Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Doctor's Best SAM-e 400 mg, Vegetarian, Gluten Free, Soy Free, Mood and Joint Support, 30 Enteric Coated Tablets

Top positive review

It all depends on your body's needs

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2017

I've been living with chronic back pain and several other chronic conditions for the past decade. My daughter has some of the same issues, and she recently found a Dr that determined what was wrong and prescribed a treatment program that made her much better. At her urging, I went to see her Dr, who put me through the Walsh Protocol screening. The blood test showed that I have the same problem my daughter has - a genetic defect called Undermethylation.

As I understand it, the first indication of this condition is the histamine level in your blood. A normal person should score between 20 and 60, with 40 being average. My score was 79, which indicates a severe problem. My Dr is prescribing a rigorous program to address my issues, but she started me on SAM-e the day she got my test scores.

I took my first dose right after waking up the next day, and within 10 minutes I could tell that I was feeling better. For the first time in my life, I am truly able to relax. I've been taking it 10 days now and feel much better in so many ways. A lifetime of tight muscles is not going to be corrected overnight, but for the first time in years I feel like I have hope of getting better.

If you are considering trying this, I'd recommend you look up Undermethylation and see if you have the symptoms. I think it's extremely important for people to understand that SAM-e is probably not going to help you unless you have a high histamine score. If you have a score below 20, then you have the opposite condition - Overmethylation. If you have this, it's likely that SAM-e will make you worse. I believe this is the reason we see reviews all over the place, with some declaring it a great supplement and others saying it's worthless. It all depends on your body and what you need.

In my case, there is no doubt that I inherited the disorder from my mother. She had many of the same symptoms. I told one of her brothers about SAM-e and he declared it a miracle after just 3 days of use. I hope that my review will prove helpful if you are considering trying SAM-e

70 people found this helpful

Top critical review

Critical reviews›

Delaware

It is my fourt brand of choice after being on Sam-e for 6 years

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2017

Updated review as 1/16/18
I had been taking other Sam-e brands because I was looking for something without Mannitol. So I teied this. I was taking this for about a month until I started feeling depress again. Every day I was feeling worst at the point that my husband asked me to take prescription meds because he could see I was losing control. He asked me to re evaluate my Sam-e intake. I hit me, based on other people's reviews that this brand was the problem!
I have been on Sam-e Nature Made for about 7 years without a problem until it hit me that it contains talc and mannitol. So I decided to look for another brand with less additives. I tried Now and Dr Best. I liked it for 3 weeks until I started having problems anxiety,sleeping, and controling my responses. My depression came back full force!
So I did some research and I ended up buying Jarrow brand bc of all the awards they have won with their quality products. I have always taken 800mg a day. So, I tried Jarrow and all I have to say, is WOW!
Jarrow makes this and the other brands look like a joke! Im actually going to reduce my dose on Jarrow to half of it because I might be able to get away with a lower dose. It helped with my ADD and depression was gone in a matter of hrs.
From a ADD and depressive person's point of view, taking Sam-e for 7 years and have tried 3 different brands and other supplents to cope with my issues:

#1 Jarrow brand ( awesome for 14 hrs alone, no coffee)
#2 Nature Made ( awesome for 5hrs and ok for 2hr+ coffee and True Focus afternoon)
#3 Now ( ok all day + coffee and True focus after noon)
# Dr Best ( never going back!)

Make sure to take multivitamins needed for Sam-e to work well!

Old review ( a month before)
I have been taking SAM-e for over 7
years to control my depression. During all this years I took the Nature Made brand which worked better than Dr Best. However, I decided to give this one a change because it does not contain Mannitol and Talc. It is ok but I'm not impressed. I will try other brands and if they do not perform better, I will come back to this one as it is my second choice. I have tried also Sam-e Now but I don't like the fact that they do not come individually sealed.

72 people found this helpful

3,356 total ratings, 1,003 with reviews

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From the United States

Forrest

It all depends on your body's needs

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2017

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 60 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

70 people found this helpful

Helpful

5 stars for great value, works well enough for me!

Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2015

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 60 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

My doctor suggested I start taking SAM-E at 800mg twice a day (1600mg), as well as 5-HTP. She didn't mention that any one brand of Sam-e was better than any others, but that it spoiled quickly and I should get the kind sealed individually in blister foil. After looking at the crazy prices of other brands (I wish my insurance would cover it) I decided that I needed something cheap that I could take for a long time. So I tried Doctor's Best.

I've done some research since then, and even though the Doctor's Best formulation isn't really 'the best' out there, it works. I'm sorry to hear that others aren't as responsive to this formulation, but for me, it's worked well enough for the value that I'll continue to purchase it.

If I skip two days of Sam-e, I can tell that the depression starts to creep back in. Within an hour of taking 800mg Sam-e on an empty stomach, I'm back to normal. Compare this to SSRIs, where if I missed a single day, the next day I took a dose I'd be vomiting for hours and it would take another 6 days for the depression to subside.

I wouldn't say that my depression is 'cured' per se, but I've found an economical (compared to different Sam-e brands) non-prescription, no side-effect way to effectively manage it. I am curious to try another formulation/brand, but for now, Doctor's Best has been working fine and I have been very impressed.

