Milnacipran and Nausea: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Sim...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 31, 2018

For Fibromyalgia "Need lots of water to drink, take with food, nausea will happen if I do not. My vision is a little more blurry, but my time to get new glasses is coming in a few months. Overall, this medication is the first out of all the meds I have tried to help the most. I gave my doctor a hug because my pain went from tears to tolerable and able to go to work and do my job. I had to fight my insurance for this medication as it was not listed to cover but was approved after 2 weeks of going back and forth."

• Anonymous
• January 6, 2012

For Fibromyalgia "I have been taking Savella for 8 weeks now. I was recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia after battling with the symptoms for 4 years. At first, Savella was terrible. I took the titration pack, which gradually ups the dose until you get to 50 mg twice a day. I wanted to stop after the second day. I was feeling angry, having headaches, nausea, and some vomiting... you name the symptom and I had it. For whatever reason, I pushed through, and it gradually became better. I noticed after a week I was waking up with more ease than I had in 4 years, and I didn't have the overwhelming fatigue I usually did. The only side effect that I still have is hot flash/sweating. Sometimes it seems unbearable, but compared to the fatigue/pain, I think I can handle it."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 8, 2012

For Fibromyalgia "I was taking 50 mg 2x a day for my fibromyalgia pain. It was working well for my pain, but now I'm having side effects. I get a headache and nausea after I take the medicine. I also suffer from chronic migraine headaches, so this is very bad to have a medicine adding to my headache problems. I'm so frustrated. Without this medicine, I ache so bad, I get a headache, and I'm miserable, but with it, I have a migraine. I've probably been on Savella for 3 months now. I've had to cut back to 25 mg 1x daily and take Lyrica at night. I will say too that I still had bad shoulder tension while on the medicine, but the rest of my fibromyalgia pain was gone. I was getting my life back."

• LOV...
• October 29, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I've had fibromyalgia since 2004 and neuropathy. I am on my 8th day of Savella, and yes, the first couple of days there was nausea, but I wasn't in pain. Then today, the pain came back, but it's not as bad. Overall, I feel like this medicine is really helping me a lot. No side effects other than nausea, and I do have less pain and feel like I can go back to work now. I hope this medicine works for everyone as it has for me. I also tried Lyrica, Cymbalta, Darvocet, Gabatril, Ultram, Effexor, Lexapro...Savella is the best yet!"

• jen...
• December 31, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I am 27 years old and have had fibromyalgia for 5 years. I've been to many doctors and always left feeling crazy or like they didn't believe me, 'I was too young to feel that way.' I've tried numerous drugs related to fibro, and nothing has helped. I felt as if I was getting worse and got almost every side effect of each drug I tried. I was giving up. I switched to a new doctor last year, and she is amazing. She hasn't given up on me. She told me about Savella and asked if I'd be her guinea pig. This drug has changed my life! I can get through the day normally now. At first, I had some hot flashes and nausea, but they subsided after a few weeks. I still have a little pain, but nothing like it was. I am so thankful for my doctor and Savella."

• Mad...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 17, 2017

For Fibromyalgia "First, let me rate it a 1. I was supposed to take 25 mg at bedtime. Woke up a little before 2 a.m., heart racing, hot flashes, extreme nausea. Spent the next hour trying to sleep, but heart palpitations, hot flashes, then chills, vomiting, and needing the bathroom... 4 times! I have NEVER had this type of drug reaction like that!!! Unreal! Charging my insurance nearly $1,000 for a rubbish drug that makes people sick. Even people who don't have severe reactions all have nausea! It shouldn't be legal to charge people so much for a drug. It is price gouging and insane! I still feel sick the next day. Never again. Now I am stuck with pills worth more money than I can make and hate them."

• Amb...
• March 22, 2012

For Fibromyalgia "I have been taking Savella for a year now for my fibromyalgia. I was weaned off Cymbalta and on to Savella. The first month or so when starting on Savella, I had extreme nausea, but when it passed, it was worth it. It worked really well on my fibro symptoms and allowed me to be somewhat active again (gardening, swimming, chasing my young children). About 6 months into taking Savella, I started having dizziness and heart palpitations that caused me to suddenly feel like I was going to pass out, and then I would vomit. My doctor lessened my 100 mg dosage to 50 mg and the episodes stopped, but my fibro symptoms slowly started coming back. So then I went up to 75 mg to treat the symptoms. Now, after being on it for a year, it has stopped working."

• Anonymous
• May 13, 2010

For Fibromyalgia "I am male with fibromyalgia since the early 1990s. Have tried a variety of regimens and some medications to help. Started Savella the first time late in 2009. Side effects became so bad that I chose to stop. Fibromyalgia got to the point that it was ruining quality of life, so I started again in February. This time, I decided to go really slow with the titration. Two weeks at 25 mg a day, 2 weeks at 37.5 mg, etc. Now at 50 mg a day in 2 doses. Have occasional nausea, prostate-like issues, headaches, and rapid heartbeat, but not severe enough to stop. Pain management is much better. May try increased dosage to see what happens. Stick with it and go slowly is my advice."

