Milnacipran and Chills: What Users Say

• Anonymous
• August 6, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I had been taking CYMBALTA and Gabapentin for the last 6 years. They had relieved my pain greatly, but I was tired and had brain fog constantly. My new doctor recommended me to try Savella. The worst part is that I had to get off the Cymbalta before starting Savella. The withdrawals were terrible. I felt like I was trying to get off heroin. After reading these comments, I am wondering how many of these side effects people are having are from coming off of a previous drug and not Savella alone. Before I could start the Savella, I was having dizziness, nausea, electric shocks throughout my whole body, sweats, chills, etc. I am on day 7 of Savella and still having some withdrawal, but it is getting better. I say give Savella a chance to work before giving up. I am."

• Lor...
• August 27, 2013

For Fibromyalgia "I have been taking Savella for about 4 weeks, 2 weeks at 50mg morning and night and have been having lots of side effects, almost flu-like symptoms. Weakness, shakes, lightheadedness, cold, then hot. I have been reading lots of reviews because I didn't think it could be this medicine, but I guess it can be. I work graveyards and I think I might try 50 mg in the morning and 25 mg at night and go from there. I was on Lyrica for 9 years and it was so expensive, and the Savella is half the copay Lyrica was. I'm not ready to give up on it yet, but I am so hot all the time, but the weight gain from Lyrica was the reason I decided to try Savella since my insurance will cover it now. I'm hoping for the best. Good luck."

• Anonymous
• July 11, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I'm on day 6, and I already feel the difference. Yes, I felt some chills, mild fever, and dizziness. I figured I would continue to see how it went. So far, so good. I was in pain for the past year, and I was just diagnosed this month. My pain is not completely gone, but I can honestly tell you that I feel about 80% better, which is better than I've felt in a long time. I pray that it continues. My side effects are almost completely gone."

• Cry...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 19, 2018

For Fibromyalgia "My Dr. put me on Savella after my Lyrica and Cymbalta stopped working for my fibromyalgia pain. I wish I had read these reviews before I wasted $200 on these terrible pills! My pain has been worse since starting it. I’m nauseous all the time, get cold chills, go to the bathroom 2 times every hour, I can’t get to or stay asleep even with sleep meds, and I itch all over. I have had a horrible experience with this drug and wouldn’t recommend it at all!"

• Anonymous
• July 16, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I have been on the Savella now for about 2 weeks, and minus the chills some and hot flashes, I think it's actually working for the fatigue and fogginess. After recently going through radiation treatments for breast cancer, between the radiation and fibromyalgia, my energy was so low I didn't think I would ever get out of bed again. But, like I said, right now I'm thinking it's working miracles because I have more energy than I've had in years and pray it keeps working."

• 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."

• AFi...
• August 26, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "Have used Cymbalta and then Lyrica for years. Weight gain and blurred vision were the worst side effects. I have now been on Savella for about a month, and the side effects are awful. Constipation is the worst! Even so bad, I have been to the emergency room feeling like I was in labor. The sweats are almost unbearable. I also have chills and insomnia. Headaches are now a daily occurrence."

• 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."

• Anonymous
• February 8, 2010

For Fibromyalgia "I had been on Zoloft 300 mg for years and dropped down to Zoloft 200 mg for almost a year, and my doctor decided to try me on Savella for my fibromyalgia. I made it to the 10th day of the titration pack and could not deal with the bad side effects any longer. I was up for over 72 hours straight, chills, hot flashes, confusion, electrical shocks throughout my body, severe muscle pain, very irritable, out of mind and body thoughts, felt out of my body, etc. On about the 6th day, my doctor put me on Soma 350 mg (for the muscle pain and electrical shocks) and Klonopin 1 mg to help with the anxiety and panic attacks. My doctor first tried to wean me back off of the Savella, but two days later, I had to call him back, and he had me stop it cold turkey and go back on Zoloft 200 mg."

• Vic...
• February 15, 2010

For Fibromyalgia "Diagnosed with FM over 20 years ago. Like most of you, have tried several drugs. The only one that really helped was tramadol. It was like a miracle drug at first, not so much now. Have been taking it for at least 12 years. Went to the doctor for a check-up; he wanted me to try something new, Savella. He said he has six patients that are doing well on it. Started titration pack four days ago. On the second day, started having side effects: flushing in the face, chills, very cold feet and hands, foggy head, and restlessness in legs. The doctor said to stop tramadol to avoid the possibility of serotonin syndrome, so was in great pain all weekend. I went to work this morning and had to come home after two hours due to nausea and couldn't concentrate at all. Sticking with it. Success stories on here help. Hope it works."

