mfpdfibroHas anyone had no help at all and in fact additional side effects, or problems due to taking Effexor/Cymbalta or Savella? Is Sevalla the same thing as Effexor/Cymbalta?
Fibromyalgia - Depression Medications?
- Posted:
- 3 Apr 2010 by mfpdfibro
- Topics:
- cymbalta, effexor, depression, pain, back pain, fibromyalgia, side effect, anxiety and stress, savella
Details:
Responses (13)
normajean...3 Apr 2010
Hi. I was on cymbalta for depression for years; I didn't know it was for fibromyalgia til recently when i was diagnosed. Because cymbalta has no generic, I had to stop taking bc of the price..now I am on the old standby celexa. the cymbalta is great as far as getting to the core of my depression and probably did take some of the pain away. Now the dr. put me on Savella. only been on it 3 days and have no idea if it will work... I had been on darvocet for a couple of years but no dr I know will refill it for me bc of the rumor of it being black-labeled. If you can afford the Cymbalta, please take it, I had no side-effects at all. When I get a new Part D Rx plan, I will go back on it - Cymbalta and Savella I pray will bring me back to "life" - Also, this is a real nice forum for us to be on and able to talk to alot of good people.
christine...3 Apr 2010
I did a little research on Savella. It brought me to this site.
http://www.fibrocoalition.org/.
I was on Effexor ER (300mg, over the top recommended dosage) for quite a while. It really only helped get me to a "normal" mood. It didn't help lift my mood. All I can say is do not stop taking it cold turkey. I could no longer afford it and tried to ween myself off of it but failed. Cymbalta on the other hand, I heard a lot of good things about it. I haven't been prescribed it but, not quite sure if it helps with pain.
Savella seems to work the best (from what I've heard from members in this group) with fibro pain.
I doubt if this helped at all but good luck on finding the answers you need! Wishing you a pain free happy day (soon!!)
Chris
wtexaspat
27 Nov 2011
I have RA, fibromylgia, panic attacks and depression.
I have taken paxil, effexor, neurontin, elavil, lexapro and just about all of it.
I am now taking Savella 50 mg twice a day. Also take elavil, plaquenil, prednisone and flexeril. I feel so much better with the savella. Also just started taking methotrexate. The pain is so much better but still very painful from the RA. My problem is the panic attacks. Without paxil they once again are controling my life. I am in constant horrible fear of another attack. I wake up at night soaked with sweats and panicing. I have to get up and walk the floor. I am afraid to go to sleep. I don't know what Dr. to go see. I have 2 Dr. and neither are specialist in this field.
3 Apr 2010
This is my 3rd attempt to answer your question. I had added a link for you that may help. My first 2 responses were "pending approval" even though I'm at a level where they should have been posted immediately. I think it's because I added the link. Anyway, if my answers get through, I hope they help. Good luck to you and hope you find some relief!
christineATU
3 Apr 2010
I heard good stories about both Savella and Cymbalta. I was on the Effexor ER (300mg... over the recommended maximum dosage) and it did nothing but make me feel "level" with my mood. I couldn't afford the medication anymore and tried to ween myself off of it. I never felt such horrific side effects in my life! I hope you find the right meds and dosage to find that comfort zone you need so much.
subzero583 Apr 2010
hi mfpdfibro, to help with my knee pain my doc gave me elivil 200mg at bedtime. if i dont take it i can tell the difference. seems i need more pain meds if i dont take it. not to mention i cant sleep all that well. guess our brains are wired in ways doctors are just finding out...
mfpdfibro
2 Apr 2011
Elavil is one of the oldest forms of antidepressants and seems to have been very well tested and well tolerated with little to no side effects. The only side effect for me is dry mouth, which is nothing compared to all the other side effects people experience from doc's giving them something "new" being pushed on them from drug reps. Moving along. I do have a horrific time sleeping, but if I can manage to get a good nights sleep then I too have to take less pain meds the next day. That's really the goal with people who suffer from chronic pain. They don't want to take pain medication in the first place, but have to when it get's bad. Another thing to remember is that it is very important to get ahead of the pain instead of waiting until you are in full blast pain and then taking pain meds. They seem to be less effective for full blown pain rather than being helpful in keeping it at bay sometimes. Hope this helps! Take care and thanks for writing to me directly. .
