Celebrex is my hero med.!
I was getting samples for it for about a yr from my Dr. he recently ran out of the samples 
Within 2 days of being off it I noticed a HUGE difference in my pain as well as stiffness in all my joints.
My insurance won't pay for it - as they say I can take ibuprofen and get the same relief. NO I can't! I tried before the samples were given to me and I have tried in the last few days. I took a large dose, as well as the normal doses over the past week and NOTHING!
A friend of mine swears by Excedrin back & body ( she too use to take celebrex ) and that also give me NO help.
The cost of it for a 1 month supply here is 125.00 which I can't handle.
I did find it in Canada for like 45.00 but my Dr does not want to fax a script out of country - which I can understand.
Has anyone found anything - natural or drug wise that helps to replace celebrex?
Ms. Humpty Dumpty Took a great fall and all the Drs and surgeons could not put her back together again.
After my fall I started to fall apart. L1-L2-L3-L4 - S1 & S2 gone. ( full herniation )Spinal stenosis, spinal arthritis, degenerative disk, scoliosis.
The spacers in your back are gone/going, spinal nerve damage.
Spinal spurs. Both knee caps & both hips have degenerative bone disease, arthritis and bone spurs.
No surgeries as Drs. don't think it will help and may make things worse.
Age 47 - Here to find & offer support.
I can't take Celebrex. I used to. I have tried Bextra, Celebrex, and Relephen (all anti inflamation meds). My insurance always pays. Ask you doctor for a less expensive generic and he ought to be able to come up with something like Celebrex.
I take OTC Ibuprofen but apparently it is worse for you long term than the prescriptions.
Funny that your inusurance wont pay and mine requires it as treatment before my surgery.
Good luck,
MRI 12/07 L4-5 Herniated w/Nerve Impingment. L5/S1 Posterior Central Protrusions- indents @Thecal Sac. L4/S1 Moderate Facet Anthropy. 6/08 MRI and Flexion Extension Xrays- revealed grade 3 Retrolisthesis L5/S1, Spondy L4
Constant LBP and Bilateral Radiculopathy going on 17 months. PT, MT, Chiro, Traction, Selective Nerve Root Injections........ You name it I probably did it.
*****L4-S1 PLIF 7/28/08******* Considered a perfect success!
Newest problem: Shocking sharp pain in neck, shoulders and elbows, burning painful hands, and constant numbness/tingling in both hands.
MRI C6-7 disc protrusion with right lateral recess narrowing, C5-6 disc protrusion & spondylosis with bilateral neuralformen bony stenosis.
I am currently waiting for my neck surgery to be schedule ACDF C5/C6/C7- Insurance has required conservative treatment (PT and elecromagnetic therapy).
ask your doctor about arthotec. It is on the same lines as celebrex but more sutle on your stomach.
Not sure if the spelling is correct but it worked just as well as Celebrex for me. It is a generic so it was fairly inexpensive.
I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin
Much thanks to all and also for the PM I was sent. I will look into all of this ideas/options. Thanks
Ms. Humpty Dumpty Took a great fall and all the Drs and surgeons could not put her back together again.
After my fall I started to fall apart. L1-L2-L3-L4 - S1 & S2 gone. ( full herniation )Spinal stenosis, spinal arthritis, degenerative disk, scoliosis.
The spacers in your back are gone/going, spinal nerve damage.
Spinal spurs. Both knee caps & both hips have degenerative bone disease, arthritis and bone spurs.
No surgeries as Drs. don't think it will help and may make things worse.
Age 47 - Here to find & offer support.
I started taking MOBIC, and I find it really helps me. Its a once a day pill, and I take 15mg. Some sides effects, but they are going away now. I couldn't take Celebrex, and my Dr. thinks Mobic is much better. So, just a thought! sweetpotatoe57
If you are not in the USA, you can look for Arcoxia, (it is not available in USA). Arcoxia compares with Celebrex in terms of effectiveness and is a Cox-2 NSAID as Celebrex is too.
Arcoxia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etoricoxib) is my wonder drug for moderate pain relief.
Severe Degenerative Disk Disease and severe bilateral foraminal stenosis at L5-S1. Laminectomy & fusion in Dec 2006. Hardware removed due to issues, in July 2007. Now living a back pain free life.
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Important: My comments here and comments from other members reflect personal opinions only. You should not act on any advice or opinion posted in these forums without seeking proper medical advice from a qualified doctor. Please, ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health!
Here is a list of the generic $4.00/month NSAIDs found at places like Target or Walmart. Ask your doctor which is closest to celebrex...(copied from Targets website)
DICLOFENAC ER 75 MG
IBUPROFEN 100 MG/5 ML* -
IBUPROFEN 400 MG -
IBUPROFEN 600 MG -
IBUPROFEN 800 MG -
INDOMETHACIN 25 MG* -
MELOXICAM 7.5 MG -
MELOXICAM 15 MG -
NAPROXEN 375 MG* -
NAPROXEN 500 MG* -
PIROXICAM 20 MG -
SALSALATE 500 MG
Cervical stenosis and myelopathy (most symptoms permanant), DDD, OA, 16 surgeries to date (including 3 level cervical laminectomy, bilateral knee replacements, A-C joint resections in both shoulders), 19 MRI's, and many many many cortisone shots and ESI's
The information provided by members of Spine-Health should never be considered as formal medical advice. It is recommendations based on member's personal experiences only.
This can vary from person to person, so do not take comments as medical facts or rules
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Ms. Humpty Dumpty Took a great fall and all the Drs and surgeons could not put her back together again.
After my fall I started to fall apart. L1-L2-L3-L4 - S1 & S2 gone. ( full herniation )Spinal stenosis, spinal arthritis, degenerative disk, scoliosis.
