Hi all I've just been perscribed celecoxib for my ra and osteo athritis
I have read common side effects more than 1 in 10 high blood pressure. .common 1 in 10 heart attack 😨 infection , muscle stiffness , painfull joints , accidental injury .advice from anyone already taking much appreciated
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Billybongos
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I take a different anti-inflammatory, but they have similar risks. What you need to weight up for yourself is what balance of risks and benefits you are prepared to accept. Is a 90% chance that the drugs will help you without any negative side effects a reasonable one for you?
If your RA/inflammation is not controlled your risks of heart attack, other cardiovascular disease and so on also go up. So you don't escape risks by not accepting the celecoxib. Basically we are all stuck between a rock and a hard place.
What I do is that yes I take the drugs, but I do everything else I can to minimise risks. So I have got my weight under control, stopped smoking, take daily exercise and eat a good diet with less fats and sugars than I used to. I also have an annual check of my heart health and monitor my blood pressure.
Morning to you helixhelix , yes your right but I have had various anti inflams over the years but common side effects on these are well....really scary to say the least
Have you looked recently at the warnings on the ones you have taken? In the last few years they have recognised risks much more and changed the way these are described. The leaflet in my pack of ibuprofen reads
Risk of heart attack or stroke:
Anti-inflammatory/pain-killer medicines like ibuprofen may be associated with a small increased risk of heart attack or stroke, particularly when used at high doses.
I have nothing bad to say about these meds, for me they worked like a dream.
Obv everyone is different, at different ages and stages, and diseases, these things do come into play.
I'm guessing that if they have put you on Cele then...
1) You are not elderly
2) Have normal or controlled BP
Of course risks would be higher if the above mentioned were an issue. I was in my mid 40's when I started them(now 50,well 49) I was scared to take them but my very good Doc reassured me that I'd be fine bcz I wasn't in the risk age group and my BP was optimum.
I took the max dose for 4 years everyday and had great relief from stiffness and pain. Even though now I'm on Biologics, on well ruff days I sling one of them into the mix and notice I'm running like a smooth engine again. It's normal to be worried, fear of the unknown ect. But for us with chronic illness, it's something we have to learn to deal with on the job and in quick time.
Keep a written log of how you are feeling to reassure yourself, they kick in pretty quick so let us know how you get on.
Thank you deminem for swift reply heart attack as a common side effect was freaking me out .makes sense what your saying yes I have normal BP and I'm 48 just taken one fingers crossed it works as well as it did for you , once again thanku for your swift reply I was getting myself in a bit of a pickle about taking them
It's very hard for the patient to know what med to choose when seldom given all the facts. There are always alternatives that may or may not suit you better, but it is important to do an educated choice. There are many individual differences that always need to be considered. You can take a bigger risk and you can minimize your risk. The Cox-2 inhibitors like Celecoxib may have more risk factors than pain meds that work in different ways?
A reasonable sized study, but unfortunately no information about age, existing health issues or other factors for the participants. For all we know they could be people with existing high risk factors.... so yes backs up the point that there are risks, but doesn't help further to me.
But what research does tell us is that COX-2 in fact may have a protective effect on cardiovascular function. So why would you choose a pain med that in fact takes away this protective component? Choosing something else would, in my opinion, be a way of minimizing risks(?)
In Celecoxib and other meds with the same maechanism of action, COX-2 is removed. Not so good since shown to have a protective function on cardiovascular function.
Except that some things work better for some people than others. I've found a significant positive difference with Arcoxia over lower risk things like Naproxen - so I accept the risks as the benefit to my quality of life is good enough.
So that was an educated choice😊Whereas in so many cases here on this forum anxious bewildered Ra sufferers are not helped by by their rheumie teams to see the whole picture with the offered meds and come to this forum to get support and advice. The advice is most often encouragements to try the offered med because it has worked on some forum members. Which in reality tells you very little about how it will work on the anxious ra sufferer in question. This is often thanktully received by the sufferer. Gives them hope. But what I wonder is that isn't forum in fact then doing exact the same thing as the rheumie team that believes that keeping facts from the patient is a better way to go? Wouldn't it help the patient more to have a place that would help with the reality of RA and encourage selfreflxion and educating oneself in seeing the broad picture of ones individual disease situation🤔
Thanx for your reply my gp said I will put down we have discussed (celecoxib) she just said they were more expensive. I now feel she was covering her own backside and you would assume that from we've discussed celecoxib it would have been the increased risk in heart problems not the price !I'm so annoyed
Is this the best advice to be offering someone anxious about meds prescribed? As had been noted I'm other posts, various factors are a consideration and would almost certainly have been considered, in a measured way, by the physician treating the individual?
I sometimes thin a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. We should be careful and responsible in how we share it.
If we did not just know that all life has risks and some we just have to accept them would any of us drive, get on an airplane or swallow a tablet?
I'd have died had I not accepted the risk of one medication. As my haematologist said 8 people died last year from taking Paracetamol none from this medication, but of course I can't promise you won't be first !
I've said this before but 90% chance of no side effects is great and anyway its usually only until the body gets used to it. I hope it helps you and if it does'nt then talk to your doctor.
Well after all that , I only took 1 .had swelling lips , sore itchy throat ears n a rash so had stop taking them .so I've decided to give up on anti inflams they just don't suit me . A big thanku for all the advice ,your opinions are well and truly appreciated ❤❤❤❤
I still have faith that 99% of professionals are really trying to do their best for me, so don't dismiss their ideas lightly. And common sense works for me, as trends/fads come and go and I plod on with my approach of keeping things simple. Local food, in season, with minimal extras (although my turmeric plants are coming on a treat now), walking swimming and cycling rather than expensive gyms and fitness machines, etc etc. We are animals, so me and the dog have similar lifestyles...
I am not contesting in any way that doctors would do their best, but sadly more a question of that the best is too often not good enough (especially in treating chronic autoimmune conditions) and not based on scientific holistic knowledge but on biased knowledge of symptom control with meds, like the above link tells us, resulting in overmedication and often life threatening complications.
I can't take any NSAID'S for my arthritis and including this tablet, I have had full blown anaphylatic shock 3 times with various ones and once in a coma, now I just suffer and take painkillers tho now they hardly work, and I'm terrified to be put on anything different I've only been saved by the fact that I had family with me when this has happened, and sometimes the anaphylaxis doesn't start immediately with this particular medicine it happened after taking it for 7 days.
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