Naproxen for Lymes disease

[Ianska]

Hi, how quickly should Naproxen take to work? My daughter has been taking it for 10 days with no noticeable effect of the swelling in her knee.

[Mmrr]

Hello, has your daughter been diagnosed with Lymes disease ? Is she being treated with the appropriate antibiotics ? Naproxen should help with any swelling and inflammation, but the mainstay of treatment is with antibiotics.

[helixhelix]

Agree with Mmrr, naproxen is not specific for Lymes.

I find that for me naproxen helps localised inflammation in 2-3 days. But, when my knees have been completely full of fluid then they needed to be drained before an anti-inflammatory would have any effect. Are her knees squishy? Or hot and tight?

[Ianska in reply to helixhelix]

Theyre swollen, double the size still, four months after they initially swelled. Been taking the antibiotics and naproxen for 10 days, but no noticeable change yet. Got 20 days of the course left, and we thought there should be an effect by now. 😕

[Frankiefocus in reply to Ianska]

Naproxen is bad for the stomach, you should ask your doctor for something he approves that will protect the stomach especially with antibiotics. Doctors dont seem to realize that taking both of these can harm the gut. It happened to me last year.

[charisma]

I am not experienced in treating Lyme’s though I was bitten a few times while living in WV, USA, and tested negative after returning here.

It does seem that in some people it takes a long time to achieve reduction of symptoms. Perhaps, if really concerned, you’d be best speaking to the GP or call NHS 24 on 111 if serious.

Useful info on Gov site, if interested. gov.uk/guidance/lyme-diseas...

[collipops68]

hi was told by GP naproxen can take up to a month to start working.Also agree with other comments about stomach need something like Omeprazole to reduce damage to stomach

[AgedCrone in reply to collipops68]

Unless I am the exception to the rule......I find if Naproxen is going to work for you it works in a couple of days.

[Don122 in reply to AgedCrone]

I agree

[nomoreheels]

Hiya lanska, welcome. I take it this is being coprescribed with something else, she's not just relying on this to treat her Lymes? Anyway, to answer your question, naproxen isn’t a med that needs to build up in the system, unlike DMARDs, so if she was going to respond to it at all your daughter should have noticed some improvement in her inflammation by now. It can depend also on the dose, the higher the dose, or if she's taking it twice daily, the more it will work on the inflammation. I think I’d be going back to her GP, see what he makes of it & I’d ask if there's something else he can recommend if he's unsure. She is also being prescribed a stomach protector isn't she? A PPI, something like omeprazole as NSAIDs can be hard on the tum.

[AgedCrone]

Have you looked on lymediseaseuk.com?

Lots of info there...you are obviously on top of things....so keep at it.

I have friends in US who have had it & with swift treatment they are fine, but you do need to push for quick correct treatment here.