Anyone Else Trying Savella For Fibromyalgia? (Page 9)

This is a new medication that just came out for fibromyalgia. I have several other conditions involving spinal degeneration , herniated discs, arthritus, etc.
I've been taking this medication for a little over 2 weeks now and have worked up to the full dose. My biggest symptom seems to be upset stomach but I don't know if it's from the Savella or from de-toxing from 7 other medications that I've been on for over 10+ yrs.
Is there anyone else out there that has started this medication that can give me any information that they may have on it?

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I haven't had a upset stomach yet. But then again I'm only been on them for two days. I make sure to take them with a good meal. I don't take any other meds with it. Not even my vitamins!!!! I chose to do this to make sure any reactions are from the Sevella and nothing else. I will keep you guys posted.

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Kathy, I'm glad savella is already working good for you. Obviously, if you read some of the previous posts, it isn't right for everyone. I can relate to not taking anything else, I'm always paranoid that I'm going to have a reaction (I have alot of reactions) so, my pharmacy is definately on my A list in my phone. I'm not ready to go for a disability request. I work, got put down to part time, which is what my doctor recommended for me anyway. We do have a farm and feed business, so I have alot to do. I feel good when I'm active but I easily overdo it because I feel good. Duhhh.. I really ought to catch on to that. Tonight I feel like an invalid. Everything was sore so I rubbed this smelly ointment all over my muscle aches. It's natural, and it is a rub for horses, but.. it works. It's jojoba, thyme, mint, clove, comfrey, chamomile, calendula, garlic & vitamin E. it is for scrapes and cuts and chapped skin on horses, dogs and cats, and naturally protects against infection and soothes away the pain promotes skin healing and keeps the flies at bay. I just don't have any lidoderm patches at the moment, so...
Tessie, I work two ten hour shifts in a casino as a slot attendant. Last night we were swamped because of a promotion and I hurt all over. Now I have a sore throat and swollen glands. Also, something like bursitis is acting up in the elbows. I have two eighteen year olds at home and a husband. (one of the 18 year olds is a foster child) Husband has been unemployed, but will find out about a new job on Tuesday. As far as life stress goes, it is troublesome. My oldest boy and my husband (step dad) do NOT get along, and he lives in our guest house with his girlfriend and her son. The 18 year olds get it though, and they are very helpful to me. My husband thinks that he can offer advice on help. He doesn't understand, and he won't read up. He doesn't listen to me, and it's like I feel that because he can't SEE me as a chronically ill person, then therefore I can just keep on keepin on. Waking up every single day with a migraine for the past 3 days. Anybody going through that? I always have a morning headache until coffee, but these are migraines. I take frova for that. with all the cycle of severe pains starting all over again, I don't know if the savella is helping me right now or not to be completely honest with ya. I suppose without it I would be alot worse is always possible. Can't imagine that. Oh wow. Lori is rambling. Actually I'm going to say it, we all say it; I probably am not making any sense right now because I have fibro fog but when I read others' postings who say that, it's more like fibro A.D.D. We've got all kinds of stuff to talk about and just can't stop writing. Obsessive compulsive? Does anybody else get that way? Is that a side effect of a drug, or a side effect of the fibromyalgia? Or is it just me? Hey, talk to you all later, please take care of yourselves, like how I should be taking care of myself and don't either.... Yep. You're busted too. We all do that to ourselves also.
Seeya later, rambling on. - Lori from Northern Michigan, where we don't have as much snow as you do. Ha!

