SAVELLA Reviews (MILNACIPRAN HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.0 (158 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare SAVELLA with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) |
More on SAVELLA: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR SAVELLA | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | Fibromyalgia | I became extremely agitated, irritable,and suffered with a severe headache with my blood pressure up on the second day of taking to 170/130 with my heart rate at 120's. I felt like my head was going to explode. I went to the ER immediately and was diagnosed with Seritonin Syndrome, which is life threatening. I was told by the ER doctor to never take this drug again and that she has seen this syndrome with serval other patients recently. | This drug is new and not widely researched. When combined with other types of SSRIs it can cause serious, sometime irreversable effects. There needs to be more studies on this drug. MD's need to have more information regarding interactions of this drug with other drugs one may be taking. IF ANYONE is on this drug, please monitor your blood pressure and heart rate especially with any dose changes. | F | 40 | 2 days 12.5mg 1X day | 2/4/2012 | 4 | fibromyalgia | increased BP and heart rate loss of appetite tingly scalp | Starting on titration pack helped me to adjust to Savella. Taking 50 mg twice a day works well; anymore than this causes hypertension, and less just doesn't maintain the pain and fatigue well. | F | 50 | 18 months 50 mg 2X day | 1/1/2012 | 5 | fibromyalgia | The first several weeks were tough with nausea and strange craving. For weeks I could only eat goldfish crackers. But after about 8 weeks that disappeared. Now the only real side effect is weight loss,but I'm not complaining about that. | F | 35 | 4 months 50 mg x 2 | 12/27/2011 | 2 | Depression | Initial startup was pretty hard. Lots of anxiety, muscle tension, etc. and at every dose increase. | Now I'm at 100mg. and for depression I would say it hasn't really done anything either way. I'm going to give it a full 5-6 weeks though and report back. | F | 47 | 24 days 50mg. 2X day | 11/21/2011 | 5 | Fibro/Chronic Fatigue | Side effects were mild nausea in first few weeks which has now gone. Worst was the strong heart beats or palpitations at night time. I have reduced dosage to 25mg 2 times daily and they have almost completely gone away. | I love this medicine!!! I feel better now that I have in past 8 years. More energy, less brain fog, more endurance, less pain and stiffness. I am waking up at 7am and actually staying awake without having to take provigil. I actually did yard work and painting yesterday and the day before went on a long walk with my son and the dogs! Wow - never thought I would be able to do that again! This has been a miracle for me and I feel like I will be able to go back to work now and take care of my kids instead of being a lump just surviving!! | F | 52 | 4 weeks 50 2X day | 11/17/2011 | 4 | FM, herniated disk pain, arthritis | After 3 months -- 50 mg Savella helped reduce the overall pain threshold dramatically (though it did not get rid of it entirely). I titrated to full dose slower than recommended to avoid side effects. I believe that helped. It has helped considerably -- and allowed me to get back to my life. The side effects (headaches, heart, BP, urination, etc) were significant but most minus heart issues went away in 3-6 weeks (because of the heart issues I was going to stop taking it -- bad and pretty scary - but because of pain relief I didn't want to stop). The heart issue side effects stopped at 2 1/2 months. Most people won't see it through long enough to see the side effects disappear. So glad I did. | F | 54 | 3 months 50mg 2X day | 10/23/2011 | 1 | Fibromyalgia | Difficulty urinating (very slow), tiredness, out of breath with exertion, increased heart rate, worsening of constipation, hot flashes and severe sweating at times, worsening of pain. | I take methadone for pain, which also causes most of the side effects I have listed, but Savella has now worsened them. I have only taken for 8 days, but have seen no lessening of FM pain. In fact, there has been a huge increase in pain to the highest pain level I experience (it constantly feels like it used to feel only after a day of substantial over-exertion). I don't think I'm going to stick out the remainder of the trial period due to the side effects and in reading the notes from other male users, it doesn't seem to help men at all, only some women. | M | 50 | 8 days 50 MG 2X day | 10/11/2011 | 3 | fibromyalgia | I took Savella titration pack for the full 2 weeks. Insomnia with very little sleep not helped by sleep aides was my worst side effect. .I wouldn't have been able to take this without an anti-nausea pill. Sweating only lasted the first week | Some relief from the Fibromyalgia pain and it helped with