Savella

Savella needs to be banned - I was on Savella for approximately three weeks before having to wean down and stop it due to very unpleasant side effects such horrible headaches/pressure in my head, high blood pressure, nausea and dizziness. A different doctor I saw wanted me to give it another try so I did. Worst mistake ever! This time I did not experience the nausea or the headaches at first so I stuck with it for two months. My blood pressure/pulse then became dangerously high so much so that I had to have my heart checked. At this point, I was experiencing extreme dizziness and light-headedness.

I called the prescribing doctor to report this and he advised to just stop it cold turkey. Little did I know how disastrous this would be. That was three weeks ago and I am still experiencing extreme discontinuation syndrome. I have anxiety/panic, pressure in my head, can't focus or concentrate, can't think straight. I am jittery and nervous and having insomnia. I have no appetite and have become very depressed. When I called the doctor today to tell him this, he said it would not be from the medication because it wouldn't last this long. It does.

There are tons of online sites where people go through this for months after stopping anti-depressants. This is a terrible drug whose bad effects far outweigh any positive effects. I think doctors should mandatorily have to inform patients of all the consequences, not just while taking it but from coming off of it also! This applies to all anti-depressants. Millions of people have had their lives affected terribly by these drugs. I am not saying that anti-depressants aren't necessary for some people but the doctors who are prescribing them are just not knowledgeable enough! Some don't even know what discontinuation syndrome is. Others won't even qualify it as being real. It's very real and it's absolutely horrendous for any patient going through it. Please enforce stricter laws regarding how this drug gets prescribed. Please make it mandatory for every doctor to tell a patient what they may experience not only while taking it but if they discontinue it. Also, please make it mandatory that doctors have more training and knowledge about the drugs they are prescribing.

I was given Savella for Fibromyalgia. I took 11 days of it going up from starting Day 1 with 12.5 mg and ending on Day 11 with 50 mg. I got so dizzy and had such a terrible headache. I couldn't lift my head off my pillow for several days. My husband was very concerned about me and we began working backwards about any "new" medications I had been given. It resulted in Savella being the newest. My hearing was getting worse as well. I was taken to an ENT and he gave me a hearing test again since I'd had one there before. The results came back that I had lost over 30% of my hearing in the left ear. My husband took me to my doctor that had given it to me. He was really surprised, but he had to give me 2 shots to counteract the Savella. Finally, relief. It took 3 months for my hearing to return to prior readings. My doctor wasn't sure if it would return. My husband had to drive me everywhere for 3 months. And of course, there was no warning of this side effect anywhere on the package or in the little pamphlet that I received.

Severe drug side effects from Savella. Last December, 2009, I had hypertension, palpitations, and panic disorder, none of which I had prior to taking this medication. I was admitted to three different hospitals and felt as if I was dying on Savella. I was prescribed it by a rheumatologist for fibromyalgia. This resulted to multiple ambulance trips; many doctors seen; unnecessary emotional and physical pain and suffering; and economically, this cost my insurance company big time!

I was on Savella for 2 months. I developed severe asthma, allergies to all food colorants and I was admitted to the hospital due to status asthmaticus. I developed severe blurred vision and the vision has not improved. I was diagnosed by a neuro-opthalmologist with a convergence insufficiency and severe visual loss. This problems are secondary to Savella. I am a physician and I was not aware of the possibility of severe interactions in patients that are extremely allergic to sulfa products. That was the main reason that I have this major reaction.

Over the course of 8-9 months taking Savella, my vision has become greatly compromised. The prescription did come with a warning that blurred vision could be a symptom, but never expected something so drastic. This change has been very obvious because I had just had my vision checked and new glasses made around the same time I started taking Savella. This was the first change in vision in years. I reported the vision loss to my doctor and she has removed me from the prescription. So far, my vision remains depleted - I was hoping it might come back. I wasted $600 plus on glasses I can't use and will have to get new glasses or some form of vision enhancement. I think the cautionary note on the prescription should be upgraded to "can cause vision loss".

I was prescribed Savella for Fibromyalgia. I was not told that Savella could interact with warfarin. As a result, I suffered serious health problems. I had an INR spike to 13. I had to be hospitalized and given vitamin K shots and 2 blood transfusions. Had I not visited the hospital for pain in my leg (thinking this was a clot), this would not have been caught and I could have died. This caused a lot of emotional trauma for myself and my wife as well as the physical pain and hospitalization.