cox-1 inhibitors from aspirin to the NSAIDS, including some pretty unusual prescription ones, never really worked worth a darn for me. Finally, for an unusual condition, I was prescribed a cox-2 inhibitor, Celebrex.
For the first time in my life, I had a "So that is what a painkiller is *supposed* to be like", feeling. It really worked and I could *tell* that it was working. It actually stopped the pretty serious pain.
No noticeable side effects. For those who are concerned about dangerous side effects, I gather that two groups are at risk: teenage girls, because it may not work well with a lot of estrogen in the system; and patients with severe arterial clogging.
They got a real shock from the later group. When they gave them both a cox-1 and a cox-2 inhibitor, it caused catastrophic failure of their plaque deposits. It was like Drano on their pipes. But you do *not* want big chunks of arterial plaque breaking off and floating in your bloodstream. They had to cancel those tests because they were too dangerous.
Now I'm on something called Relafen. Seems to help somewhat but I feel dragged out all of the time. I'd rather have the pain.