Anyone here using Celebrex?

I just started taking it...am on day 5, so far. My foot doctor suggested I give it a try for the foot pain I've been having. She diagnosed me with arthritis in all of the toes of my right foot, as well as having capsulitis of the 3rd toe. She is hoping that the Celebrex will bring down the inflammation in those areas. I'm taking 200mg/day, and I've been taking right around late morning/lunch time. As an added bonus, I am feeling some mild pain relief in what is usually a constantly aching left knee. I am also feeling some slight improvement in my chronic lower back pain. I'm fully aware of all the "scary" side effects, since this is an NSAID. So far, I have not experienced anything unusual or abnormal...so that's a good thing. Just wondering if anyone else is taking, or has taken Celebrex for arthritis or inflammation? If so, please share your experiences, advice, etc. Thanks!

Linda

No advice personally, but a couple of my aunts and my mom have really bad ankle pain due to arthritis. I will probably inherit it, too :-P They found that celebrex worked great short term to allow them to stop hurting long enough to walk on their ankles properly and elevate when sitting in comfort so that it would heal.

All of them experienced pretty good relief with no bad side effects, so I don't think it is that huge of a deal if you are careful. No one was on it full time, just long enough to recover and seek PT if necessary (a couple of months max). It seemed to work well.

i take it from time to time to help with my chronic low back pain, mainly when it flares up enough that an advil or two fails to do the trick. i took it pretty much daily for almost two months this summer, with no side effects, and it helped me get through each day.

Thank you both, for the replies. It's great to know that it has worked well and that the side effects have not been an issue. I am particularly happy to hear that it helped with your chronic lower back pain, jdubble! I have a chronic lower back condition, that causes me a significant amount of pain...so I'm hoping that as an added bonus, it will ease some of that pain.

I took Celebrex on and off for over 10 years for psoriatic arthritis (200mg twice a day). It was the only NSAID I was able to tolerate due to stomach ulcers. Even with it I had to take Nexium as well.

I finally got my arthritis under control with several other meds that make Celebrex look like a tame drug in comparison, so i dropped the Celebrex about 2 months ago. So far so good.

If you start noticing ANY stomach issues, tell your doctor (and maybe start a PPI like Priolsec which is available OTC). you don't want to let it get out of control, trust me. It's not a fun path.

I'm currently having a major flare of psoriatic arthritis in my toe joints and have upped my meds significantly. I use another NSAID - Mobic - and it's wonderful. Gives me 36 hours of relief. I realise what it's like for people who don't have arthritis and whose joints don't ache most of the time. Unfortunately, it's no good for my blood pressure so I have to use it intermittently.

It doesn't affect my cycling except about 30 minutes into a ride when my joints really start giving me curry. So I just ride harder and the sore legs take my mind off my toes.

lo123:

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Originally Posted by lo123

I took Celebrex on and off for over 10 years for psoriatic arthritis (200mg twice a day).

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Wow, not only someone else in the world with psoriatic arthritis, but someone who cycles too! Not that I wish this on anyone, but it is interesting to know someone else knows what it's like. I hope yours is manageable at the moment. All the best, and to everyone whose joints creak, grind and swell!

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Originally Posted by Lemongrass

Wow, not only someone else in the world with psoriatic arthritis, but someone who cycles too! Not that I wish this on anyone, but it is interesting to know someone else knows what it's like. I hope yours is manageable at the moment. All the best, and to everyone whose joints creak, grind and swell!

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Small world. Not too many of us out there, I imagine. I'm with you, I wouldn't wish this on anyone!

Anyway, my med combo keeps me in what we suspect is medically induced-remission, so I'm lucky. I'd prefer to not need the meds, especially the more nasty ones, but you do what you've gotta do.

I have taken Celebrex daily for at least 5 years and have had no side effects from it. I have lupus and get achy joints. It doesn't take all pain away, but helps quite a bit.

I've taken it on and off for years for back pain. I have never had any problems with it, and it has helped tremendously. I am currently taking it again for some bursitis pain in my knee. I am about a week and a half into my treatment with it and my knee pain is easing up quite a bit.

If it helps, my chiro said he would take celebrex with him to a desert island...

I've taken Celebrex but after about a month or so I switched back to ibuprofen. It seems to work the best for me despite all the latest advancements in Rx's for anti-inflammatory meds. The second thing that seemed to help the most was soaking in warm water.

I had to take celebrex for about a day until I found out I was allergic to it. Rash from head to foot. I had some inflammatory joint issues associated with a virus. All the testing for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus came up negative. After the allergy issue I took naproxen but advil actually worked the best. the problem eventually went away on it's own.

I took it for some time a few years ago. I'm hoping that 'new' doctor will let me have it; it worked so much better than any of the other NSAIDS I've tried.