Not again!

Yet another report about a COX-2 inhibitor hit the internet today. This time, it's Celebrex, the very COX-2 drug that I take!

A long term cancer study shows that Celebrex causes twice as many heart attacks than a placebo (well, duh! When sugar pills cause a heart attack, and that's what a placebo is-- a sugar pill-- then I'll know that the karma of the world is screwed up!). Another study of cancer patients shows no significant change.

Additional note: I read today -18 Dec.- that participants in the one cancer study were given 600-800mg, or roughly FOUR TIMES the usual dosage! In that case, I can see where that may be a problem. That alone should not be the basis to pull Celebrex off the market. Get real!

The thing that gets me is this: the insert for Celebrex states that people with heart conditions should NOT be taking this drug. Had some of these medical "experts" read the insert, they would have known that. The inserts for Bextra (like Celebrex, manufactured by Pfizer), and Vioxx (Merck) say the same thing. If you have heart disease, perhaps you shouldn't take our drugs.

I haven't had problems with Celebrex, unless saying that it makes me really sleepy is a problem (I take 200mg once a day). It does in me what it's supposed to do, and that's get rid of the pain. I don't have heart disease, so I'm not worried. I only take it when I need it, and that's not very often. I've been able to ward off some pretty bad flares with Celebrex, and I'll stop taking it if and when Pfizer takes it off the market; or if a doctor tells me there's something better out there.

--MorelaterZ--

This post updated 21:46 on 18 December 2004.