[Knitting A Conundrum]

This is how I look at it:

They did a dual test with Vioxx and Celebrex. Vioxx caused real problems compared to celebrex.

They tested Aleve against Celebrex and discovered Aleve caused problems.

They tested very high doses of Celebrex and discovered problems - in one test, and a similar, but not identical test earlier found no such problems.

My conclusions:

Celebrex is safer than Vioxx

Celebrex may be safer than Aleve (and certainly is to my tummy)

Large doses of Celebrex may be dangerous.

Doses of most NSAIDS may, at some dosage level, prove as a group, to cause heart problems.

I take Celebrex at the 100mg dose, and in the winter, especially, I need it for arthritis.

Unless they take it off the market, I am not giving it up.

There is no real evidence that it is any more dangerous than a number of other NSAIDs at normal dosages, and in fact, looks safter than a number of them.

The pain in my hands really sucks bad. Narcotics like Loritabs give me a problem with my biliary system. It takes a lot of pain to make me reach for one, knowing that I will have chest pain later if I have to take it very long.

So, I will continue with it, and know that sometimes you are trading off when you take meds for problems...

[asp1]

I have severe arthritis in my neck. I am continuing to take Celebrex. I take one 200mg tablet a day. It is the only thing that gets me through the day. I feel it is worth the risk. Without it I don't function very well. Celebrex at the dose that I take it does not eliminate the pain it just makes it manageable.

[virgil]

Drug companies will get approval for a drug for one disease, then later get approval for more diseases by doing additional post-market studies. I think it was with Celebrex that they found the problems during a study to get approval for Celebrex to be indicated for treatment of COLON POLYPS. The dosage was 2x that for arthritis.