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Hey everyone. Catching up on all the reading and goings on I've missed. Hubby got me a Yorkie puppy for V-Day. He thought it may help channel my pain and provide a bit more (less strenuous) exercise. While this dog is more than adorable and has taken my heart, it feels like having a newborn in the house. He needs constant attention. I also had oral surgery last week. Surprisingly, it went really well. Was in a cycle of pain that had me worried if the surgery would trigger more. Doc made me promise to take the Vicodin he prescribed. OH HOW I HATE TO TAKE PAIN MEDS LIKE THAT!!!! But I did. And although I was still in alot of pain (not from the surgery) I was at least able to rest. I stopped the Flexeril while taking the Vicodin. Friday I decreased the Vicodin to a half tab. Still slept pretty good and had a good Saturday. Did the same that night with a half tab Vicodin. Woke up Sunday just not feeling right. I wasn't hurting, per se, but something wasn't right. By midday my body was in total spasm. I could barely walk. And I was absolutely beyond tired. But I kept myself going thru the day. What a chore!!! Then when it was bedtime I was not able to wind down. I took a Flexeril (no Vicodin) in hopes of helping the spasms. They were worse thru the night. And I barely got any sleep. This morning my left arm is back to spasmotic twitching, my back is in spasm and I cannot move. I'm trying to find any correlation between my meds, surgery, etc or wondering if I was just at a point of cycling that happened to coincide with everything else. It's so hard to determine. My rheumatologist doesn't ever see any correlation between this or that but I have to wonder. I don't want to have to resort to things like Vicodin to make everything manageable. I don't function well with those type meds. I'm one of those who reacts to meds very strangely, even seemingly innocent ones.

I am curious to see where we all started in this journey. For some the road has been very long. And for others, myself included, we've just begun this journey. What was it that had you take notice that something was wrong? How did you convince a doc that is was more than just.......(??????) and that you weren't doctor shopping for drugs? How did/does your family and friends handle this? What is your day like? Do you notice any triggers? Do you cycle? How oftern? Are some cycles worse than others, produce different symptoms, affect mood differently, body parts??

I know these questions have probably been asked over and over again but I'd like to see if there's a pattern or a link or whatever.

When we get our own board (community) it will be great for all this info. For now though, I think we've got a good link to keep everyone together and communicating. Did that make any sense? I'm in a fog right now and not sure that how I word things actually makes sense. LOL! I think you all know what I'm talking about. HA HA HA HA!

Keep up the posting. We MUST stay connected.

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Hello, I have been suffering from fibromyalgia for 12+ yrs. how can u really tell? but DX after the birth of last child, hes almost 10.Other 2 children are 25&23. I wake every morning in such pain, i make myself get up. it takes a good hour 2 B able 2 do anything. I am on Methadone which helps with the unbearable nerve pain. oxycodone as needed for different pain.(back,neck,hips) all arthritic,edema and DDD. Valium helps with everything,anxiety, depression, sleep,and a muscle relaxant, which i never knew about until a bout with siatica.i try to eat lots of protein,vit D, omega 3. Lyrica is helping but the bloating and weight gain isnt worth it. My Dr. suggested Savella.So I am going 2 try it. I do keep a journal, as my wrists are so cramped up and in pain from typing. Funny I did alot of transcription,was an Optician. worked all my life. Now on SSDI. fought that for 7 yrs. finally got approved. no one understands. family and friends think i am supermom and wonderwoman.I am not the same person. I hurt deeply bCuz people dont understand, they dont want to. they say i hear ya if i am in debilitating pain. NO they dont. they will never understand. I end up doing so much 4 others, i dont take care of myself. things have to change. I hope im not the only one. my pain and symptons have only gotten worse over the yrs. i just dont listen 2 my body and overdo things. i need 2 stop B4 im in a wheelchair. recently hurting wrist and torn meniscus in knee. i swell up in any overuse activity. anyone else like this? will Savella help me? HELP no friends to talk 2. they all r selfish. i am a giving person.i am a hurting person all over. please respond....

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Welcome Annie!

I am in the same boat you are. No one around me understands the pain (although they say they do) and I have no one to talk to concerning my issues. Everyone wants, wants, wants, nobody gives, and everyone believes I'm supposed to be supermom! I try to take care of myself but it seems futile. When I take the time, I feel like I'm being selfish. So, I just don't do it.

