my pain mgmt doc just gave me samples of this med last week. I was hunting around here for anyone else who might be taking it. I have been on effexor for some time now, but low dose to avoid the weight gain, with wellbutrin to keep my spirits up. Together they were pretty good but somehow the last few months everything was wacky....so this month my doc suggested i give it a try.

anyone else tried it yet?

i stopped my effexor last friday, and have been ramping up the savella since thursday. definitely having some withdrawal symptoms but not nearly as bad as trying to quit effexor w/o taking something in its place. today i ramped up to the 50mg pills and actually felt sort of normal. I hope hope it works...especially the no weight gain part. i have been expanding even on a low dose of effexor.... really need to quit that!

I have found Mirapex (a Parkinson's Disease) medication, 4.5 mg or 3 tabs at night to work better than Lyrica. Now, Mirapex is not without side effects but I could not tolerate Lyrica's side effects whatsoever.

Mere

I apologize for double posting. I tend to lose my train of thought (fibrofog I guess). I also wanted to say that my Rheumy told me that the Humira I inject (for my arthritis) also helps FMS. I have found this to be true after having missed a dose.

In support of this statement, Swedish Researchers injected Humira in patients that did not have arthritis but suffered from chronic back pain. Well, it worked in relieving the pain after just one injection. If I remember what he said, apparently, TNF blockers work to balance Substance P (excessive in FMS) and another brain chemical - the name I cannot remember. The drawback = price. Without insurance coverage, Humira costs around $1,000(+) per injection. Injections are 2x per month.

Unfortunately, Humira is not approved for use in controlling the pain of FMS. It should be.

Interesting stuff...

Mere

This is interesting... I wonder if studies are peing done... or if there are drug similarities?