• Anonymous
• December 2, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "Been using Savella (50 mg 2 X daily) for 9 weeks, and it's made a HUGE difference in my pain. Not 100% pain-free, still have trigger points, etc., but improved my ability to function day to day tremendously. It 'takes the edge off.' I've had entire days where I feel almost normal. Did have the typical side effects the first two weeks: sweating, rapid heartbeat, agitation, and nausea. Stuck it out, the side effects subsided, and it was worth it. Tried a lot of the other medicines recommended for fibromyalgia, including Cymbalta, Lyrica, Elavil, Flexeril, etc. None worked for me - either unable to tolerate side effects or made no difference in my pain. Recently missed 2 consecutive doses, and the pain came back ferociously, made me realize how much better I've felt."

• Nur...
• September 7, 2010

For Fibromyalgia "I was a patient in the research study for Savella from 1995 to October 2009. Within 3 days of receiving the 'unknown' medication, I began to feel like a normal person again. I had more energy, slept better, and my pain level went from almost the most possible to no pain on their pain scale. Up to about July 2009, the only side effects I experienced were occasional palpitations. Then I started having frequent palpitations, hot flashes, twitchy muscles, increased sweating, infrequent nausea, and vomiting. I continued to decrease my dosage and had to finally stop it entirely. Now I'm back to my old fibromyalgia pain again, but have been able to control it with Vicodin and methocarbamol so far. I may try the Savella again if my pain increases."

• Anonymous
• April 20, 2012

For Fibromyalgia "Day 8 and increasing dosage slowly. Foggy brain better. Some areas of pain are better, but hands/wrist are at a 10 pain level now. Swollen and tender. Not sure what is going on but hope it tones down soon. It feels like the hydrocodone is not working as well now and little pain relief. Nausea and hot flashes are the main side effects so far. I noted others were taking the night dose early in the day to help with not sleeping at night. Will try that since I am still awake half the night."

• Anonymous
• June 22, 2010

For Fibromyalgia "20 years ago, I suffered an ankle sprain and resulting nerve damage. Ankle pain every day since then. That's when the fibromyalgia began - a few years later, constant burning pain and muscle tenderness took over from head to toe. Don't like medicines much, but Savella is really necessary for me! It started relieving pain within 2 days, and I can now exercise and do just about anything without anxiety about pain catching up. Have been taking it for three months. Just a little bit of passing anxiety, occasional flushing, some tiredness. When starting, I had the nausea. That was remedied by eating a meal before taking it. My high blood pressure and heart rate treatment by Toprol is effective against those possible side effects. Worth a try!"

• Anonymous
• March 22, 2010

For Fibromyalgia "I have been on Savella for 3 months now, and it is the most effective medication I have taken for fibromyalgia to date. I've tried Cymbalta and Pristiq. It is not without side effects, though. I have a rapid heartbeat and stay on the verge of throwing up, but... pain is not the first thing I think of when I get out of bed in the morning, and that means a lot. I am going to stay on it as long as possible in hopes that the side effects will go away. I started taking Topamax for the headaches, and they have gone away."

• Anonymous
• June 16, 2016

For Fibromyalgia "Did not work for me, the stomach nausea was too much as I already had severe nausea issues. There might have been an initial feeling of energy, but it didn't seem to last. I took it for three weeks, not good enough to continue a drug like this."

• Anonymous
• September 10, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I am on week two of the titration pack, and I have seen some improvement in pain. I have tried them all: Cymbalta, Celexa, Celebrex, Lyrica, Vicodin, morphine, just to name a few (with many side effects and very little relief). I have since discontinued Celexa and Vicodin. YEAH! Side effects were pretty much the same as others - nausea, anxiety, out of sorts (which I think were withdrawal symptoms). The side effects are getting better with each day. Even if they don't completely go away, it is better than the pain."

• Viv...
• July 17, 2017

For Fibromyalgia "I have been on Savella for about a year. The medication greatly reduced my pain. Initially, after titrating up, I was on 100 mg. However, it caused my blood pressure to go really high, even with the medicine I take for blood pressure. I reduced the medicine to 50 mg, which helped some with the blood pressure. However, the nausea and vomiting, hot flashes, sweating have continued. The nausea and vomiting are bad enough that I am willing to go off the medication. I am hoping I can find something that will help as well, without the side effects. The benefits are outweighed by the side effects for me."