I took Savella (twice). For me it took the edge off the pain but didn't take it away. It was a great improvement. I also lost weight with it. However, because I suffer with heart failure also, it had adverse effects on my heart rate. So, I had to discontinue. Since then, I have not been on any meds that help at all.

With the wonderful help of this site, hopefully we FM sufferers will soon have our own board where we can all gather, share stories and get to know each other better. Until then, we meet here with our stories.

Hope to see you participate more and share your experiences. We are all here to support one another.

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Hi Annie,
I am sitting here crying my eyes out this very minute because I am so hurt that even my pain doctor didn't bother to call in a prescription last week. I'm appear to be going through what I guess I would call an episode, or cycle.. the pain is so bad right now. I've been on savella for around 5=6 months or so. It has been good, but apparently fibro and everything associated it can have be fine with minor flare ups and then WHAM!!! I am pissed at my doc, pissed at her office staff, pissed at my husband because he was just going up the road, and ends up gone for hours and calls me from the town that's an hour away and asks if I need him to go pick up anything. Nice of him to ask, but he abandoned me. You are right. Nobody can understand or they don't want to or they're sick of hearing it, or who knows what other people think. I have to not count on those people but need to count on myself. That's why this discussion helps. I have even been to a therapist and she says I am capable of handling things, and that I have all the tools in my toolbox to use. But there are days thatnone of that matters. Today is one of those days. It has been building up over the past several weeks and I'm ready for narcotics today. I've got an appointment for my regular doctor tomorrow and so I just need to get through today. The people that live in this house with me did not take care of things that are their responsibility (keeping the fire going in outdoor woodstove) and I can't even take a hot shower, and it's chillly inside. and that husband just LEFT ME to go visit his friends. He's an asshole. I just need to get through today. So, maybe I know just how you are feeling. I'm not in a mincing words mood today. Thanks for listening. Savella is not doing squat for me today, not because it doesn't work, but because my pain is beyond that. If you have cycles of your pain, you may want to consider making sure you have a back up pain plan just in case. I don't have one... yet. If I call my mom at least she would come over but I am not a good person to be around right now. I could really be a bitch if I were in a better mood. Help! You guys at least understand. How do you cope when you can't cope anymore? Lori

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To the rxchat.com folks: I really get ticked when I open this page and there is an advertisement for someone who says they got over fibromyalgia. I have to tell you, I hate marketing lies. I absolutely do not believe their product is going to match their claim. I would ask if you have had that claim investigated before putting it out there on this. I trust your site, but question some of the others that you are advertising for. Thanks for considering my comments. Lori

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No one wants to spend time with people who only talk about how much pain they are in.. If all you do is talk about your pain then you are allowing pain to control your lives. I simply don't allow this to happen. I also believe that when you take so many opiates or other addicting medications, you really will never be happy with any new medication that is not addictive. You build up a tolerance to the point where they not only don't help you but actually make things worse. It's very dangerous to take all those meds then add Savella on top of them. You will not get a good and fair trial until you stop some of the other meds.

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Savella helped my pain after increasing it from 100mg twice a day. But it changed my personality. I became irritable and angry. It was scary.

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Hi Lori - thank you for your feedback regarding the ads. I'm assuming that you are referring to the text ads / links from Ads by Google? The only thing with the ads on this site is that they are contracted out to third parties such as Google to determine which ads appear. As such we do not always monitor individual advertisers since the ads are coming from a third party. Doing it this way allows us to focus more of our efforts on maintaining the community, rather than having to recruit individual advertisers. I hope this makes sense. Please feel free to email us from our contact form any individual advertisers which have appeared that you are concerned about. We could then investigate them on a more individual basis.

Thanks!

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Sharon~
I could not get through one day without the help of my pain medication: morphine, immediate release and extended release, Soma, Zanax, etc. The list is very long. There seems to be such a stigma associated with using narcotics but I don't let that get to me when they make a difference in living my life or just existing..... Yes they are addicting but my doc told me who cares if they are addicting if they give you relief. I think it is unfair for you to make a judgement statement that anyone taking narcotics cannot be happy. This is so untrue. Yes you do build up a tolerance but then my Doc will adjust my dosing or go to another medication. I am reaping benefits from the meds that I'm taking---I can walk and take care of myself without the help of others. Without the narcotics I would be bedridden and then I would really be unhappy.

