I posted here probably three months back that I had started taking SAM-E for depression. So far, I've used Nature Made and the CVS store brand...both seem to work about the same, so I grab whichever one is on sale.

Basically, it does seem to help some, and is probably worth a try for those who are looking for an over the counter alternative to "real" antidepressants. I've tried as little as 200mg a day and as much as 1600mg a day (max recommended dosage). My mood and outlook was the best at 1600mg/day, but it also made me feel anxious and I felt like my heart was racing a couple times (I'm a 5'8" 200lb male), so I dialed it back to 1200mg/day and lost the anxious feeling.

Problem is, SAM-E is not cheap...even on sale. For the past 2-3 weeks I've been at 400mg in an attempt to save money, and I've been feeling fairly stable (even through a friend's suicide last week), but can definitely feel myself sinking into my old usual dark place from time to time. I think I'm going to try 800mg for a while and see if that is enough to keep my moments of feeling down from getting out of hand.

For pretty much the entire time I've been taking it (no matter what amount), I've felt a pretty huge difference in mood. More energy, smiles feel more natural and less forced, outlook on life has improved (quite a bit at 1200-1600mg/day...just barely at 200-400 mg/day). It might be really helpful for some people who can afford the expense and who aren't super depressed.

I'm going to continue taking it for now, but I feel like it's not strong enough for my depression which has been with me for many, many years. It's been nice to smile and laugh and feel generally better, but life still feels like a chore every day and I'm not necessarily more active or getting more stuff done. I'm still hoping that I just have so many layers of negativity, self-doubt, depression, anxiety, etc that it's just taking a while to work through all of it and that I will eventually feel like living life again. But, for the time being, it's more like the SAM-E is just making things more bearable, but not necessarily much easier.

So, it might be really helpful for those with a lighter depression...probably not too helpful for those who are more seriously depressed. I should mention it's done absolutely nothing for my social anxiety. At any rate, not the solution I was hoping for, but at least life has been tolerable.

Not an expert by any means so take this with a grain of salt. Just some thoughts.

The fact that you have found it helpful is good information to have. Different people have different issues so SAM-e won't work. If you do go to rx I would definitely try to use that information. Hopefully find a doctor that is familiar with Sam-e. It might be beneficial to find out the chemistry behind it. Well, I'm kind of a geek so that is what I would do

My opinion is to use the meds to help you help yourself. So are you doing other things to help yourself such as eating, exercise and taking care in general? Because an rx is only going to help so much too. Not trying to say you "aren't doing enough". You could be doing as much as you can. I don't know. Just food for thought.

I'm glad it is working for you overall.

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Originally Posted by Michanne

Not an expert by any means so take this with a grain of salt. Just some thoughts.

The fact that you have found it helpful is good information to have. Different people have different issues so SAM-e won't work. If you do go to rx I would definitely try to use that information. Hopefully find a doctor that is familiar with Sam-e. It might be beneficial to find out the chemistry behind it. Well, I'm kind of a geek so that is what I would do

My opinion is to use the meds to help you help yourself. So are you doing other things to help yourself such as eating, exercise and taking care in general? Because an rx is only going to help so much too. Not trying to say you "aren't doing enough". You could be doing as much as you can. I don't know. Just food for thought.

I'm glad it is working for you overall.

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I've tried a few rx meds in the past and none seemed to work for me and the side effects were horrible. There may be one (or a combination) out there that would work for me, but at the moment, I just can't deal with the cost of all those doctor visits to keep trying new meds and dosages again and again until something works. At moment, the SAM-E is "good enough" to at least make me feel alive again.

Yes, I'm trying to eat well/exercise/sleep well, but I'm just exhausted all the time. I've been going for walks the last few weeks as the weather here has been getting nicer, but I just don't have enough energy to maintain a "normal" person's activity level. I've definitely been depressed for the past eight years (and maybe a whole lot longer), so I'm hoping that if the SAM-E continues to lighten my mood, maybe I'll eventually feel like I can do more. Basically, when I'm not taking anything, my outlook on life is so bad that doing anything at all beyond eating, sleeping, and showering seems completely pointless and every day is just another chore and the future seems utterly hopeless. When I'm taking SAM-E (and I felt this way during some of the rx meds as well), life seems less hopeless and I actually want to be more active and do something to improve my life, but I just don't have the energy level necessary.