Back with questions about Celebrex | Arthritis Information

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While waiting for relief from Plaquenil, I've had a pretty major flare up that even a heavy dose of Ultram hasn't touched (not to mention consistent pain that has yet to let up).  Dr gave me 3 weeks of samples of Celebrex to take 2 times/day along with the Plaq.  Just looking for other experiences with Celebrex, including interactions, side effects, effectiveness, etc.


Thanks guys!
Rachel
Sorry, Rachel, I don't take celebrex, I take relafen. Maybe give your dr a call for something different for pain? I hope you feel better soon!I don't take celebrex, but I take etodolac which is similar. Celebrex is a COX2 selective inhibitor where Etodolac is a COX2 partially selective inhibitor. I find that Etodolac works much better for me than the other NSAIDS because of this. The COX2 enzyme is induced in areas of inflammation so targeting over COXI leads to greater relief. I also don't like dealing with the stomach pain I get from other NSAIDS. I was on it briefly awhile back. It's very effective-might be the best stuff I've used, but I started turning yellow for some reason, so I had to stop taking it.  If you don't have a reaction to it, go for it. I was on it for close to a year's time and it caused me more swelling so i had to stop.  It was a rare side effect, but i am always in that tiny percentage lol.
 
My mother in law took it for a different disease that is cdip.  She had to stop cuz it swelled her uterus and had trouble going to the bathroom.
I've had to restart Celebrex after being off it for a year.  After restarting I had a drastic reduction in inflammation from PsA.  I had to restart Prilosec because of taking Celebrex but it has helped.  I haven't had any side effects from it but I'm very aware of all of the side effects.  LindyI tried Celebrex once but it didn't work for me.  I take Relafen.  Although I like Relafen, it really doesn't help when I'm in a bad flare.
 
I would ask the RD for a burst-and-taper of predisone to help with the pain.
I took it for about a year, several years ago.  I didn't have any side effects, except eventual stomach bleeding.  I should've been taking Prilosec or something with it.  But that was the only side effect I noticed.  Way back when all the RA issues I tried the Celebrex. For me it was a disaster! My body, especially my hands, knees and ankles swelled and were very sore. Also, experienced a whole lot of itching without a rash. It would be good if your doctor could give you a shot of cortisone while you wait on the effects of plaquenil to start working.
 
I had one last Monday to help get me though until my Humira starts working again and it's working great! It's too soon for the Humira to be making a lot of difference I think but cortisone injections has helped a lot.
Celebrex worked with regards to the pain for me but I had to stop long term use due to the fact it gave me terrible heart palpitations.  I used to take VIOXX before they put me onto celebrex and that was taken off the market due to giving people heart problems. I never had a palpitaion on VIOXX! You wont know unless you try it.

I started, and got immediate relief, from celebrex. The plaquenil and minocin began to work pretty well in a couple of months. I cut back from 200mg celebrex to 100mg (not all pharmacies carry the lower dose). Then sometimes I just forgot to take the celebrex -- and I was okay. After 4 months I decided I didn't need it at all anymore, and intentionally stopped taking it. I keep it around in case I have a bad day -- but I almost never use it.

I am very lucky. The medicines seem to be working very well for me. Now I am trying to cut back the plaquenil too -- I am down to just one 200mg pill per day, and I use the minocin (antibiotic) 3X/week on M,W,F. If I could stay like this the rest of my life it would be heaven -- but of course we don't know what is waiting for us around the corner.
 
Be sure to take very good care of your gut -- the celebrex and plaquenil (and minocin too) are hard on the stomach. Eat well. I take a probiotic with over 20billion organisms. It's expensive but worth it. So far so good. Good luck!
 
BL
Interesting that one of you mentioned itching because I have had 3 bouts of 10 minute spurts of red, insane itching in my hands today.  Like fire ants attacked me!!  It seemed to coincide with taking Ultram which may have interacted.  I was under the impression that these were safe to take together, but maybe not!  I'm going to give it a whirl tomorrow with only the Celebrex and see what happens.  My hands were pain free for the first time in years and if it hadnt been for my ankles I would have been fine.  Going to see what happens.  Fingers crossed (and I CAN!)My husband takes celebrex,  He is in the hospital again with bleeding,(3 more pints of blood and iron thou the IV)  He has bleeding ulcers in throat and stomach.  they are talking about taking him off of the celebrex.  He's only been on the celebrex since they pull the mortin and the other 1 off.  I think his is cause from 27 years of meds.  He's had ulcers for years now,  just not this bad. I don't know what is left for him to use,  he have to take something.  He can't get out of bed without pain pills.  sure hope your pain gets better and good luck with the celebrex.
 
PS my husband is itching so bad he's making soars, cream don't help that much.
rusty2008-04-25 20:17:59Celebrex never did a thing for me, good or bad.  Plain old naproxen (anaprox, aleve, etc) is my NSAID of choice.
I've been taking Celebrex for about 5 years.  I've never had any side effects from it.  It does take about 2 weeks for it to really take effect.  I've tried a lot of different NSAIDS that did not work as well as for me as Celebrex. They also came with unpleasant side effects like stomach upset, gas and severe sweating.
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