17 people found this helpful

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Dave Sepik

I am very glad I ordered these!

Reviewed in the United States on July 5, 2018

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 60 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

I am rating this product for me personally. This has to be a very difficult type of product to review. As anything you put into your body will have a different affect than someone else. With that being said, I think this product is great. I recently turned 50 back in April and I have been having various "issues" ache and pains kind of thing, as well as what I would describe being in a "funk". Maybe a mid life crisis, who knows. My wife has been taking Sam E for years, and suggested I start taking it. I can honestly say it does make a differance. My depression or funk or whatever it is, has all about disappeared, and my aches are much better... not gone, but noticbly better. I started taking one a day, and after 3 or 4 days didn't notice much. I then took 2 a day, and after a day or 2 I felt a fog lift off me. I am very happy with the results, and I would say if you experience anything I described, I would try this product but you need to give it some time to work. I am saying you will have same results, maybe your results will be better, maybe not. But for my wife and I, Sam-E works very well!

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

MIKE

Edited - Discovered cause of product issue.

Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2016

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 60 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

Edit: Below is the original review. My suspicion was that the manufacturing facility in Italy was attempting to pass off fake product. Doctor's Best and NatureMade both source these caplets from the exact same people and I've had issues with both of them see below. As it happens, I did a little experiment and baked the replacement product that Doctor's Best sent me last week in the oven at 175 degrees for 45 minutes and the exact same thing happened to the pill. It turned brown and oozed out of the enteric coating. So this was clearly a heat issue - in transit or storage (or both) and likely not the fault of Doctor's Best (or NatureMade).

I like the product and recommend that if you buy it, you check caplets carefully before ingesting to see if they've been stored in a hot place.

***************************************************************************************************************************************************************

I've been purchasing SAM-e since 2007 from retailers like Costco (Nature Made) and Amazon.com (usually Doctor's Best) and even eBay (both aforementioned brands) on occasion.

One time in about 2010 I noticed that some Nature Made SAM-e 400mg pills in the blister packs were discolored and soft to the touch. Where normal SAM-e caplets are rock hard and the substance inside is white if you snap one open, these had a darker brown caplet coating and inside was a caramel-like soft, pliable substance. I chalked this up to a freak occurrence and mostly forgot about it.

Well, it just happened again with the Doctor's Best brand SAM-e 400mg pills I purchased from Amazon (verified above) and I was smart enough to take pictures this time. I also contacted Doctor's Best but they have not yet replied. Please see attached photos. On the right is the discolored caplet which is easy to slice into with a knife. On the left is the normal tablet which is too hard to slide a knife into, and the pill snaps in half instead like it should.

This is HIGHLY disturbing. What I'm seeing here is not a case of some caplets spoiling or being exposed to moisture. The blister pack was totally sealed. This is an attempt to pass off a mystery substance for SAM-e, and it has now occurred with two different brands over the span of 6 years. Of note, both of these brands source their product from the same supplier in Italy, so that is the likely culprit - BUT - it doesn't matter to me, the consumer - when I'm getting creepy looking mysterious substances inside sealed foil blister packs from an otherwise reputable source of dietary supplements.

This is also HIGHLY unacceptable. I would say that about 10-20% of the caplets in box are "defective" (or have been tampered with).

I will update review when I have heard back from the analytical lab where I am dropping this off on Monday as well as with whatever response I get from Doctor's Best. Until then, I would avoid the caplet form of SAM-e from Doctor's Best or Nature Made (or anyone else whose product is said to be sourced from Italy).

436 people found this helpful

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JCH

As described, fast delivery

Reviewed in the United States on March 26, 2024

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 60 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

Quick delivery, as described

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Cecilia

It works for me!

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2023

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 60 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

This Sam e works very well! I have two sons that also tried taking this for anxiety. One son couldn’t believe how well it worked, while the other son said it did not work for him and he got a skin rash. In all, it is life changing for two out of three of us so definitely worth trying to see if it works for you as well.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

JCL

Worked for me!

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2013

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 60 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

Well it worked for me! I discovered Sam-e while doing some research on my own and decided to give it a try for my mild to moderate depression problems. It worked for me after about a week I started to notice a difference in my mood, I had more energy, and I was able to concentrate again. A few weeks after that i decided i didn't need it anymore and went off of it and a few days later I woke up feeling terrible with the same unpleasant feelings I had before I started taking it. Needless to say that night I went to the supermarket and bought some more. Now I just buy it from amazon because I know I need it and it offers the best value. I'll happily dish out forty bucks every two months if it helps me feel like this. I will note though that at first when I was switching brands I did have some gastrointestinal discomfort that was really unpleasant at first. It lasted off and on about three weeks, but then it stopped and I haven't had it since. I changed my diet to make sure I got about the same amount of fiber everyday to try and combat those problems and for me that seemed to work. I take one 400mg tablet every morning on an empty stomach and wait thirty minutes to an hour before eating anything. One time I ate something a few minutes after taking it and I did vomit so there's your warning, they actually do mean it when they say to wait to eat. Overall, I'm extremely happy with this product and if you don't believe these reviews look up some scholarly articles on it and the research speaks for itself, I believe they actually prescribe it for mild to moderate depression in countries like Germany. I've also read that st. john's wort works too for depression problems, but I've never tried it. A warning about st. john's though it can mess with the efficacy of birth control pills so I would be cautious about st. john's wort if you're taking birth control.