• cyr...
• August 8, 2010

For Fibromyalgia "These comments have been most helpful to me in my own quest to see how well Savella works for me. I'm a 50-year-old female, long suffering (16 years) with fibromyalgia and a host of other similar ills, and have been on Savella a little more than a week. It DOES work, however, I have had to go back and start again at the 25mg dose and go very slowly, as the side effects put me in bed for over a day at the 50mg dose. 25mg so far is working for me, although I have dry mouth, some nausea, and the heat flashes, they are getting better. I do eventually want to get back up to the 50mg twice a day, but right now, it's too strong for me. However, pain is much improved, although I am also on Lyrica and several muscle relaxers. Just go slow."

• del...
• November 8, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "My fibromyalgia had gotten extremely bad due to a great number of stresses in my life this year, so the doctor recommended I try Savella. I was on a drug called Pristiq, and when my psych doctor found out about the Savella with it, he said I was beginning to experience serotonin syndrome - not good. I got off the Pristiq and cut way back on how much Savella I'm taking. I'm going to increase it very slowly and hope the side effects will subside. Reading that for some it took 2 months gave me some hope. I've been having hot flashes, nausea, dizziness, headaches, no energy, but - hardly no pain! I will keep trying."

• Anonymous
• January 14, 2012

For Fibromyalgia "This medicine only worked for the first month for me. I would take it as directed, but then suddenly the pain came back with a searing vengeance. It may just be me because everything I have tried for the fibromyalgia has done the same thing. There were more side effects on the Savella than on anything else I have taken. It made me lose a lot of weight because I couldn't eat through the nausea, and the hot flashes were horrible. Overall, this medicine has seemed to help a lot of people, but it wasn't right for me."

• ney...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 8, 2017

For Fibromyalgia "This is the second time I have tried Savella. The first time, after 3 weeks of suffering from sweats, intolerance to heat, although the pain was better, I started having headaches and palpitations. It did nothing for my brain fog. It did, however, help with the pain. Because I only have 1 kidney, pain meds are a problem for me. I have RA, osteoarthritis, and fibro. I started back on Savella at a 12.5 mg dose 10 days ago, but once again, the palpitations, the nausea, and sweats have caused me to stop. Wish this could have worked for me."

• Lon...
• November 8, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I have been on Savella for 5 weeks now. I could feel a difference almost immediately, especially with sleep and getting up in the morning. Not pain-free, but a difference with minimal side effects. Mostly body temperature changes like hot flashes. I worked my way up to 100 mg (50 mg morning and evening). Then I started having worse side effects: nausea, leg cramps, vision changes. I also had mouth and tongue soreness and breast soreness, which I didn't see anyone else mention. I went back to 50 mg once a day and the symptoms lessened. After seeing my doctor again, he suggested 25 mg morning and evening. My breast soreness is better, and my mouth sores fewer. I plan to stick it out a little longer to see, as I have not felt or slept this well in years."

• Anonymous
• July 17, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I tried Savella when it first came out and went off of it due to nausea. My doctor asked me to try it again, so I did. I am now sleeping 2 or 3 hours at a time and having terrible nightmares. My blood pressure is normally 120/80. I went to a different doctor last week for another appointment, and it was 168/100. Didn't know why until I read this article. Have terrible bloating. Disappointed."

• Pix...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 22, 2021

For Fibromyalgia "It is rough transitioning from Tramadol. I’ve gradually decreased the dose over a 2-month period and also BC powders before starting Savella. I notice an improvement after only five initial tiny doses. I do have to eat before taking it in the morning and early evening. I have had waves of nausea if I don’t eat enough before taking it. I am hopeful. Pain is not much of any right now. I do have fatigue, but I have thyroid issues, and 12 days ago received my 2nd COVID-19 vaccine."

• fib...
• March 8, 2011

For Fibromyalgia "I agree, this is one of the best treatments I have had for my fibromyalgia. The trick is to get through the 1st couple of weeks. I was told that 2 weeks is when your body is adjusting to the norepinephrine, and nausea can be a temporary problem. Mine went away after the 2nd week. It took a couple of weeks to start feeling the pain relief, but once it started working, it kept working better and better. Now, 4 months later, I can say this is the most energy I have ever had, pain is better, and I have even lost a few pounds. I also take Lyrica and a low dose of Zoloft for my depression. I finally feel like I have control of my life. I still have days that are not as good as others, but overall I feel like my fibromyalgia is manageable."

• Jud...
• September 9, 2021

For Fibromyalgia "I have been on Savella for approximately 1 month for fibromyalgia. It helped with energy, maybe a little pain relief, clearer thinking. Flushing, sweats, chills, headaches, sneezing, nervousness/anxiety, high blood pressure, some nausea, worsened sleep issues with taking Ambien. Never took over 25 mg in the AM. Weaning off. I have never had blood pressure issues."