When I took Cymbalta...it did help with the pain, but it brought on depression and every decision I made became a life or death event. I couldn't take it anymore because of the emotional piece.

The others all gave me horrific nightmares where I would stay up for days on end. Or I broke out in hives from them. No doc will allow me to try them, not that I blame them now.

Good thing I only fell into the anxiety pool...at least there is no side effects with those meds...just withdrawal symptoms.

As for the pain...no meds work for me.

Cymbalta made me start to sweat to the point it was embarrassing, Savella hurt my stomach. I now use a Biotuner with ear clips to help with increasing the chemicals in my brain, It has been around for many years it is also known as Alpha Stim but the US model and Canadian model is about half the price which is why I have the Biotuner. I learned of it through my PT and he also had me read Wheat Belly book and now I am gluten/wheat free. There is so much information but it is really a hit or miss. We handle drugs/foods etc. differently. I am one of the people that is allergic to all opioid based medications. So pain meds are out for me. Others handle them well. You will really get to know your body. Hugs to you sorry for the diagnosis.

I've done much research on AD's, too, since I've been on them for about 15 years or so. I can only take the SSRI's. The SNRI's make me way too nervous. I think I must be sensitive to the norepinephrine. They all affected me negatively, especially the savella. Only took one dose in the morning (the smallest amt. possible), and I still had insomnia that night.

I know from personal experience that SSRI's do help with pain, at least for me. Right after I was dx with fibro, and before it got pretty bad, I decided to wean myself off of zoloft (an SSRI). I figured I'd just retired, felt pretty good, and maybe didn't need it. Well, after it slowly got out of my system, I went into the worst flare. I ached from head to toe and was so fatigued I could barely do anything. This hit me on a trip to Disney World, so you can imagine how great that was!

So I got back on another one, this time prozac, and it did bring the pain to a more manageable level for me. I learned a valuable lesson....that I need an SSRI in my system to help with mood, anxiety, sleep, and fibro pain.

This is a good topic....it should be informative to lots of folks.
Elizabeth

Thank you wonderbaby and rdms94 for sharing your experience. I am doing GREAT compared to what I was like 2 years ago. Improvement has been hard won series of steps. I mean, each of my two meds added to well being,then the stretching/GENTLE exercise added more, then the vitamins added more, then the diet. Call me greedy, but as long as there might be something out there , I'm willing to look into it because there is no magic bullet. It is a combination of many little bits.
Now, my doctor is questioning if I want to switch from Cymbalta to Savella and I am just afraid to risk it because I am doing pretty well.

Have tried both and neither improved symptoms, just undermined my quality of life due to adverse (not allergic) reactions.

Fibro just isn't one-size fits all in the meds department.

I've been taking Effexor XR for about 5 years for Manic Depression. It's done nothing at all for my pain.

I was put on Prozac years ago when I was struggling with depression due to a stalker.

It took more of my pain away than anything I've taken since.

Serotonin is also strongly associated with pain.

Some people respond better to SSRIs, some to SNRIs, and some to neither.

Every SSNI I have been on has caused nasty adverse effects. I have been on Lexapro for years and while it doesn't touch the pain I can tell the change in my mood when I go off of it.

When I was switched to Cymbalta early last year (for fibro pain and depression), my fibro pain finally became more manageable than it had been since I was first dx'd in 2001. I have to take it in the morning because otherwise it will cause insomnia. I think if I weren't on Seroquel XR, Restoril and Lyrica at night though, that I would still have insomnia, but those knock me out. I've taken Paxil and Zoloft off and on after my fibro dx, and had no relief from my fibro pain.