legal Add... mfpdfibro
4 Apr 2010
Anyone having sleep difficulties while on them or more side effects from other medications? The last time I was on Morphine I was on Effexor and I would fall asleep standing up, especially when they tried to put me on Neurontin as well. Now that I have switched depression medications to Lexapro (morn), Triavil (which has amitriptiline) and Trazodone (night) I can not only sleep better through the night, but the morphine has less drowsiness effects as it did when I was on Effexor. I now can take medications that I could not tolerate while on Effexor. I have no problems with Neurontin now. Just curious if anyone out there has experienced the same or has friends that take those types of medications and are having difficulty sleeping? I think they put me on Effexor because they made a snap judgement diagnosis that I had Fibromyalgia, where I feel that I may have that, but if so it is the least of my problems.
chronicfatigue
24 Jul 2011
Cymbalta and Savella are not the same drug. Cymbalta is an antidepressant that helps with other things also such as chronic fatigue and fibermyalgia. Savella just came out last year and is the first drug ever developed for all the symptoms of fibermyalgia including the fatigue. I'm glad cymbalta worked for you. It didn't help me enough. The Savella and Provigil gave me my life back.
brenda fain21 Oct 2010
hi i was put on savella it worked fine for fibro pain but ran my blood pressure sky high !now i am back to norotin (spelled wrong ) and this doesn't really touch the fibro pain ! and i just learned that fibromyalgia is why my stomach is hurting so bad ! like back pain and stomach pain(chronic ) wasn't enough !now fibro pain is causing me a whole lot of hurt !
if you learn more on fibromyalgia please share with me ! i thought i had read all there was on fibro but i am learning more from drugs.com and people like you who share and ask questions !
thanks for sharing !
dmlady21 Oct 2010
Cymbalta Is Very new medication, and the drug companies use to say 60 mgs was the highest dose they just recently upped it 120 mgs, and no higher. this meds also helps for periphial nerve damage as well as an anti depressant
I just found this out yesterday after seeing my doc.
hoping a pain free day
26 Oct 2010
i take cymbalta 40mg a day i have the sweats from it but not as bad as from other depression drugs i first tried. savella was given to me by my dr 3 days ago i stopped on the 2nd day due to the unbelieveable side effect of horrible sweats i mean buckets. upon any exertion of any kind (walking included). i also turned red in my face,neck and arms as if i had been running or doing exercise and was very warm which side effects i get from cymbalta but not any near as bad as the savella which is used for fibromyalgia pain and slight depression. savella can be used with other antidepressents to help with pain besides fibromyalgia and to give a kick to depression drugs.
30 Mar 2011
No problems with either. I took Cymbalta 1st for chronic fatigue and fibermyalgia, and though it helped a little, I still couldn't function. The doctor put me on small doses of Savella and Provigil, and slowly increased the doses. Between the 2, my life has become almost normal. Hope things worked out for you.
intheriver
13 May 2011
... Your post gives me hope!! I am sooooo tired of being sick and exhausted all the time, and am almost getting to the point where I'm too tired to try anything else. :( I am wondering what dose you are taking of the Savella and Provigil. I have been on 200 mg Provigil once daily and my doc just added Savella today. I recently tried the 14-day free sample of 250 mg Nuvigil (updated Provigil) and find it gives me alot more energy. It is cheaper than Provigil, if you're paying out of pocket for it.
I just noticed your post was from last year. Are you still on both the meds? How are they doing for you now? If not, did they not work for you?
chronicfatigue
13 May 2011
I take 100 mg twice a day of Savella and 100 mg daily of Provigil. With the Savella it is not necessary for me to take a larger dose of Provigil. I couldn't be happier with the results. If I forget a dose or overdo it in a big way, I have to take it easy for a couple days, but I am not so very sick anymore. I am working on my stamina, and as long as I keep active and slowly increase my activity level, I am building that up, too. Best of Luck
13 May 2011
I was on Cymbalta for Chronic Fatigue and Fibermyalgia. It helped but I was still very ill. I had no bad side effects that I know of since I was so ill already that I wouldn't have noticed. Then the doctor put me on Savella and Provigil. I know some people have problems with Savella, but as far as I'm concerned it saved my life, because I wasn't able to have a life before that. I have to pace myself, but I live a normal life.
