What is Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia (FM or FMS or Fibro) is a debilitating chronic syndrome (constellation of signs and symptoms) characterized by diffuse or specific muscle, joint, or bone pain, fatigue...
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How are you all doing on Savella,etc?
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I hope you are all having the same great results. I have never felt better! It's week 9 now andI can actually walk a straight line again, without any fear of falling over! The excruciating pain is GONE, the dizziness GONE, the muscle weakness GONE. I'm so thankful to my Dr. for telling me that I should try Savella. The side effects are totally gone now, too. It took a while, though, so be patient.
By the way...... I discovered one major problem with Savella which I should mention here....... Drug interactions! Tramadol does NOT mix with Savella. Very early on in my treatment I took Tramadol for pain. I had terrible stomach cramps and vomiting, so I did some research recently and found this information about the two drugs interacting: http://www.drugs.com/drug-interact... I doubt that most doctors have had a chance to learn about this bad interaction yet, since Savella is so new. My own Dr. was not aware, either! The good news is that I no longer need ANY prescription pain medications for my Fibromyalgia. Oh, I do take an occasional dose of Tylenol for my Osteoarthritis on very bad days, but that's it! And to think, I had such a terrible case of Fibro ! Please let me know how your own Savella treatments are going. I want all of you to have the same wonderful results I'm having! I know that a few of you may not tolerate Savella, but please, be sure that your bad experience isn't actually a bad drug interaction like mine was. Many of you are on other meds at the same time, just as I was and interactions can be a strong possibility. You may need to do some research yourselves, if necessary. I hope to hear from you as your treatments progress. I'm so hopeful for all of you who have begun Savella! Hugs to all! Posted on 07/03/09, 12:07 pm |
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Same results here, just started the 50mg pills this week. I'm feeling so much better.
I understand what you mean about the doctors having to learn about Savella. I haven't had any interactions but I did check to see what they could involve. I have never seen such a list before! I also hope the everyone that begins taking this new drug does there own checking to see what the possible interactions are because the doctors unfortunatly don't have time and with so many new drugs out there for all sorts of problems they can easily get confused. We also need to check with our pharmacists, they are able to find the interactions also. Take care and have Wonderful painless Holiday weekend! Hugs! 
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Within 10 days of starting Savella, I was totally pain free. I had tons of energy and was doing things I haven't been able to do for 12 years. However, I had to quit taking it.
My blood pressure was DANGEROUSLY HIGH on Savella. I have never had B.P. issues so this was totally unexpected. It was high from the beginning and didn't matter what does I was on so the only thing to do was stop taking it. My B.P. did return to normal once I was off of it. It was great while it lasted! :-)
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Hi,
Yes, my dr. said ti can cause BP issues - my husband has hypertension so we have a BP cuff at home and the dr. told me to monitor it - althoughI have really low BP. I have a lot of nausea even though I am eating with the pill. I take the first dose between 6-7am, and the 2nd dose between 2-3 pm. Nausea has always been a bad symptom of fibro for me so it's intensified with the savella. I've also had on and off dizziness - not bad though. I'm finally up to the 50 mg and last night, even though I was VERY tired, I kept waking up and tossing and turning. I thought taking the pill earlier in the afternoon would help prevent this. Does anyone have any advice?? Even at 50 mg my pain has almost disappeared. My shoulders and neck are still tight and sore, but the nightly leg and hip pains are almost non-existent. I even have bursts of energy which I haven't had in a long time and I was able to keep up to a hectic schedule over the holiday weekend. I'm worried about the cost of the actual prescrip - will have to call insurance this week. What is everyone else paying for 100 mg a day? Please check drug interaction websites. something as simple as benadryl will react with this med. My dr. said mostly the interactions just make the normal side effects worse - so if I need to take my migraine pain med or benadryl I'll just be nauseated. Oh, and it can make you more sleepy. By the way, has anyone gotten sleepy from the pill - like 30-60 minutes after taking it?? I've read it can be a side effect but no one has mentioned it. I almost fell asleep in church this morning! Hugs to all of you fellow SAvella users!
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MOM29 - Have you tried candied ginger for your nausea? I swear by that. It can be tough to find in stores but you can always get it on the internet. I take a very small piece to suck on, maybe 1/4 inch square, and within a couple of minutes the nausea is gone.
I had to pay for my first 30 days of Savella out of pocket and it was $258. It included the titration in the beginning so it wasn't 30 days of 100mg. The pharmacy said it would be about $85 a month after that with insurance. My sleep patterns got better on the Savella by the time I was up to 100 mg a day.
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Hi Mom29. I wonder if I might ask why you take your second dose of Savella in the early afternoon, fairly close to your first dose? I take my second dose just before I go to bed so that the spacing between doses is close to every 12 hours. I haven't had any sleeping problems doing this. Maybe you should try it.
Good luck !
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I was told that if you take it close to bedtime it can really mess up your sleep schedule. My first does is pretty early in the morning - so there's still at least a good 9 hours between doses.
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Hi Mom, thanks for your reply. I haven't had any sleep issues with the Savella, so I would imagine that it's a case by case thing. I probably tend to get sleepier after taking the pill which may actually help me to sleep better. If you're getting sleepy after taking yours in the afternoon, then why not try it before bedtime so that you won't toss and turn so much. Just a thought.
Hugs, Sue
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I use the drug interaction tool anytime I get a new med. I see my dr thursday and will see what he says because the interactions between my savella and two other of my meds have the red flag warning. He actually prescribed the savella and trazodone on the same day so he must not know about it.
Otherwise, I must say that I haven't had as much pain in my arms and legs but my neck, shoulders, and hip have not changed. But I am only on day 11.
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I had to stop Savella, It was causing me to have heart palpatations just like lylrica did.Dr. perscribed toprol and it made it worse.I did well on Lylrica until the heart problem started .Coulden't stay on savella long enough to find out.the heart problem started after I was on 100 mg daily, for seven days and I stopped.It also made me have motion sickness every time I was in the car.
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Hi Sue,
I'm not sure it's on a case by case basis. The noreinephrine that is affected by Savella causes alertness and arousal - that's just the way that our bodies react to that stress hormone. IT's also the same hormone that creates the fight or flight response. People like us don't have enough of it so maybe once we get up to a full dosage and our bodies are used to the higher amounts of it then it doesn't affect our sleep?? Protein from meat, egg whites, and nuts also help your body to make more of the hormone. "Norepinepherine Functions in: Arousal, energy, drive Stimulation Fight or Flight Norepinepherine Deficiencies result in: Lack of energy Lack of motivation First 'state' called depression"
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