You know the saying, ‘If I had a dollar…’, well there’s so many ways I could finish that sentence, especially in relation to the most common questions I’m asked by praccies on a weekly basis and ‘Can my patient on antidepressant ‘X’ take SAMe?’, would be in the top 10! While many of you might be mouths agape reading this, I bet the cause of that comical expression is not the same for everyone. Yes, like you, they’ve read the mandatory label warning: ‘individuals who are using prescription antidepressants or suffer from bipolar depression should not use this product unless under the supervision of a healthcare practitioner’ – but let me ask you, how do you interpret that? Turns out there are several interpretations and the most common is the most incorrect.
Yes you heard me.
It’s time to remove that stain on SAMe’s reputation and take this nutraceutical, lauded amongst researchers and clinicians internationally for its excellent safety profile exactly in that scenario, in combination with antidepressants and other psych meds, out of the naughty corner – where it was mistakenly put in the first place!
[No one puts SAMe in the corner 😂]
But I’m in no doubt many of you will take some convincing and while I am armed and dangerous ready with the answers, some will want to hear it from more than just me (and I 🙌 you ) Easy then – just read the research – take these for starters this one, that one, oh and this one – but there’s plenty more! Once you have, you’ll likely be scratching your head and asking yourself as I did, ‘How did we come to be so misinformed and come to a place where SAMe is so misunderstood?!’
I can answer that too 😉
And then for good measure I hope your brain pings you straight back to that warning on the SAMe label to follow up with – and what is the actual correct meaning and take-home of that label warning then?!🤔
In the previous Update in Under 30 episode we established where are lot of the misunderstanding originates with SAMe, in particular from lab based research that has little-no relevance on the effects of taking SAMe as a supplement, given what we understand now about its bioavailability and pharmacokinetics. While this helped us contextualise such ideas and get some serious perspective on the camp that exudes mild-moderate SAMe hysteria (arms flailing like the robot from Lost in Space, ‘Danger Will Robinson!”), supplemental SAMe is not right nor safe for all. And that is indeed something we need to sharpen our tools and our skills in recognising, monitoring and managing. Just a little somethin’ for your Christmas stocking & all those lazy hours on the beach you’re banking on over the break 😉
You’re welcome🤶
