or not. But I am hopeful with this one. I hope its helping you, too!
Hey,
I see Dr. Nissan at the Diamond headache clinic. Small world ;) I have been on the patch for nearly a month now. I was actually experiencing some depression along with my chronic migraines so we were hoping to kill 2 birds with one stone. Just in this matter of time, it has completely knock out the depression symptoms, but hasn't started to help the headaches yet. I have even more hope in this med working for my migraines since it has helped in this way already. My doc says it is a matter of chemical imbalance for both diseases, so I can see that this one will lead me a little more towards success. It is a little different than most meds I have tried, especially with the diet changes, but it isn't bad at all. My only problem is that I have a hard time sleeping, but that is supposed to go away with in a coulpe weeks. I am heading back to diamond tomorrow, so I will see what my doc has to say about it.
If your doc thinks it can help, I hope you can figure out a way to try it. I have to pay a much higher price than normal, as my insurance will only partially cover it. I couldn't manage to pay full price. Maybe your insurance will cover a different MAOI, one of the pills like Nardil? I am wishing you luck as you try to find better management for your migraines! You can call your doc and ask them about it over the phone since you ahve a couple weeks till you go back. I have had to call my doc a lot.
I was on Nardil for about 6 months. It has been the only thing that has helped me with my headaches but I had to discontinue it because of fainting spells. I also had trouble sleeping.
https://www.rxhope.com/pap/info/paplist.aspx?drugid=4649&fieldtype=drugid
try this site to see if it you can get assistance with buying you emSAM. Worth a try. I have used similar sites like this for my patients with other meds but not with emSam and they are helpful.
tanya
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Hi,
I just noticed your reply. Sorry to take so long in getting back to you.
I didn't start it because my insurance would not pay for it for headache. I am going back to my doctor at Diamond Headache clinic in a couple of weeks and we will talk about it. How is it working for you? I would like to try it but don't feel that I can afford it. Are you going to a headache clinic or just a local doctor?