All You Need to Know About SAMe

Uses & Effectiveness 

When it comes to effectiveness, SAMe can treat many of your mental conditions. The supplement is mostly recommended to treat mental ailments such as depression and bipolar disorder. If you take it by mouth, you can expect similar pain relief like aspirin and other antiinflammatory drugs NSAIDs. You can use SAMe for the following conditions. 

Depression 

SAMe is mostly used to treat mental conditions. You can take the supplement as an injection, by mouth, or as a shot to minimize the symptoms of major depressive disorder. As revealed by study reports, SAMe can be as effective as antidepressants to treat depression. Some study reports also show that SAMe can help all those who do not find prescription antidepressants useful. It is worth mentioning that you should not combine a prescription antidepressant with SAMe. If you want to combine them to maximize the benefits, make sure that you are doing it under the observation of your health care provider. Let's cover some study and clinical trial details to know more about the effectiveness of SAMe to treat depression and similar mental conditions.

Many studies and clinical trial reports support the use of SAMe for depression. Eight clinical trials are conducted with 900 depressed patients to know the effectiveness of the SAMe to treat depression.

The research discovered that SAMe works in a similar way to treat your condition like an antidepressant drug. A recent study with 60 patients proved that a combination of the vitamin B complex and SAMe can improve the symptoms of mild to moderate depression without causing any side effect.

Four studies conducted with 170 patients revealed that SAMe can treat drug-resistant depression when you combine this supplement with your standard treatment. Around thirty-five to sixty percent of patients experienced benefits after taking these combinations. Here again, you should not take any decision without talking to your healthcare provider.

SAMe will improve the symptoms of depression and help with enhanced cognition as well. It can be helpful to reverse sexual dysfunction, discovered in some trials. The effects will be more on men than women. 

Osteoarthritis 

SAMe can be taken to treat Osteoarthritis or OA. You can replace your nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs with SAMe. You can expect the same benefits. However, there will be fewer side effects. SAMe will reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis effectively. But it might take a bit longer to work. You might need to take it for a month or even longer before noticing any visible improvement. Therefore, even if you do not feel better soon after taking SAMe, you should not stop it. Instead, continue it for around a month.

OA attacks the cartilage of our large joints that include the hip or knee. It will cause joint stiffness and pain. As a result, patients will go through a lot of pain. The ongoing pain will affect the quality of their lives. SAMe will promote cartilage repair. As supported by clinical studies and et al, SAMe can be as effective as NSAIDs with a few side effects

As supported by four trials. SAMe can moderately improve joint pain and function. The benefit of the SAMe is a negligible side effect. However, if patients consider a long-term treatment with painkillers that include NSAIDs, it might cause severe side effects such as stomach ulcers. Users will not experience this problem while taking SAMe. SAMe supplements are enteric coated and will not cause stomach issues when taken orally. 

Liver Diseases 

SAMe can boost your liver health. Cholestasis, the blocked or reduced bile flow from the liver, can be treated by taking SAMe. Patients can take SAMe intravenously or by mouth to minimize the symptoms of cholestasis. One can experience this liver complication due to pregnancy and some liver diseases. SAMe will reduce tiredness, itching, and other symptoms associated with cholestasis. If pregnant women take SAMe to treat this liver condition, it can reduce the possibility of preterm births. However, SAMe will not work better than a prescription drug, ursodeoxycholic acid, to reduce the symptoms.

In addition to cholestasis, SAMe can treat liver scarring. Liver scarring, also known as cirrhosis, can be managed by taking SAMe. As supported by early research reports, when taken intravenously or by mouth, SAMe can boost the liver function of patients with acute or chronic liver diseases.

Regular alcohol consumption for a long time can impact your liver and its function. Chronic alcohol consumption will result in increased oxidative stress, and that will impact liver health. Patients can take some natural supplements that include sadenosyl methionine and silymarin to treat alcoholic liver disease. A study conducted on 120 people revealed that a daily dose of 1,200mg of SAMe for two years can minimize the risk of liver transplantation and death. When taken at the early stage of the disease, one can expect more benefits.

Fibromyalgia 

SAMe can minimize the symptoms of fibromyalgia. The supplement will reduce the pain and tender points. Research from Brown et al is required to support this claim. However, a few research studies support the use of SAMe for fibromyalgia. According to clinical trials, magnesium, SAMe, and L-carnitine can be effective to reduce the symptoms. Research conducted with 44 fibromyalgia patients proved that SAMe can reduce fatigue, morning stiffness, and muscle pain. The required dose is 800 mg for six weeks.

In addition to the above, SAMe can treat many other conditions. You can rethink MS treatment and consider taking SAMe. It can be considered for heart disease, seizures, migraine headache, spinal cord injury, and many other ailments. However, more research is needed to prove the effectiveness of SAMe to treat the condition mentioned in this paragraph since they included small number of reports.

Can You Get SAMe Naturally from Foods? 

SAMe is formed naturally in our body. It is required to perform certain important functions in our body related to our liver, brain, and inflammation. However, you cannot get it from your food. You will have to take SAMe supplements to get the benefits. 

For Children: The recommended dose for children for cholestasis is 250-1000 mg when given by IV. They can continue for 28 days.

These are the recommended doses. However, it is suggested to talk to your health care provider before deciding on the dose.  

Side Effects & Safety 

SAMe is considered safe when taken orally. However, IV or injected SAMe can cause fewer side effects such as dry mouth, headache, diarrhea, gas, constipation, mild insomnia, nervousness, sweating, and dizziness. It may cause mania as well. You can expect all these side effects when taken at higher doses. Depressed people might feel anxious after taking this supplement.

Pregnant women can take it intravenously during the third- trimester. However, they must take it for the short term. They should not take more than 800 mg daily dose. More importantly, they should not continue for a long time. During breastfeeding, they should avoid taking SAMe in any form. It is better to avoid it during pregnancy and breastfeeding. If needed, consult your health care provider.  

Children: Children can take SAMe for a short term both orally and intravenously. But they should not exceed the recommended dose. 

Bipolar Disorder: It may cause mania if you take SAMe to treat bipolar disorder.

It is worth mentioning that only a few people might expect adverse effects while taking SAMe supplements. 

Bipolar Disorder: It may cause mania if you take SAMe to treat bipolar disorder.

It is worth mentioning that only a few people might expect adverse effects while taking SAMe supplements. 

Interactions

When it comes to potential drug interactions, some antidepressant drugs and medications might interact with SAMe. Combining SAMe with antidepressants might cause too much serotonin. As a result, patients might experience shivering, heart problem, and anxiety. Therefore, they should not combine SAMe with other antidepressants without consulting with their health care providers. In brief, SAMe can interact with all the medications that boost the production of serotonin. Some medications that interact with SAMe are fluoxetine, sertraline, imipramine, clomipramine, phenelzine, tranylcypromine, and amitriptyline. Patients will also have to avoid combining SAMe with dextromethorphan, levodopa, meperidine, and tramadol.

FAQ

Can I Take SAMe at Night? 

Yes, you can take SAMe at night. Most users prefer SAMe at night. If you take it in the morning hours, it might cause an upset stomach. Also, a few have experienced insomnia after taking it at night. Therefore, you can try it at both times to know when you can take the supplement to minimize the side effects and maximize the benefits. 

Can You Take St John's wort with SAMe? 

Yes, you can take St John's wort with SAMe. No interactions were noticed between St John's wort and SAMe. However, that does not mean that you will not experience any complications. If you want to combine these, talk to your healthcare provider and discuss the positives and negatives before making a decision.