• Anonymous
• August 28, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I'm on day nine and woke with a nasty headache that got worse when moving, and then the vomiting began. I'm not stopping the medicine, though. My muscles feel looser, the fatigue is much less, and the overall pain is down. My blood pressure is up, and I expect I will be adding a medication to control that because that is better than fibromyalgia. I was not aware of a lot of the symptoms described here (constipation, stomach bloating, chills-all of which I have experienced slightly). My mood is definitely improved. I've weaned off Effexor now and am almost off of it. In the past, I've tried Lyrica with no luck at all but had bad visual symptoms. Cymbalta worked for about six months and then stopped. Paxil and Effexor worked for the mood only."

• Anonymous
• January 31, 2010

For Fibromyalgia "Worked well in the beginning, felt better than I had in years with the exception of nausea the first couple of days. This medicine does NOT sit well on an empty stomach! Cleared up the fibro fog, had not felt so awake in 6 years. This did not last, though. Eventually felt normal except minus the fibro fog but with continuous migraines. Felt like I was having PMS constantly. Did not see any relief from pain. Very emotional and cold chills."

• Anonymous
• January 12, 2011

For Fibromyalgia "This is my 4th week of being on Savella. I am a 53-year-old female and have had FMS and CFS for 7 years. When I was taking 12.5 mg twice daily, my blood pressure was elevated and my pulse was high, was agitated a lot, had chills, no nausea. Because of the elevated BP, my doctor has lowered me to 6.25 mg once a day for now. The pain is coming back, and I am sleepy all the time. I hope I can titrate back up because this is the only thing I have ever found that helps my pain and gives me energy with no fibro fog. I am willing to do just about anything to be pain-free again. Praying this is my miracle."

• bon...
• January 29, 2010

For Fibromyalgia "I have been on the trial pack for a couple of weeks. Taking Cymbalta, Lexapro, Lamictal. I was on Lyrica and was concerned about weight gain. I had become so much more active and actually wanted to clean my house and walk the dogs on Lyrica but had not lost any weight with all the extra activity. So I decided to try Savella. I see my doctor in four days. I am pretty sure I want off this. I don't often have problems with side effects, but on Savella it is really bad. The hot flashes and night sweats are unbearable! Last night I had hot flashes and severe chills at the same time. All I want to do is sleep."

• Anonymous
• June 13, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I took Savella for 1 week. The side effects I had were worse than the benefits. I had chills and then hot flashes. I would wake up feeling as if I hadn't been asleep. I also experienced dizziness and fatigue."

• Fib...
• January 25, 2011

For Fibromyalgia "After taking Savella, I was basically in bed for 3 weeks, feeling so cold I had to stay under 3 blankets. My hands and feet were like ice. I would get a tingling sensation through the inside of my body and felt so cold I would shiver. When I did get out of bed and, for example, go to the store, I would break out in sweats that made my hair look like I just got out of the shower and all my makeup came off. I had at least one night a week of insomnia where I couldn't get to sleep until dawn. I had very disturbing, vivid nightmares. I had no positive effects from this medicine. I've had fibromyalgia for 16 years and decided to go back on Lyrica as I had no side effects from it."

• mso...
• October 11, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I have been taking Savella for almost 5 months and am overall very disappointed. Switching from Lexapro to Savella made for one week of hellish symptoms. Then I had nearly every awful side effect that is listed for Savella: rapid heartbeat, nausea, constipation, sweating, shivering, insomnia, etc. I was getting some significant pain relief, though, maybe 60%. The rapid heartbeat was a real concern, so I cut back to 75 mg for a few weeks. The pain relief decreased, so I went back up to 100 mg again. Although the rapid heartbeat was no longer a problem, the FM pain relief has never returned either, and I still have the side effects, though the severity has lessened. My plantar fasciitis pain is the only pain that is really reduced."

• Anonymous
• October 6, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "I am on day 7 of the titration pack. Experienced hot flashes, sweating, chills within hours of 1st dose. Today, the side effects seemed to have eased. My pain level is less. I am encouraged."

• jud...
• July 8, 2009

For Fibromyalgia "On my second week, and I'm probably going to stop. I'm experiencing terrible hot flashes and chills and am not sleeping. I'm so sorry it is not working."