There is nothing I can't do. The aches and pains all over are so much better. I could see an improvement almost immediately, but it took awhile to be able to do all I do now because I had no stamina. By the time I reached full dosage of Savella I could see a very large improvement. Within a few months I was living a normal life. It is one drug I would at least try. I haven't had any bad side effects, although I know some people do, but if you can tough it out, you get your life back.
auntniknik23 Jul 2011
I was on Cymbalta and could not tolerate it. I was experiencing severe upset stomach all the time, especially at night. I too tried Efflexor and had major withdrawal symptoms even with the tapering off of this med. I will NEVER take this medicine again. The withdrawals were horrible. I became very combative and very very moody. I take 100mg of Zoloft now and it for the most part does help.
23 Jul 2011
I have chronic fatigue and fibermyalgia. I took Cymbalta and it helped some, but I was still exhausted, unable to work and had to have help with every day chores. The doctor put me on Savella and Provigil (to help with exhaustion). I am so much better. If I don't overdo it, I don't have a lot of pain or exhaustion. If I do too much, like right now because I am getting married next week, I am wiped out and hurt a lot. The Savella has given me back my life. If I wasn't on it, I would be unable to function. A lot of people say they have bad side effects. I have never had any. It does an amazing job for the people who can take it. I take 1/2 of a generic ambien, when I need it, to sleep at night.
lcaldw7
24 Jul 2011
I too take Ambein every other night for sleep. For those of you who are disabled b/c of the fibromyalgia, I have a question. Why is it the federal government recognizes that you have several major illnesses yet when they do declare you are permanent disable, do they require you to wait until 2 years to get Medicare assistance. I have no medical insurance and can not get medicaid.
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I guess that kind of medication works for some and not so well for others. I had a heck of a time getting off of Effexor. I was detoxing from the Fentynl patch at the same time and detoxing from Effexor which was worse than the Fentynl. I think the Effexor was causing me lack of sleep, messing up side effects to other medications I took. I did not feel as though my depression was any better, in fact I may state worse. I am on Lexapro now in the morning and Triavil at night and am finally sleeping most of the time through the night. I, at least, am not sleeping all day like before and now that I am back on some pain medications, the effects or nill to none. I no longer feel like a sleeping zombie. I was just wondering if there were others out there that had the same experience, where those types of antidepressants where not as effective as others. I have had two friends who are on that type of antidepressant and they too do not sleep at night and sleep during the day.
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Their whole sleep cycle is off. I am wondering if others have that same experience. I will never go back on anything like those medications ever again.
a p.s. to my first comment: I am also taking 75mg of trazodone at night for sleep - which really works. It is also a anti-depressant. I see my mental therapist every 3 months and she keeps an eye on me and my Rx's. Hope this helps you or someone else too. Char
my 40 year old daughter was on effexor for panic attacks a couple of years ago and we watched her entire personality change. she was constantly in a state of rage and especially when ever she had alcohol she became a crazy person!!but she was so relieved to be rid of the panic attacks that were consuming her she continued the effexor for about a year. then she made the big mistake of going off of it cold turkey and ended up on her bed for 3 weeks in a horrible state of total depression and was suicidal... this is a bad drug and i think she was not being closely monitored by the phychiatrist that perscribed it. i have since talked to two other people on or who know someone on effexor and see the same awful problems that i think leave permanent changes to the personality... everyone be careful, be our own advocates!!! anyone else seen these type of side effects???
Tp Harleymomma, That is the kind of response I was looking for. I wanted to hear from people who had poor experiences with it as most of us just take whatever the doctor gives us with little to no information on it. My issue is that my condition is not caused by depression, but my condition causes depression. How in the world is an antidepressant going to treat my pain? It didn't and made everything else they tried to give me to relieve my pain worse. I tore out just about ever single hair on my head while being on that medication. I had to wear wigs for God's sake. In addition, they never warn you about how difficult it is going to be to go off of it if you want to. It really was worse getting off of effexor than getting off of the fentnyl patch. People do not believe me, but it is so true. Thanks for your comments, they are much appreciated. I think some people just react differently to different medications.
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I know that when I used to take birth control pills that if they gave me the ones that had progesterone in it, I could litterally kill someone. So I guess not only does my body not handle progesterone it also does not handle noriprinephrin or however you spell it. Thats why I will not allow any physician to prescribe me anything like Cymbalta, Effecor Savella etc...
I had been on Cymbalta a few years for my fibro and it started to mess up liver functions. Since taking the Savella for the last couple months, liver functions have improved. That's one difference between the two.