anxiety. I tried to stick it out because I had hope for it after reading other reviews. Imagine my surprise when the pain management doctor seemed very upset when I didn't stop this drug after the side effects did not subside after "3 or 4 days"...so he stopped it on my 2 week follow up visit. | F | 56 | 14 days titration 2X day | 9/28/2011 | 4 | Hot Flashes, day and night sweating, end of finger and toes experience cold/white/pain. Thought my hormones were off but I got them checked | Do they offer in discounts for their drug coustomers. | F | 48 | 1 years 50 1X day | 9/24/2011 | 1 | Fibromyalgia | Doc switched me from Cymbalta and Lyrica to Savella. It is awful. I have been on this med just 5 days. I have brain zaps, dizziness, jerky, twitchy movements, nightmares, awful insomnia despite taking 2 Ambien, intense sweating, night sweats/chills, cold feet and hands. My ears are ringing, head thumping, headaches and I am having cognitive issues including forgetting words, slurring and repeating myself. I feel like a zombie! | Caution!!!! | F | 50 | 5 days 2X day | 9/17/2011 | 3 | fibromyalgia | major weightloss, nausea, vomitting, supresses appetite, wears off quickly. | anyone know something similiar that will decrease pain and not cause so much weight loss? In six months i have lost 12 pounds. Is this normal? I'm thinking maybe the dosage is too high, but can't see cutting dose, lots of pain still exists on high dose. I have regular tests every six months, no other significant reason of weight loss. Heavier sweating than usual. | F | 31 | 6 months 50mg 2X day | 8/20/2011 | 5 | Fibromyalgia | None that I am aware of except possibly sweating a bit more. | Savella is my miracle drug. Before Savella I had tried EVERYTHING from gabapentin (very minimal relief,) to Lyrica (make me feel like I was on illegal drugs,) and Cymbalta (1 pill, made me feel so crazy I called a friend to "babysit" me and my kids until my husband got home) and everything in between. Savella enables me to live a much more active and "normal" life, I am no longer a slave to FMS or to painkllers. Sadly at 130.00 a month I cannot afford it without insurance and after 9 months of taking half a dose to stretch it out (since insurance went away) I am weaning off it. The weaning is bad and my FMS symptoms are through the roof...I even took a full pill tonight just so I can be mobile to bake my sons birthday cake and not be so foggy headed tomorrow. I am hoping a low-cost clinic will help me...soon, because I cannot live like this. Honestly Savella gave me my life back and now finances preventing me from getting Savella are taking my life away again :( One warning is to check drug interactions CAREFULLY, I can't even take cold medicine and I was taking tramadol (Ultram) at first and ended up with seratonin syndrome and nearly passed out at my kids' birthday party in 2009. Luckily I made the connection, went to drugs dot com for the interaction checker and realized what was wrong and called my doctor right away. My poor doctor felt horrible, but the drug was so new (on the marker a few months) when I began taking it that there was very little in | F | 32 | 27 months 50 mg 2X day | 8/18/2011 | 5 | Fibromyalgia | Sweating but it is subsiding. | After just one day, I slept like I never slept before! My side hip pain stopped & more energy. I could turn in bed without waking up but I slept through the night. I just sweat but that is OK. 50% less pain and pain is a 3 and not an 8! Was on Cymbolta but didn't work and side effects. Was on Doxepin and 10 lbs. heavier. At 50 mg. I have some nausea but I just started the dosing pack and doctor said to continue till I get used to medication. Worth a try. Have had fibromyalgia for 23 years and this is the only thing that helps the pain! | F | 54 | 11 days 50 2X day | 7/11/2011 | 3 | none yet, but are still just on the 12.5 twice a day | not so sure about it, also take methadone so am really concerned about combining the two medicines | F | 58 | 8 days 2X day | 7/2/2011 | 4 | Fibromyalgia | Slight nausea the first week of taking the titration pack with the increase in dosage from 12.5 to 25 to 50. The morning pill makes me tired after taking it. | Savella decreases all of my fibromyalgia symptoms. It does not make it completely go away, but I have tremendous relive from it. My "bad days" or "flare ups" still occur, but I am still able to work and function during the day while taking savella. It has really decreased my pain, headaches, body fatigue, and sleep disturbances. | F | 19 | 4 weeks 50 2X day | 6/13/2011 | 4 | fibromyalgia | I started med as precribed up to 50mg twice a day,(tried to go up further but could not). I had nausea for the first 3 months. Cut back to 25mg twice a day. Had relief for constant aching and pain from scale of 15(yes my pain was bad) to maybe a 2. Side effects included insomia, constipation, skipped beats to the point of having it