Weekes Head Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 First Vioxx...then Celebrex...now Naproxen? I truly thought Naproxen was the safest of the bunch, but now THAT one is linked to heart problems with prolonged use. God, I took Naproxen for TWO YEARS a while back. *sigh* It doesn't help that after I stopped Naproxen, I started taking Celebrex! Oh well. If I die of some heart-related disease, I'll just sue the drug companies...oh...wait a second... *sigh* This also spells trouble for Aleve users; Aleve contains Naproxen. If you're currently taking any of these medications, definitely CALL UP your doctorand ask what to do. At least, that's waht I'd do. I don't even trust Bextra anymore, either. I think that's pretty much it for the anti-inflammatory experiment. I think the world is stuck with the Tylenols and Advils or straight up NARCOTICS to treat pain. That's not a good sign. This stat is UNREAL: NIH researchers halted the survey after finding people who took naproxen were 50 percent more likely to have heart attacks or strokes. :o :o !!! Link: http://www.cnn.com/2004/HEALTH/12/21/fda.naproxen/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 I'm still waiting for my one doctor to call me back regarding Celebrex. At least my GP suggested I take one Celebrex instead of two a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted December 21, 2004 Author Share Posted December 21, 2004 I'm still waiting for my one doctor to call me back regarding Celebrex. At least my GP suggested I take one Celebrex instead of two a day. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The second I heard about Vioxx, I threw the pills in the trashcan. Same went for the Celebrex. Now I'm going to find any Naproxen and Bextra (I don't even care if it's proven okay or not...I'm not taking ANY chances) bottles in the house and dump them as well. I don't even want to be NEAR this stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyFan42 Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 I don't even trust Bextra anymore, either. I think that's pretty much it for the anti-inflammatory experiment. I think the world is stuck with the Tylenols and Advils or straight up NARCOTICS to treat pain. That's not a good sign. I could go for some narcotics right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elias Sports Bureau Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Damn, Aleve was the cure-all for everything for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Aleve is non-prescription strength naproxen, so is that less dangerous than prescription strength??? Also, one of the initial studies that was supposed to be a big warning sign AGAINST Vioxx showed that people who took it had 4-5 times more heart attacks than people in the control group, who were taking naproxen. So was that study completely flawed??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepperkorn Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 (edited) any COX inhibiter is going to more than likely carry the same risk as any other - if that's what's working for you you're more than likely SOL as far as finding a similar replacement drug. you know I'm just leaving that alone -- let Crasher or sammy make the joke Edited December 21, 2004 by Pepperkorn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted December 21, 2004 Author Share Posted December 21, 2004 Aleve is non-prescription strength naproxen, so is that less dangerous than prescription strength???Also, one of the initial studies that was supposed to be a big warning sign AGAINST Vioxx showed that people who took it had 4-5 times more heart attacks than people in the control group, who were taking naproxen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sammyk Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 you know I'm just leaving that alone -- let Crasher or sammy make the joke <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Jokes about Cox? I'm in no position to make jokes about it. My cable provider is Cox Cable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 I noticed an ad the other night from Advil taking advantage of all this "take the one you can trust". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepperkorn Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 (edited) Aleve is non-prescription strength naproxen, so is that less dangerous than prescription strength???Also, one of the initial studies that was supposed to be a big warning sign AGAINST Vioxx showed that people who took it had 4-5 times more heart attacks than people in the control group, who were taking naproxen. Edited December 21, 2004 by Pepperkorn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 I noticed an ad the other night from Advil taking advantage of all this "take the one you can trust". <{POST_SNAPBACK}> And isn't there some extremely tiny risk about taking Advil with alcohol??? Expect ads from Tylenol slamming Advil soon. God, I hate my former clients. All of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueNJ97 Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Yeah because I'm really sure Merck was looking forward to taking on the major liability putting a deadly drug on the market brings. I'm sure they were thinking they could pull in sufficient profit to cover all the lawsuits that were certain to follow. Maybe some VP screwed the pooch on this one but I don't think any drug company would intentionally push a potentially lethal drug to market. I'm not particularly siding with big pharma here or saying that Merck wasn't at fault and shouldn't be held accountable but please use your logic - this wasn't a Firestone tires kind of thing. It was a mistake - save your outrage for something more blatant. Or what the hell just be outraged at everything - everyone else is right? if that's what makes you happy. Sorry to be an ass about it. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I don't think that Merck wanted the liability that came with this. No company does. And I blame the FDA as much as I blame Merck. The study that I mentioned was available during the approval process. Now, there were two issues with the study. First, it had a pretty small sample size. Second, Merck asked a legitimate question about it. They asked whether the results were a function of an issue with Vioxx, or whether they were showing that Naproxen was providing protection from heart attacks, similar to the kind of protection that aspirin provides. That IS a legitimate question and nobody knew the answer to it. What should probably have happened is that the FDA should have held off on approval until they figured out what was really going on. But they decided that the study was flawed, discounted the results and approved Vioxx. Later, when other studies started to point toward a possible link between Vioxx and heart attacks, the FDA could have asked Merck to put a stronger (black box) warning on the labels instead of the one line warning that was on there. That would have prevented the full-out marketing campaign that Merck was allowed to use. But the FDA didn't do it. And, as someone pointed out in an interview I saw, that is probably because, once the FDA has approved something, they are responsible for monitoring it, and they are very loathe to say they made a mistake about it. It's like the fox guarding the hen house. Finally, about approval times and the FDA. The drug companies put an enormous amount of pressure and pay lots of money to get their drugs approved. But the public bears lots of responsibility in this as well. We scream for drugs to relieve our symptoms and we want them NOW. And we damn well want answers when we don't get what we want. Then something like this happens and everyone wants to sue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizDevil30 Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Makes you stop and think, maybe the "war on drugs" has been on the wrong drugs. A lot of green leafy things are proven to be good for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted December 22, 2004 Author Share Posted December 22, 2004 Well then I'll eagerly await the time when I find out I have heart disease or die because of a heart attack because Merck or the FDA for that matter didn't have the balls to say "hey, wait a minute...maybe this isn't the best for you." Sure, I understand that they wouldn't do it, but does that not mean it's NOT messed up to begin with? I'm sorry PK but when it comes to MY health, I'm going to be outraged when I find things out like this. I have every right. Hell, when I was first precribed Celebrex, I asked my doctor MULTIPLE times if it had any long term side effects and I did my research. How would you feel if you were taking a dangerous drug for a long period of time, being told it was "safe", only to find out it can potentially be deadly? It sucks. And it upsets me. It just makes me lose all that much more faith in the medical/pharmacutical world. I don't mean to sound like ass either, but it's somethign that really bothers me. And I don't think it's all that fair to be told that I'm not allowed to be outraged about it. Sure, I may sound a little off here, but come on -- no one wants to find out that they have been doing something that is potentially very harmful to their body, UNKNOWINGLY. Maybe I'm a bit jaded by that, but how is that not understandable? I think I've been through more than my fair share these past 10 years. I don't to deal with any more sh!t because a company was too scared to come clean for fear of losing money. Besides, I'm sure they've made far more profit than they'd lose in these lawsuits. And let's face it, some of these lawsuits are very well unrealistic to begin with. Bottom line is that Merck knew about the dangers. They did nothing. I'm NOT supposed to be upset about that? I'm NOT supposed to be upset at the idea of hundreds, THOUSANDS of people potentially falling ill (or already falling ill) or even DYING because of them not wanting to come clean? Wow. I guess it's more important to save your ass in life rather than having others get sick or die. I don't even know why that should surprise me; that's what this world has come to, apparently. In the end, I don't care about the people at Merck or at these other drug companies. I care about myself, my family, my loved ones and their well being. That's not selfish, either. It's realistic. Even if it was, I think I have the right at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepperkorn Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 You're right RD. and on a message board even of COURSE you can be outraged! Man if you can't be here then were can you be. My husband was taking Vioxx - he actually didn't like it even though it worked. I hate drugs of any kind. I think I told you that after my c-section my anesthesiologist actually paid a special visit to my room before going home for the night. He tiptoed in at 3am and seriously stressed that I TAKE my pain killers and take them BEFORE i felt any pain. I'm a little on the stoic side - I was pretty surprised he had me totally pegged when I wasn't even saying anything - I guess that's how he knew Anyhow -- I just don't take drugs - drives my husband nuts. See though I feel like they mask pain I have to know where the pain is, you know? Or let the cold run it's course. I hate not knowing what's going on with myself! You can damage yourself - like for singing I never took anything I had to know where the chords stood and all -- same with dance -- you have to know what's going on where so you don't put MORE stress on it. I dont know. But I know you have to take stuff and it's important you can trust it. But I just get so sick of hearing how everyone feels violated by everything. That doesn't change the fact that you ARE right though -- like I said and really meant - I know I was being an ass so please dont' feel like I think you're one! I know who the ass is here!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weekes Head Posted December 22, 2004 Author Share Posted December 22, 2004 My aplogies for coming off like a bitch, PK. You just hit a sensitive nerve, that's all. In all honesty, I HATE taking any medication, but I'm always told I "have to" for my health. When I was sick, I was on ELEVEN medications twice or three times a day. That's really a crazy amount of pills to put in your system over a 24 hour period of time. I was scared to death of the longterm side effects of them. Who knows what may happen in the future, but thanks to those medications I suffer from permanent acid reflux and horrible stomach aches. Fun, eh? At the time, I "had" to take them though, in order for me to get better. Who knows if I'd even be here today or not, but that's what it came down to and since I was so young and SICK, I agreed to it. I just didn't want to feel the way I did anymore. Now when I find out that more and more of these medications are turning out to be awful for you, it pisses me off and really scares me. I took some of these medications for two, three, even five years. God. I don't even want to think of the 'could haves' or 'could bes'. It's too frightening of a thought for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepperkorn Posted December 22, 2004 Share Posted December 22, 2004 Apology accepted -- but you know you shouldn't have apologized, right? You'd be a big freaking patsy if it hadn't touched a nerve right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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