The ICI Experience:

From Medical News Today, FDA Approves Fibromyalgia Drug - Savella(TM) (milnacipran HCl), A Selective Serotonin and Norepinephrine Dual Reuptake Inhibitor "Although the exact mechanism by which Savella improves the symptoms of fibromyalgia is unknown, some researchers believe that abnormalities in certain brain neurotransmitters may be central to fibromyalgia. Savella blocks the reuptake of both norepinephrine and serotonin, with greater selectivity for the inhibition of norepinephrine reuptake in vitro (does anyone know what the term in vitro means in this context? Emphasis added by me.) . This may be the mechanism by which Savella acts to improve the symptoms of fibromyalgia." and "The efficacy of Savella was established in two US pivotal Phase III clinical trials involving 2,084 treated patients (1,460 Savella; 624 placebo), which showed that Savella demonstrated clinically significant improvements compared to placebo in treating fibromyalgia. The first study was 6 mo...

Last week Sick Momma wrote about those annual holiday letters in Cue the Violins . She likes to receive them just like I do. She worries because she is starting to get dropped of some peoples' holiday card lists because she hasn't had the energy to send any cards out herself for the last couple of years. She writes: ... it's like one more connection with the "healthy" world at large is getting thinner and thinner. Everything just seems harder than it should be, and more complicated than it needs to be. Sigh. I know what she means. For the last ten years I've been dealing with gradually worsening and multiplying chronic illnesses, as well as a divorce. (Yeah, I dragged the divorce out for ten years so I could at least get SOME of the money I put into the house out of it.) It's been at least that long since I've been able to send cards out, and since I had to move to another state and then became unable to work, I've been wanting to send a holi...