Went to the doctor today - pretty good visit. I told her the Naproxen wasn't doing much for me, and she put me on Celebrex. We had a discussion of the risk factors, but she said that if you don't have a history of any heart problems (I don't) there isn't much risk. I know some folks are taking Celebrex. How is it working for you? Thanks. I've been on celebrex for about 6 or 7 years without any problems. I guess it's working about as well as the naproxen ( I was on it before the celebrex as well). I found the results were about the same.
Hi Fiona: I've been on Celebrex for 7 years, with a few breaks here and there. I don't have any cardiac problems (every test in the world done) and Dr. feels it's safe for me. I was taking 400 mg. a day and cut to 200 mg. Just started back on 400 mg. and hopefully as soon as this flare is over I'll cut to 200 mg. again. Hope this helps you.
It does. Thanks to both of you. I'm really desperate to cut the prednisone, so I'll try almost anything. I'm waiting for the MTX to kick in. Why is prednisone the only drug that really works?I take it and the inflammation in my chest around my heart has gone down. My blood pressure is normal and my heart rate is normal for the first time ever in my life! I love it.
But, I get constipated because of it no matter how much fiber i take. That I don't like.
Fiona, I didn't know that Celebrex was used for RA. I took Celebrex about 1-2 yrs. ago for Arthritis, before I was diagnosed with the RA. It made me feel so much better. Maybe I should talk to my Dr. about it when I see him the end of May. Would Celebrex replace the Prednisone? I HATE
Trishasea I was telling my doctor that it seemed like it wasn't working anymore... and he basically told me that it must just be ME... that it wont just STOP working. I was driving to work the NEXT day and was listening to NPR (because smart people listen to smart radio
so it WASN"T all in my head, and of course I had to tell my doctor that.... hee hee I'm scared of the heart issues, so I havent taken it since vioxx was taken off the market since it's the same class of drug. woobie
When I was a teenager, they suspected I had some sort of arthritis so they put me on Naproxen. It really did a bad number on my stomach. I had ulcers. At university, I was drinking pepto bismal (is that how you spell it?) like it was water. I should have bought shares in it! ha ha! Never mind taking a tablespoon of the stuff. I would go through a large bottle in two days! Now I have problems with acid reflux, and they trace it back to that time. I get my espohagus streatched twice a year because it closes up and food won't pass through it. I think I know what happened though. They say to take these things with food. As a kid, I am not sure I followed that very much. In univeristy, you are pre-occupied with other things... first time away from home, free to hang with your friends 24-7, the parties, and the late nights, homework, class. It wasn't every day I ate three meals. The last thing I was concerned about was what I was taking those medications with. All this to say, Celebrex seems to be working for me. lol I am long winded today! I know all about acid reflux. It is not fun. I also have to take something every day. But, for me, I only have trouble when I sleep. So I take Nexium a few hours before going to bed. If I don't, then I wake up in the middle of the night literally throwing up stomach acid. It is not nice. It burns. I had quite a scare last summer. When they took some biopsies from my esophagus, they noted cellular changes - but it was not cancer. I was terrified though when they called me back to come in for more biopsies because they found some changes at the cellular level. Everything if fine though. They are keeping an eye on it. You must have had really bad headaches.... that is awful. My aunt has major miagraines. I feel so bad for her. You know, I had to laugh yesterday. I was thinking back to when I broke my toe a few days ago. It looked really bad. The toe was all crooked (still is), the nail came off, and a huge blood blister is taking half of the top part of the toe...but when it happened, sure it hurt but at the time I thought this was nothing compaired to the flare I had in April. I don't think people understand how much a flare can hurt. My father shows much more sympathy to what happened with my toe, than when I couldn't move or dress myself. Maybe it is because you can see how bad the toe looks? I was thinking how interesting that is. At work too. Everyone was so sympathetic about my stupid toe. Just thinking out loud...
It's good stuff.
I know what you mean about being in school. I used to swallow aspirin with no water, never give it a moment's thought. Took 4 to 6 to kill headaches. You pay for that, though.
Trishasea - I don't think it really takes the place of prednisone in terms of stopping inflammation, because I don't think anything works as well as prednisone, unfortunately - but it sure is cutting the pain.
Dar, I've had pretty serious problems with acid reflux, too, and take Prilosec for that. It works - but I'd better not forget it - even for a couple of hours.
I appreciate everyone writing, though, because, just as with the MTX, I'm not sure I'd have been willing to swallow it without knowing other people are still on it.
It's kind of shocking, all the things that can go wrong.
It's a whole lot easier for people to be sympathetic about things they can see. There's no possible way for people to understand how bad an arthritis flare hurts. You almost wish everyone could experience it for just a day so they'd know. Almost. I wouldn't really wish it on anyone, including myself. I have to say, though, I'm a lot more aware of people who limp, use wheelchairs, use handicapped spots.
You'd think people would realize how much RA hurts you when you write off your toe as a little thing.
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