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Just started taking Savella yesterday. I am so hoping it works. I tried Lyrica and hated the way it made me feel. I also take ambien and flexeral, though the Dr. said to only take one flexeral when taking the Savella. I am so glad to read all of the good effects. I can handle being a bitch(my students might not like it LOL) and other side effects if this will help the pain and brain fog.

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It seems that almost everybody that has posted has had a flare up this week. Weather related? It has been quite awhile that I have had such a bad flare up. My skin has been so sensitive it is crazy. For those of you who feel the people around you do not understand your pain, you're correct. However, they know you are in pain but can't do anything about it and become just as frustrated as you. They are not usually selfish, they just can't grasp the pain when you look perfectly normal. If you had a body cast it would be a bit different. I think have a place such as this to go to to interact with others who know the same type of pain is great. Keep positive thoughts and try to remember to our loved ones it is like we speak a different language.

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Karen, I was wondering the same thing about weather or the stars or whatever cuz I was ready to sit down and cry!! Thats what I think is helpful about talking to others who understand because (for me) if I know there is one or two other people out there who know what I'm feeling I feel less alone, it really does help to cope to have someone who just understands.

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LORI, how the heck are you now?? I felt so bad when I got on and saw your post, I starting feeling that way about a day after you and BELIEVE me I understand, ALL of it!! I did wonder as I said in earlier post if it was weather related or something. It's strange how everyone seemed to feel really bad this last week. I really hope your doing better, HOPE ALL OF US HAVE A BETTER week this coming week. (I'd say it couldn't get much worse but we know it can) BUT on a POSITIVE note it has to get better too right!! TERESA, I agree with you about your meds, you have to take whatever works for you, my mistake: I let them put me on a slow release morphine patch that is for cancer patients, only I didn't find out how bad they were til after I cold turkey'd them, anyway you have to DO MORE than exist you have to take what you need to actually function. I think the idea's prescription drug info emailed are great, what about ANY who got them? A scheduled chat or whatever would be okay with me, I have no problem giving more info, I'd rather have the help and support than the privacy...how do you guys feel? At this point I'd even post my email if anyone wants it...I'd love to be able to chat whenever. Hang in everybody. HUGS!

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Sorry, me again. Sharon, I don't want to sit around and piss and moan all day about how crappy I feel ALL THE TIME, it is however, NICE to know how others are feeling and if they have same condition and are having similar symptoms it helps to have someone to understand. You don't have to participate or listen if you don't want.

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Hello Tessie and all~
Tessie, Thanks so much for your support and understanding about me using narcotics. I've been on several different ones since 1996. I haven't been able to work since 2000 and have been receiving disability. I supported and raised 3 children by myself often working 2 jobs at a time. Thank the LORD that when my Doc felt it necessary for me to stop working my children were already adults and I had a nest egg to get me through until the benefits started, which is a battle for those of you that are thinking about applying, but hang in there because if you have your Doctor's recommendation and all your medical records validate your issues you will receive disability. I'm going to apply for a part time job on Monday and see if I can return to the workforce. It's very difficult to support myself with less than $1000.00 a month in today's economy. I struggle each month to just get my utilities paid and eat lots of Ramen noodles!!! This has been a big stress factor for me and yet I don't know if I'm even capable of holding down part time work. The only way to find out is to try and do the best that I can under the influence of narcotics.

Weather conditions definitely have an effect on us fibro's especially if we have other underlying conditions. My body lets me know a good 2-3 days in advance of cold and rain.
Well..I'm rambling and I really didn't have much to say about Savella but I'm still trying to get my hands on a program that will help with the costs. Hopefully, insurance companies will see that it is improving the lives of so many and it will be easier to obtain for those of us that do not have excellent insurance. I receive medicare but I still have to pay 20% of all costs so when you add that in with my income it really only helps me in emergency situations because I avoid going to the Doc often to my own detriment so that I can pay my mortgage. What's one to do?

