I have heard that Savella doesn't work very well (this from my rheumatologist) so I never tried it. I'm glad it works for you. The Cymbalta provided great pain relief, but it wasn't worth the side effects (weight gain, spaciness, flat affect)-I felt like I wasn't really living, I was so out of it. It would definitely be an either/or situation for you--Savella or Cymbalta.

I asked for the Topamax, because it was weight neutral and I figured it couldn't hurt. I believe they also say it is a mood stabilizer. I'm not sure I noticed that effect, but it did work on the PN. Oh, and I used it as a sleep aid for the insomnia-it worked ok for that purpose. The side effects were dry hair (some people report it makes their hair fall out-not me) and a tingling sensation in my fingertips.

Yeah, I have quite a few health problems-that's what happens when you go 36 years without being properly diagnosed or treated for lyme. I really believe all of my problems stem from the undiagnosed lyme. If I could eradicate the lyme, I believe I would lose most of my pain and a few diagnoses.

As for the Marshall Protocol, I totally agree with Dr. Marshall's theory of inflammation being caused by bacterial infections of all kinds. Right now my Sjogrens and Lyme treatments are totally stalled because of the raging inflammation that refuses to die down inside of me. Neither treatment (the antibiotics for the lyme and the Plaquenil for the Sjogrens) is adequately addressing the inflammation, and without addressing the inflammation, nothing will work...at least it hasn't for the past 3 years. I've been going nowhere but down hill. So when I read about the Benicar eradicating inflammation by actually inhibiting NF-Kb, thereby eracaditing TNF-a, I knew that Dr. Marshall had hit on an actual direction to treat BOTH my Sjogren's & the Lyme (through the addition of minocycline then clindamycin). Luckily, my LLMD agreed and I'm supposed to start it once my insurance kicks in (the necessary Benicar is $700/month...ouch)..hopefully next week. I will definitely keep you posted.