Fibromyalgia or medicine effecting Bipolar I?

Hello to all,

I was diagnosed with Fibro in January, for reference, I was first on Desipramine, didn't work, then Savella (50/50 AM/PM). I have been taking the Savella, no change except for a clearer mind, for two months now. For the past five days, I have been in a funk is all I can call it. I am miserable because I hurt (muscle pain, bone pain, creaky pops of bones, lethargic to the point of waking, taking meds, and going back to bed), feeling so tired and sleeping a lot, and general I think I'm depressed and having Bipolar episodes. I'm suppose to be exercising twice a day and taking pain meds to exercise, but I can't even get to that point. I just do my stretches. Can the medicine Savella cause this? It just seems to have started to the point of not being able to cope well in general. I forgot my thyroid level is fine. Thank you in advance. Dixie

Thanks for your reply. I am going to call the doctor first thing in the morning. I am just miserable. I just wasn't sure if that might be a side effect of the medication or just all the pain day to day making me feel that way. I'm starting to get angry about it all. Thanks again, Dixie.

Hi Almost Medfree,

Yes, I am eating well and watching what I eat. I've also been pushing through the exercises which makes me feel like someone beat the crap out of me half a day to a day later. Really makes me not want to exercise at all most days. The headaches are killers too. I just did something really stupid, I opened a creamer to put in my morning coffee and poured it into the trash. Brilliant I am today! :) What the heck? I know better. Gosh.

I just wasn't sure if anyone knew if Savella caused emotional/depression changes. It just came out of no where and I just felt hopeless and like I could care less about anything. So stiff, hurting, and miserable. I'm going to call the doctor this morning about the Savella to see if it may cause that issue and I'm waiting for the therapy services to call me back with an appt for the bipolar. Thank you kindly for your response.

Hi Dixie,

I am not really familiar with Savella, but often when we first start a medication we get side effects for the first couple of weeks, this could be what is going on.

I would definately get ahold of the prescribing doctor and the doctor that treats your bipolar and discuss this with them. Make sure you aren't getting too much seratonin. I do believe that Savella works with seratonin, but am not positive about that. So talking to the doctors is a must.

I really hope that you feel better soon. I have depression too and know it can be difficult when combining it with the fibromyalgia. Keep posting and know that we all care about you.

Hugs, Karen

PS continue stretching, as it is very good for the muscles. Exercise when you are able to...

Dixie, in Fibro 101, there is a link all about Serotonin Syndrome. You might want to add that to your reading.

Sherrine

I said I'd follow up so here goes...not too thrilled about it at all. I finally got my appointment to the pain management doctor, he continued my medicines, he also looked over my ANA and RF results again and instead of it being negative as I was told last time, he said it was borderline. Okay, so he gave me Meloxicam which I was on before. I didn't get to talk about anything other than to tell him that I thought the Savella may be working, at least my mind felt a littler clearer except for those few days, and that the Savella may be working at least 20%. He said even if it was 10% that's working so good.

I then told him about my pain and he asked specifically where it was. I told him all over but that I did have a few spots that were more painful. He asked me to show him, I did, he asked me to lay on a table where he could see it. Then proceeded to pop my back. Okay wasn't expecting that. During and after he asked me three times "Are you sure you're not making this up?" I told him no and I can't imagine anyone wanting to make up pain that causes you not to be able to do regular activities. I feel insulted, and now just feel like he doesn't believe me and that I'm making it up. I don't want to even return to him, but for now I must. I called my insurance today and filed a grievance so that they can try and contact a Rhumey doctor for this area. The closest one is over 60 miles away. Hopefully that will come through soon. Right now, I am not sure what to do. If he thinks I'm making it up, then I can't see how he can help me. I really wanted to tell him a few choice words about ethics but was quite.

I am feeling better about the depression although I still intend to make an appointment. Well I have tried they must call me back. Can an Internist(?) doctor help until I can get a Rhumey doctor or should I try another pain management doctor? Thanks everyone for all your help. It's confusing sometimes when you don't know how to approach something. Dixie

P.S. Thank you, I feel relieved just getting that out of my mouth.