6 people found this helpful

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lorenucia

I'm no longer depressed

Reviewed in the United States on December 25, 2011

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 30 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

I bought this product after hearing that Dr. Oz recommended Sam-e for depression. Dr. Weil also recommends it but says you should look for the butanedisulfonate form. I tried emailing Doctor's Best to ask them about this, but the email was returned as undeliverable. However, I am no longer depressed so it seems to be working. I have suffered several major concussions which has been linked to major depression. I can get so depressed that I stop showering. I have been on and off SSRI antidepressants for years. They always stop working. I heard Dr Weil on NPR talking about his new book Spontaneous Happiness, and he said that the SSRIs have been linked to cancer and heart problems. The Mayo Clinic's website also says they can cause osteoporosis. Zoloft made me feel like I wanted to jump out of my skin. I take one Sam-e pill(400mg) a day on an empty stomach. This is very important if you want it to work. When I took 2 pills, it made me a little manic which was kind of fun, but I only really need 1 pill. The great thing about Sam-e is that if it is going to work for you, it will work within a week. My naturopath said that it doesn't work for everyone. Dr. Weil also recommended St. John's Wort, Rhodiola, and Ashwagandha for depression. Another important vitamin is vitamin D3. Most Americans are deficient in the sunshine vitamin. Dr. Weil recommends 2000i.u. a day. I've read that over 50% of all cancers could be prevented if people had adequate levels of vitamin D. Everyone should be tested for their levels. Optimal is between 50-70. Go to [...] to get more info of vitamin D. It also prevents depression. The best way to get it of course is from sun exposure, but for those who can't get sun, supplements are good. Dr. Mercola says that since sunscreens have gone into use, skin cancer has greatly increased. He thinks this is due to lack of vitamin D and the cancer causing ingredients in most sunscreens like any of the parabens.

33 people found this helpful

Helpful

IAMM3Z

Wife & Husband's Testimonial

Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2016

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 60 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

Wife: "My husband takes these to not be so much of a jerk. When he takes it my jerk meter only detects 40% jerk levels. I recommend this for anyone dealing with a jerk."

Husband: "These pills help me deal with my wife's constant nagging. When I take them, her nagging only bothers me 40% of the time. I recommend these to any husband having to deal with a naggy wife."

In all seriousness, these help my husband maintain his mood. I wouldn't say he's an overly depressed person but he's always felt that his mood was slightly pessimistic and he's easily agitated by small things. Behavior modification can only do so much. He spoke to a psychiatrist about a correlation he noticed. When he took 5HTP his mood improved. The psychiatrist informed him that 5HTP was the precursor to serotonin. He took the 5HTP for awhile but it eventually became ineffective.

He did some online research which led him to SAM-e 400. He decided to give it a try. He's been using it for 7 weeks and has experienced a significant increase in mood and his ability to manage stress. He still feels the emotions and agitation but the intensity is reduced enough that he can use behavior modification techniques more effectively. We, as a couple, fight less because he doesn't go too far in his extremes.

I don't, personally, normally review supplements. I don't want anyone to get the impression that I'm telling you something like this will work for you or is even safe for you. I can only tell you that my husband had success with this and he had no adverse reactions. It's up to you to decide if this is safe for you and worth trying out. As always, if in doubt consult with a Dr. as I have no medical training. This is not a sponsored review, we've been paying full price for these for 7 weeks now.

Note: My husband participated in the writing of this review. All information I've provided was directly from him and not 2nd hand.

64 people found this helpful

Helpful

cteama

The easier to tolerate SAM-e for pain and depression

Reviewed in the United States on November 7, 2020

Flavor Name: UnflavoredSize: 60 Count (Pack of 1)Verified Purchase

This brand is the way to go, if you want to take SAM-e longterm because it will not tear up your stomach like other brands.
I had been taking another brand for several months and did not know until I did more research and tried this brand - that it was the SAM-e that had caused me severe cramps with vomiting and a late night ER visit because of an unbearable intestinal colic. No one could tell me what caused this and I was made to believe I had Colitis!
After not being able to get SAM-e in my local store, I researched it a bit and came across the many reports on severe intestinal problems with this supplement. THIS BRAND will very unlikely give you any discomfort, although they have to mention it in their disclaimer.
The crux in most other brands seems to be the MANNITOL that many supplements add as a sugar alcohol. It is poorly or not at all absorbed in your intestines. I have had GI sensitivity for a long time but never experienced anything like with Mannitol. Don't even try any brand that uses it.
DOCTOR's BEST is truly that! I have not ANY problems since switching to it. I wish I had known earlier about this particular ingredient, it would have saves me weeks of inexplicable agony.
Doctor's Best is the way to go!

83 people found this helpful

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