Yes, Prescription Drug Info -- we do need a safe place to fall. I'm almost willing to post my email address also but I think it may be removed. And I definitely don't need any hate mail. I do look forward to chats and perhaps IM's that way we could give our addresses out to those that we wanted to.

Here's to a nice weekend and I wish less pain days ahead. Our attitude does play a big part in our situations but we're only human.

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Teresa, if you would read my message clearly, I said that anyone who is addicted to narcotics would never be happy on a medication that was NOT addictive... Ever hear of rebound pain? That's when your narcotics wear off and your pain comes back, sometimes even stronger. What do you do? That's right, take more narcotics. I'm just saying that if this is how you have chosen to live, then when a new drug, such as Savella, comes out, you will never be able to give it a chance because you are soo addicted to the narcotics. I speak from experience. It is truly a wonderful life w/o drugs . Savella does work...

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Hello to all and Tessie, all thanks.
I am better today. Not physically but I MADE myself go out, an obligation that I had to fulfill. I actually had a good time and felt a relaxation - I ran into alot of old friends from my high school days. then ended up at the same place for dinner as friends, so we had some great conversation, and laughs. this cycle is winding down, but I am encouraged about some additional holistic approaches. When I can more understand the process I will be happy to share. I will stay on my savella. yep. I went to doctor and she gave me 20 vicadin (sp?) I took two the first night for pain and it made me nauseated. And I got my new TENS unit (the third now, the second one didn't work either) and that provides a nice relief on the lower back. My arm is swollen so I rubbed the smelly stuff for horses on it. Just hanging onto the headache / migraine.. but still better. I had to go back and read what I wrote... Ugghhh.. My ugly side. Sorry. My emotions were very high for a few days there. Doctor who gave me the vicodin said she and all doctors are just as frustrated as us who have fibromyalgia, because it is like trying to treat air. they can't get their hands around it. so, somebody anybody... tell me, are there a group of scientific brilliant minds out there trying to figure out what is the cause? I am happy for a pill to make me get through the day, but i really want to see a breakthrough discovery on WHAT for SURE causes it. Past studies I have read indicate a large number of fibro patients with some sort of a problem with the C-5 vertebrae. I have always had issues there. umm.. what's it called..... you know, the spine curves. And I have degenerative disc disease there, and also in my lower back. Did I mention that I have finally done the bloodwork so that I can get the appointment with a rheumatologist? Does anybody SEE a rheumatologist? I had been under the impression that they were for mostly arthritis, but I don't really have a good understanding. I guess google University to the rescue. Full moon, I can't sleep. yet anyway. Yes, to the earlier post, I don't know why weather wouldn't play a factor. We know that barometric pressure changes cause headaches. Ahhhh... the nice thing was, when I was having the really bad days, everyone else (that doesn't have chronic health conditions) were having a crap day too. Good grief, could you imagine living in a country where there was no medication to treat fibromyalgia? makes me wonder if it exists in third world countries. Heck, diet could play a part also. Sodium is loaded into chicken that is storebought. Everything has preservatives in it, and who knows what the long term effects of all that is. Pop tarts and pringles could be the cause of all our ills. More later. yes, please let's please find a way to have a online chat or something so we can all go Hi Hi Hi Hi Hi HI HI Hi hi Hello Hello Hi hello. It's me, blah blah blah.. We can use code names like princess and dutchess and Maryanne and Ginger. :) see my mood is a little better. TTYL. I did have a good friend tell me recently that if you can't change something, then don't fret over it. these things too shall pass.

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test. this is on those google ads. I just noticed something. Their computer generated promotional ads appear based on key words that are posted in this forum.
let me try one. Kineseology. Chiropractor. Reiki. Physical therapy. Now I'll betcha that one of those shows up. I love my savella.

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