NSAID. How do you dose? | Arthritis Information

After reading bubba's ibuprophen thread.. and that some of you said you take before a flare.. or in other threads, when you take it being occasionally.

I take my Oxaprozin 1200mg every blessed day... same time every day.. and try to deal w/ break through by taking it easy or heating or icing..

do you only take your NSAID when needed or as dosed to me... same time ...every day.

Reason for my question.. I'd like to reduce it a little and RD won't allow me to as yet.

do you dose as needed? or take daily as prescribed by your dr.?

I take it as needed. My RD's offered prescription NSAIDS on numerous occations and I still opt for OTC IUB. He says I can take up to 4 at a time (which would be 800mg) and I sometimes do; but often two or three is all I need. I feel like I can control the amount easier with OTC. Their not good for your stomach so I try to be as sparing as possible.

The reason to take it on schedule like that is to stay ahead of the inflammation. I prefer to take it as needed because MTX & Humira control my inflammation for the most part. I take it for occational pain and sometimes I need it....sometimes I don't. I don't want to be taking something for pain when I don't need it.

I take mine everyday[QUOTE=Lovie]

The reason to take it on schedule like that is to stay ahead of the inflammation. I prefer to take it as needed because MTX & Humira control my inflammation for the most part. I take it for occational pain and sometimes I need it....sometimes I don't. I don't want to be taking something for pain when I don't need it.

[/QUOTE]

OK.. thanks for that. I think I still need to stay ahead of the inflammation.. since most of my joints (large joints) are still quite inflamed. Perhaps soon that will change!!

(Love your puppy avatar!)

when you say inflammed do you mean swollen?I take max dose of Mobic every day, 15 mg. May try to move off of that if the MTX ever starts working. I'm afraid to though. Couldn't make a fist before I went on them, and they still don't take away all of the swelling in my wrist. I may experiment with skipping some days but I'm afraid I won't be able to type/write at work if I do.I take 200 mgs of celebrex morning and nightI take my Relafen 1000 mg every day and take 1300mg Tylenol Arthritis up to 2X a day (if needed) [QUOTE=wanttobeRAfree]when you say inflammed do you mean swollen?[/QUOTE]

yep!

If I'm throwing a flare I will take as many as 5 OTC naproxens in a day (3 in the AM, 2 in the PM), depending on how I'm feeling.

Up until about a week or two ago, I took 750mg in the morning and 750mg in the evening (Relafen) I dropped down to just one pill as I was having some stomach issues. Haven't cleared it yet with my RD, but at last visit she did say she was going to try dropping it at my next visit (Sept), so I figured it was safe to drop. I am planning on calling and leaving a message this week to let her know - I don't want to have to go in and admit I'm making my own treatment decisions. I haven't noticed much difference in the decrease, so makes me wonder if I should have pushed the drop earlier.

i take prescription strength ibuprofen (over the counter purchase) 800mg twice a day now.Before I started on Enbrel, I took 1000 mg of Relafen every day, and 2000 mg on days I flared. Enbrel works so well that I take the Relafen on an "as needed" basis now. I'm finding I use it more for my back pain now than my joint pain.I have taken an nsaid of one kind or another pretty much every day for the last 30 years. If I miss a dose or have to be off of it for some reason I have a lot of pain and stiffness. If I'm off for more than 1 week like before a surgery I end up with swelling visible to others.

The heart warnings that have been out for the last 5 years make me worry, but they don't stop me from taking nsaids. They make the difference between getting by or not.