Just got a call from my fibro doctor's office - one of the staff told me this: The doctor "tried to call Friday" so he's having her call and tell me this. (This is bullshit. I only have a cell phone and there is no record of ANYONE calling my number Friday, much less any message. If he tried, he failed to dial my number.)
The doctor recommends taking two half-tablets every day (halving the full dose a little differently than I'm doing by taking one full tablet a day for two weeks) then if side effects continue, he will switch me to Cymbalta. At this point I lost control and calmly told the girl this was not helpful at all, that this isn't the first time the doctor has let me down when I needed him, and that I cannot trust him and need to see a new doctor.
He should already have in his records that I tried Cymbalta and couldn't tolerate the severe nausea. I'm not going on it again. I'm determined to get off SNRIs for a bit so I can judge if they are making any positive impact at all or not. Why bother with side effects if the main effects aren't even being relieved? Screw it.
My only problem now is I need to scramble to find a different doctor or else I'll run out of other prescriptions I need. I'm having a hard time finding someone close enough and good enough to start over with. Those of you with fibro out there know how hard it is to find a new doctor. It's like a new job. Ugh.
The good news is that, since reducing to a half dose of Savella every day, my headaches have been better (not gone, but lots, lots better), my nose hasn't been bleeding as much, and I've been getting some sleep. I'm still on the first two weeks of weaning, though, and when that's up and I reduce the dose again, we'll see if anything else changes - good or bad. Stay tuned.
Quick update. I only had a mild headache this morning, but by the time I got to work, it was strengthening. Now it's full-blown intense. This is the same type of headache that stretched into a five-day ordeal and sent me to my PCP last week. I am guessing my blood pressure isn't as low today as I was hoping. Maybe I need to see if I can reduce the Savella even further, sooner rather than later. My head feels like it's going to explode.
ReplyDeleteMedications and medical providers can be such a huge part of the obstacle course in managing a fibro-life. I’m always happy when I see that someone is being their own best consumer-advocate.
ReplyDeleteAlso, on bad days, I can’t think clearly enough to take the next “helpful” action. Good on you for keeping a good record here of what works for you and what doesn’t.
Thanks. I basically don't trust myself to remember it all, so I write it down for me, sharing with others at the same time. Why not? Also, it's good to have a pre-written plan for bad days. Mine is called a WRAP (a concept I got from one of the books I read). Search for it and see mine. I published it, though I admit I need to refer to it more often because I frequently forget I have to check it for action. ;) Such is the life of a fibromite.
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