I am so glad! Be aware that the Emsam takes a while to really kick in. I got a little result from it about 10 days-2 weeks but at 3 weeks I went up to 9 mg (they usually want you on it a full month before increasing but I got my family dr to increase it for me a little earlier since he was covering for my pdoc who had surgery while I was IP starting the Emsam (IP b/c I had to come off imipramine to start).

Time on 6 mg is nice because the diet isn't followed even according to the FDA (who my pdoc says the guy who developed the drug says is way too strict with 9 mg). I'm not really required to follow it much on 9, just to be aware of what I'm eating and not eat huge amounts of anything I'm not allowed. For me I am fine with cheese but have to be aware of soy on 9; no idea why.

Having a home blood pressure thing is a good idea so that if you get flushing or a weird headache you can check easily. Aside from my asthma meds causing surprises I've not had too many times I needed to check but I've been glad to have the ability when I needed to.

I really hope this works as well for you as it has for me. Just remember that it really can take a month or two before you feel much so don't get discouraged. I remember it having an effect early on that was noticeable to others but it was a lot slower to really work than I wanted it to be.

THere are rarely any really bad side effects. The worst things I've had I think were some site reactions that improved a lot when they changed the adhesive. I've also learned that for me the best places to put the patches are on my hips, alternating sides. It's easier to apply there because you can see what you're doing and the skin is tougher. They tend to stick best after a shower so I take a shower (don't lotion the patch area) and stick them on. It may take you a few tries to get them on right. Pull the short tab off, stick that part to your skin and slowly pull the bigger tab off and smooth it down; hold your hand over the patch tightly for 10 sec to help adhere). When I was first on them I didn't use the hips for some reason and had to rotate sites a lot; I kept track in a notebook. Mostly I stuck to the chest and outer upper arms then but the hips work a lot better (I think I used to think they would pull off when I went to the bathroom if they were on my thighs).

Oh, my other trick was that every box comes with a prescriber information sheet. I saved them and gave them to all my providers so that they had the reference easily available.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions.

I'm excited for you!