And it might not be mentioned already but taking ibubrofen with this is a very very bad idea because the 2 meds react badly to each other. I was taking both savella and ibubrofen for the first few days (savella seemed to help nerve pain but not completely) and I had early cycle bleeding which was a surprise. Apparently its common to have bleeding episodes when you take both. Nice to know (!)

Overall it started ok but the sluggishess and feeling rundown was moderately tolerable, but when the nausea and headaches got worse with each step up in dose, it wasn’t worth it.

I’ve been waiting for this drug and am so excited to find it’s out. It was getting close to coming out right before I had my son and then I relied on my pain doc for information because I was busy with my son. Boy, I should have known better. All they care about is “turn ‘em and burn ‘em! Let’s get another druggie in and make some more bucks.” It’s hard to find a doc in Atlanta who really wants to treat Fibro.

Anyway, I’m on a fentanyl patch and vicodin for breakthrough pain. The patch disrupts my sleep worse than the Fibro, so I feel pretty bad most of the time. Also, I’ve been on a 48 hour change rate for my patch and go through withdrawals after about 36 hours. It’s been bad. Now that this drug is out, I can finally – hopefully – come off of the poison I’ve been on and live my life. I know it will be hard, but my husband and my son are very worth it.

My background info: I’ve been diagnosed w/ FMS/CFIDS since 2003, but think I’ve had it since childhood. Have also had my spine fused (L5-S1) in 2006, suffer from fairly severe and recurrent depression (I think mostly cuz I feel so decrepit and can’t do anything!), and I think I have arthritis in some joints, though blood tests are neg for inflammation, so of course the docs say no, but esp my hands, big knuckles at base of fingers just ACHE so bad and are actually red and often swollen (yeah, nooo inflammation there!). I am only 40 but feel 90+. I am currently unable to work, or do much of anything else for that matter, at least on a regular basis. I tend to over-do it and pay for it for a week or two (I know, who doesn’t, right?!). I have kids, pets and a husband who is also suffering from severe medical issues (though completely different from mine). Am totally and completely exhausted. I currently take a total of 400mg of Oxycontin plus 5mg oxycodone (4 to 8 per day) for breakthrough pain (usually for about 2 weeks out of the month and I’m sure it’s cycle related). I also take 880mg naproxen, low dose of Zoloft daily, plus more at cycle (PMDD), and 80mg of Concertta so I don’t fall asleep during the day (like mid-sentence or while driving – and that happened even before adding in the narcs!) plus Ritalin for breakthrough zombie-like sleepy times. Haven’t had much luck with FMS meds, due to side effects, and regular depression meds either have too many side effects, or just don’t do anything. I sometimes take my muscle relaxers (SOMA, Skelaxin, Flexeril) but I don’t like the way they make me feel, so I limit those to severe need. Lyrica did seem to help with some of the pain, but the weight gain was too much to ignore. Same problem with some of the older antidepressants (like Desipramine or Remeron) that seem to work great for my mood/energy but made me gain weight.

Anyway, if anyone has any experience with night sweats while on Cymbalta, and has tried Savella, I would really like to hear how it’s going (or went?!). Thank you!