evaluated, and high blood pressure which didn't response to medication much, occasional zings in my head. Decreased dose to 12.5 twice a day and had some improvement in side effects and still had relief of pain. I always called it a wicked drug due to the side effects. After a year and 3 months I slowly weaned myself off of it and have kept my pain at a tolerable level which I can take excedrin or ASA. B/P has gone to 117/69, heart rate to 80 and no longer have irregular heartbeats.Would never go back on due to side effects. | F | 63 | 548 days 12.5 2X day | 6/12/2011 | 5 | Fibro,MFPS,Raynauds,RPS,CI,& more | Some vivid dreams, but many side effects people think they have from Savella can many times be traced to other things. I could say I had hot flashes, but I was 52-53 at that time. That's called menopause. Many sides effects I could have attributed to the Savella were in reality caused by other things. | I went off all my meds(oxycontin, etc.) in 2008 to go on the study for Savella. Unfortunately I got the placebo. I literally almost died. My BP shot up to 210/120 for 8 months. I was totally bedridden the whole time. I went on Lyrica and gained 50 lbs. in 5 weeks, plus it did nothing for the pain. Then my kidneys shut down. Finally by June of 2009 Savella went on the market. I could feel a difference in 1-2 weeks. I went on the highest dose fairly quick because my pain is so severe and causing other health problems. Just remember it is not a pain pill. It will not get rid of ALL the pain. It will not work for everyone. Nothing man does will get rid of this illness. You will have to listen to your body to help manage your pain and other symptoms. And most of all, if you have fibro, as I have for 25 yrs., realize that everything you do will have a consequence to your health. Fight the urge to be overly focused on the pain. I have been on just about every drug and holistic pill there is. Savella hasn't gotten rid of all my pain, but it has worked the best for me. You HAVE to give it more that 1 day or week to see a difference. | F | 55 | 2 years 100 mg 2X day | 5/31/2011 | 5 | fibro | sever sweating, constipation, HBP | The first week taking this medication was not easy. The second was better. When I started taking the full dosage of 50mg 2xday, it was the worst. I stuck it out because I hoped this med would benefit me. I am so glad I did. I sweat terrible for 4 hours after my morning dose but am not bothered by it after taking my evening dose. I am on BP meds and had to have them increased. Constipation is tolerable, it has to come out eventually! I have noticed that I have nausea if I miss my stomach meds. But the one thing that I am happy to tell you is that I cannot remember when i felt this good, probably at least 15 years. I still have pain in the morning but it is nothing like before. I can put up with the side effects because it helps me to live a normal life. Before Savella, I didn't want to live if I had to be in constant pain. It works for me. If you are dealing with the side effects and don't know if it is worth it, stick it out longer if you are not in life-threatening danger, you may be glad you did. | F | 43 | 3 days 50 2X day | 5/16/2011 | 2 | Fibromyalgia | dizziness, loss of apatite, mood swings, itchy scalp, sweaty, hot flashes. | F | 23 | 3 weeks 50 mg 2X day | 5/2/2011 | 1 | Fibromyalgia - PAIN | My heart rate started going up. Then pressure in my chest and neck with palpitations. Also, it made me nauseous every time. This was on low dose and got worse as the dosage went up. Also sweating at night, mostly just before awakening. Light headed & out of breath at times. | First of all, I've had Fibromyalgia for 20 years. I'm in horrid pain. I also have Complex Regional Pain Syndrome from falling (Fibro imbalance) down the last stair and spraining my ankle badly, damaging the nerve. Then there's my Chronic Fatigue, Migraines, Cluster Headaches. They took Darvocet off the market. I used Gabapentin for my Fibro and it works pretty darned good and no side effect. But I get a lot of severe pain. I use Soma mostly for my muscle spasms. I try to keep my meds down to as low as I can tollerate without being too on edge of pain. I have gastritis so taking pills is no fun. Yes, I know how to take these pills properly. I went from getting obese from Fibro to now being skinny. I'm having difficulty keeping weight on at times. Like right now. I'm off the Savella because my heart pumping madly drove me nuts and felt awful not to mention light headedness and out of breath, as mentioned. Since it did nothing positive and did do somethings negative, I went off of it slowly. I can take none of the other pain medications out there and am really ticked off that I can not have my Darvocet. I am now on the Gerson Diet. It is extremely difficult. The positive thing here is, no Migraines and no Cluster headaches. Yea! God helps us all! | F | 55 | 30 days 1X day | 4/2/2011 |