The spacers in your back are gone/going, spinal nerve damage.
Spinal spurs. Both knee caps & both hips have degenerative bone disease, arthritis and bone spurs.
No surgeries as Drs. don't think it will help and may make things worse.
Age 47 - Here to find & offer support.
I used this instead of Celebrex. Since Celebrex was going for about $200/bottle. What a joke. The cost of the Oxaprozin fit under generic and was dirt cheap. For me it even worked better than Celebrex.
I take Mobic, also-no side effects & there's a generic,too- Meloxicam.
It is so funny that you posted this because I was so going to post about it. My rheumy gave me samples of this and I wasn't too hopeful but after my samples ran out, I realized that it totally did make a difference. I was thinking that it was the steroid medrol(sp?) dose pack that my family doc had given me for bronchitis that had made me feel better for a week or so but then I was still feeling pretty good after that was done until I ran out of the Celebrex. I left a message for my rheumy this weekend to see if he could call me in a prescription for the Celebrex. He did say that if it worked that I could just take Aleve which he said works just as well but that really upsets my stomach. If it doesn't upset your tummy, I would give it a try. Lauren.
Someone once said "Pain is a good thing, it reminds you that you're still alive." I'd like to tell that person that I would have settled for a post-it.
Herniated disc (L5-S1) with sciatic pain, Laminectomy in 2006. Post-op chronic lower back pain which I did not have before the surgery and no one can figure out why. Started having chronic widespread pain shortly after first surgery as well as the back pain. Diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2007. Discovered DDD in 2008. Fusion at L5 in December 2008 with hardware. Current meds: 80 mg Oxycontin 3 x a day with an additional 20mg as well as the 80's 3 x a day since they don't make it in 100mg. 10mg percocet. Baclofen. Klonopin. Nortriptyline. Requip. Celexa.
Past meds: Neurontin and Lyrica,both made me sick. Savella which is the first drug made specifically for Fibro and not just as a secondary...went in to anaphylactic shock. Oral morphine, Avinza and Kadian, both made me sick even though the IV Morphine never did. Fentanyl patch made me hallucinate, I swear I could see through my eyelids, LOL! Oral Dilaudid made me a little queasy and tired, no pain relief. Lidoderm patches & trigger point injections, didn't help. Failed ESI's. Open to any suggestions. Lauren.
Thanks to all who posted
My Dr decided to go with ETODOLAC 3 x daily and after just 2 days of taking it all 3 times a day I noticed a big difference for the better.
However it does seem to mess with my stomach - I need to be sure to eat something with it
Ms. Humpty Dumpty Took a great fall and all the Drs and surgeons could not put her back together again.
After my fall I started to fall apart. L1-L2-L3-L4 - S1 & S2 gone. ( full herniation )Spinal stenosis, spinal arthritis, degenerative disk, scoliosis.
The spacers in your back are gone/going, spinal nerve damage.
Spinal spurs. Both knee caps & both hips have degenerative bone disease, arthritis and bone spurs.
No surgeries as Drs. don't think it will help and may make things worse.
Age 47 - Here to find & offer support.
Thank you for letting us know what your doctor went with. As I said, I ran out of my samples and asked the doctor to call me in a prescription for the Celebrex. The pharmacy called me to tell me that he did call it in but my insurance doesn't cover it either. They do have a discount plan at the pharmacy but it still cost me $120.00 for 30 pills. I definitely cannot afford that every month on top of almost $200 a month I already pay in co-pays for all of my other meds. I think I will ask my doctor if I can try the Etodolac at my next appointment.
Someone once said "Pain is a good thing, it reminds you that you're still alive." I'd like to tell that person that I would have settled for a post-it.
Herniated disc (L5-S1) with sciatic pain, Laminectomy in 2006. Post-op chronic lower back pain which I did not have before the surgery and no one can figure out why. Started having chronic widespread pain shortly after first surgery as well as the back pain. Diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2007. Discovered DDD in 2008. Fusion at L5 in December 2008 with hardware. Current meds: 80 mg Oxycontin 3 x a day with an additional 20mg as well as the 80's 3 x a day since they don't make it in 100mg. 10mg percocet. Baclofen. Klonopin. Nortriptyline. Requip. Celexa.
Past meds: Neurontin and Lyrica,both made me sick. Savella which is the first drug made specifically for Fibro and not just as a secondary...went in to anaphylactic shock. Oral morphine, Avinza and Kadian, both made me sick even though the IV Morphine never did. Fentanyl patch made me hallucinate, I swear I could see through my eyelids, LOL! Oral Dilaudid made me a little queasy and tired, no pain relief. Lidoderm patches & trigger point injections, didn't help. Failed ESI's. Open to any suggestions. Lauren.
...for those of you who don't have a nice RX insurance policy.
The Daypro/Oxaprozin I was taking I believe was not even $20/month. That was taking 1x day.
They worked every bit as good as Celebrex for me.
I was also told that Aleve or higher dose of Advil will do the job. I can't do Aleve for any amount of time. I was taking Advil and 2 pills x 2 day. The Daypro worked better. And the cost of the generic was actually competitive with, if not cheaper than, Advil and most certainly Aleve.
What's funny is Celebrex is considered the wonder child replacement for most of the older drugs listed here. Including Daypro. My GP was actually the one who suggested it when I left the 1st surgeon I went to and the Celebrex ran out. He said this is old stuff, not supposed to be as good, but dirt cheap and easier on the stomach for some. All he requested is I start doing urinalysis tests and blood tests quarterly. He even assigned me to a urologist for that and bladder issues.
Some of the big brand names are preferred while other older, now generic, are excellent substitutes. I know my insurance company was happy when I went to the generic.