Nobody has replied so..

I've not used this med, but I do know that it's an SNRI which is a combo SSRI/SNRI combo (serotonin and norepenephrine reuptake inhibitor). At the basic level, this just means that most likely the drug will take 2 to 6 weeks at least to take full effect, so give it some time(maybe even 8 wks). Please write back when you've had some time with it, I'm sure there are many here interested in how well it works vs. Cymbalta/etc.

JWM

Spoke with my pain mgmt doctor who wanted me to try this. Been on a few days and it is going well. Will let you know how I feel, I had lots of neuropathic pain previously, seems to help now- but won't know for a bit.

Wendy

Fibro & Myofacial aren't the same thing - but for some odd reason many people with Fibro have Myofacial pain too. (I'm not a doctor but these are my own doc's words.)

Please update later on how Savella is working for you.

Regards,
Jasro

I always seem to be the one who gets the side effects of any drug.

I have noticed increased sweating, hot flashes, dry mouth and nauseous with this drug. I am not even menopausal yet get all the joys that come with it!

It does seem to make a difference with my leg pain, but I am not sure it is enough to justify for the side effects. My back still hurts, which is what the doctor told me would be the case, it really just seems to help the neuropathic electric shock leg pain for me.

I have cut down the dosage with the permission of my doc to see if we can cut the side effects. Still testing this one out. You can order the generic from Canada for much much cheaper by the way. It has been used in Europe and Canada for awhile.

Just an FYI update.

Wendy

@OP

Although I have not taken either Cymbalta nor Savella I have some thoughts that I thought might be helpful, or at least informational.

Have you taken any SSRI/SNRI before for the pain you are experiencing? If so, did it help at all?

As you may know Cymbalta is in the same class of drugs but is actually quite different. It has no ratio of SSRI/SNRI making it almost 1:1, Cymbalta also effects almost every other receptor in the brain, including: dopaminergic, adrenergic, cholinergic, histaminergic, opioid, glutamate, and GABA receptors. Because of this Cymbalta is typically classified as a reuptake inhibitor of the entire 5-HT and NA receptor systems.

Savella on the other hand is highly specialized (when compared to Cymbalta) because it acts solely on the norepinephrine and seritonin receptors in the brain. It does this in a 3:1 ratio, respectively.

Seritonin is thought to be linked more to depression than chronic pain and vice versa for norepinephrine. This makes Savella much more likely to help you with pain that you are experiencing than the other medication.

Another advantage of Savella over Cymbalta is the correlation between taking the medication with food and not. With Cymbalta the time it takes to get Cmax in plasma with food and with out can vary from 2-6 hours, which seems to me to be quite a different. With Savella on the other hand there is little difference taken with food or not as Cmax is usually obtained within 2 hours either way.

These are just some of the differences/advantages I have noticed when browsing through literature.

Savella is the best thing that ever happen to me,
I use to hate having blood pressure taken as it hurt. My whole body felt bruised. Stress made it so I could hardly walk. Stress and sleepless nights made me lack energy. Savella has changed all that!!! I am alive again!!!! Now I have a cyst on 4-5 disk and will have surgery Dec, 10th for removal.
Will let you know How that went. I LOVE SAVELLA!!!!!!!!!

taking Savella yesterday. About 45mins after the first dose (50mg) I was violently vomiting! Afterward I was shaky & quite drowsy. I didn't take the 2nd dose last night, but did take today's a.m. dose at 8:30 along with a 25mg dose of Phenergan (waited 2 hours after taking the rest of my morning meds this time). Nearly 3 hours later & so far, so good. Let's hope that was some fluky thing and not a side effect that will last-I really want to give this a fair shot considering all of my Dr's (Pain, Primary & Rheumy) highly recommended it! If, for some reason, I can't take it, I'll have to go back to Lyrica, which was only so-so for me & required frequent dose increases. Will keep you posted for all interested in this med.

Today I'm having an MRI of my entire spine...they said it will likely take at least 2 hours (EEK!). I'm NOT looking forward to laying on that hard table unable to move for that long, but hopefully with the Valium they're giving me, and a dose of my oxy before I go, hopefully I'll make it through alright. Need to see what's going on in areas other than my lumber, which we already know is FUBAR'd. I've had pain in my neck & between my shoulder blades that might be indicative of further issues, plus we're fighting my insurance (StayWell M'caid) to try and get surgery covered since I've been waiting 4.5yrs+ for SSDI (& still fighting). I'm looking forward to the results of this MRI just to see for certain what's up with the rest of my spine. I'll post on that too when I have the results.

Have a great day everyone! Going to be in the 70's here today, and sunny! (for those that didn't know, I moved to FL) Boy am I glad I did, too! If I didn't have this MRI appt, I'd be laying out at the pool or on the beach, just down the road-something I can do more regularly again now that our "cold snap" is gone. My friends say I'm too pale to be a "Floridian"...we can't have THAT now, can we?