has anyone taken or is taking etoricoxib? just stared taking it as methatrxate made me sick like comments please if anyone has any thanks

[tich57]

[Hidden]

Never heard off it to be honest

[Barrister]

Hi Tich57,

My husband was prescribed a short course of this for back pain. It's a NSAID and is used fo pain relief in RA too and it is only one a day as far as i can remember. It seemed to work pretty well for him. Clemmie.

[helixhelix]

It's an anti-inflammatory, of the slightly newer type than things like Ibuprofen, and for many people works well. But although it will help with pain and inflammation it's not doing anything to control the disease like Methotrexate can do, so isn't a replacement for methotrexate. If you are having trouble with Methotrexate then talk to your rheumy team about trying another of the disease modifying drugs. Etoricoxib alone is not enough, and won't stop you getting damaged joints if your RA is active. Polly

[BossyB]

I was prescribed this at the beginning of my diagnosis before i went onto MTX. I now use it as a painkiller more than anything so when i am flaring, i take if for a few days for the inflammations. I take 90mg which is one tablet daily. I did have 60mg to start with but not much use. The highest doesage is 120mg. Hope this helps

[mistymeana]

I have taken this for several years as it doesn't have the dreadful stomach symptoms of the brufens for me. I find it more effective at controlling pain/inflammation but it does raise the problem of a slightly increased risk of heart attack/stroke so you need to take any other lifestyle considerations into account (I stopped smoking and lost weight so I could continue on it). As Polly said though, it isn't enough on its own to control RA so if you haven't already, I'd suggest you speak to your rheumy team about trying another DMARD as there are several out there so hopefully trial and error will find something that helps you without unpleasant side effects x

[Smoothie13]

I have been taking it for about 3 years with no problems. I have been on 120mg once a day for that period of time. It is a Cox 2 inhibitor that has been around for 11 years. In theory the Cox 2 inhibitors are safer than traditional NSAIDs for stomach problems but there is a slight increase in the risk of cardiovascular problems.

120mg is not licensed for RA, the 90mg dose is.

Now and again I get a slight metallic taste in my mouth after taking it, but this subsides after a short time.

Hope this helps.

[tich57 in reply to Smoothie13]

thank you

[tich57]

thank you to everyone who answered my question

[allanah]

I asked my chemist about it and he advised me to avoid it due to the increased risk of heart problems, if that helps .

[tessintrouble]

Was this one of the drugs mentioned on the news re-heart problems? I saw on BBC East news at ten it was on the front page of a daily paper that they were going to discuss - but I fell asleep and missed it!

[earthwitch]

It is a medication that there are mixed opinions about, with some countries being OK about using it, and other countries saying its too high risk for heart problems. Personally, if I had any history of heart disease in close relatives I'd avoid it like the plague, but if the family was generally fairly heart-healthy I'd take it, because it does seem gentler on the stomach than some other NSAIDs. All the NSAIDs have risks though - you just have to weigh up whether the benefits are more than the risks for you.

[allanah in reply to earthwitch]

ye we have a lot of heart problems in the family x

[Hidden]

i have taken it its a no no for heart problems or high bp.. less aggresive on stomach than many other Nsaids