anti inflamatory medications

Specifically, what would you like to know?

My doctor took me off Ibuprofen because of anemia and substituted Celebrex (200 mg.). I think the Ibuprofen (800 mg.) was more effective at pain relief, but I've had no unpleasant reactions to Celebrex.

bm

I haven't taken Celebrex but have taken Vioxx and it upset my stomach...and I didn't notice any relief in pain. For me, with osteoarthritis, simple Ibuprofin (600 - 800 mg) helps better than anything else.

As an aside, I've also tried Mobic, which didn't work, and Naproxin, which also was upsetting to the little belly.

I've used both! Was that your question? Or is there more?

A friend of mine once had the brilliant idea to take the square of Vioxx out of the capsule and snort it. Apparently, it burned. Really bad. Most capsules, it seems, have a bit of HCl mixed in w/ 'em, although that's just my guess as to why it burned my friend so bad. Personally, I think he was crazy for trying it

I personally have no experience with them but I have read that Celebrex is a sort of drug company hoax: a slight variation on Vioxx that keeps the big ticket drugs on the market. It's too new to be copied as a generic.

POM
I'm not sure where you read this, but it's incorrect! Bear in mind that Pfizer purchased Pharmacia on the stength of Celebrex.

They are different drugs of the same class, that treat the same things. Celebrex certainly isn't a cover brand!

My Dad took Celebrex and it didn't help him. Aleve (naproxen sodium) worked better but his doctor told him he couldn't use it because of other things he was taking.

Margo,
I read the news about Celebrex either in the Boston Phoenix or the Boston Globe with the Phoenix being the more likely of the two. Celebrix is supposed to be a minor reformulation of Vioxx.

Apparently, drugs have a sort of limited patent that works more like a copyright: after a period of time, they go into a kind of public domain and their formulas can be reproduced as generics. Vioxx was ready to be genericized and so its parent company developed Celebrix to extend their profitability.

Interestingly, yesterday's NYTimes' Men's Health section had a story on pain and anti-inflammatories. Someone left the Times on a park bench in the center of my town, which I picked up eagerly as I can not afford to buy the paper. the story continued on inner pages but I was unable to read it as the section had been gutted.

This is incorrect - Vioxx is, as far as I know, still under patent. Celebrex was developed around the same time, and is also still under patent. Yes, drugs have a patent life, and then the generics come out, but these are two different compounds. As far as I know there is no generic yet of either Rofecoxib (Vioxx) or celecoxib (Celebrex). Please correct me if I'm wrong about this. There are no generics as yet in Australia, and I haven't looked at US. I think I saw approved in Australia recently a new generation of Vioxx, not yet on the market, but it may be in the US. Pfizer has, I think, launched the updated version of Celebrex in the US, but not yet in Oz. (can't recall the name).

Neither the Boston Globe or the Phoenix are within my ken, but the pharmaceutical industry sure is. I'm a long time member!

Smiling, Margo. I have a good long time friend who teaches pharmacology now. When I first met her, early seventies, she had an mfa in painting and a bs in chemistry or maybe it was vice versa. Walked into our lab's job interview with a longish flowery dress and stapled together shoes. We loved her immediately. Well, she could talk the talk. Last time I saw her in person, years, but we still keep up, she wore this perfect little French business suit... too chic for words.

I fear I won't contribute on vioxx/celebrex, just like to barge in and talk.

Margo,
That is all I know. I read the article some time ago and was so angry at the drug industry that I remembered it. I just hate those ASK YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT ads that encourage you to second guess your health provider.

Went to college with a John Birch wannabe who always said, "You've been duped by the communists." Well, too many are duped by the capitalists!

Have you tried Glucosamine Chondroitin? "Move Free" by Schiff is a good brand. I never think it is doing me any good................until I forget to take it!

Funny thing, I have been giving it to my mom for years. Just last week I took her to the doctor. She has bad osteoarhritis, but also has a delicate stomach, and can't take anti-inflammatories. Out of the blue, she reccommends glucosamine.

truth
Phoenix, I have inflamation problems (osteoarthritis and tendonitis); I deal with it by means of Glusosamine/Chondroitin, delicious candied (crystalized) ginger and tumeric. Seems to work.

JL-I had never heard of turmeric, except as a spice for flavoring. How do you take it? Does it come in pill form?

Vioxx:


Celebrex:


Look pretty similar to me.

truth
Phoenix, tumeric is sold as a yellow powder. My wife uses it in all kinds of dishes: soups, stews, rice dishes, omelettes, etc.. It is a major ingredient of curry. Be aware, however, that it stains your pots and pans yellow. We have a set especially for cooking with tumeric. I don't know if it comes in a pill. There is a pill for inflamation--can't remember the name, but it has "flame" in it--containing a combination of tumeric, ginger and other anti-inflamation herbs, but it's expensive. I prefer to eat them in food.

patiodog: Chemically they look quite different to me. If you've taken biochem, then you have probably learned how compounds can be quite similar but "perform" differently. You can even have compounds that are isomers but are still different in their effects. Fats are one example I can think of. A cis fat (as in essential fatty acids) is one thing, but as we all know, trans fats are harmful.