Effectiveness of Naprosyn in Treating Arthritis

Much is known about the different NSAIDs effectiveness and their side effects from the drug comparisons that have been done and from doctors' long experience in giving certain drugs to their patients and then hearing how they fared. This is how Indocin (Indomethacin) got its reputation for being more likely to bring on headaches and psychological effects, such as anger and confusion, and how Meclomen (Ponstan) became known for causing diarrhoea. Clinoril is reputed to be kindest to the kidneys, although not completely benign, while Meclomen and Feldene are said to be easiest on the liver.

Feldene, although it is similar to other NSAIDs in most respects, has one advantage in that it's easy to swallow, or rather, you only have to swallow it once a day. Other NSAIDs have to be taken at least twice a day, or as often as four timesa day, while aspirin users may need to down three or four tablets together at each dosage time. Some physicians — not to mention the manufacturer of Feldene — believe that making an arthritis drug easier to take makes it more likelythat people will remem­ber to take it, and therefore get the most benefit from it.

If you are over sixty-five, you may be more susceptible to any of the side effects from any of these drugs, and your doctor will have to prescribe them cautiously and watch you carefully.

Being fancier updates of aspirin, all the NSAIDs have appre­ciably higher price tags. Remember that the cost of the pill is not the only expense of taking the drug. The more expensive drugs may save you from other medical expenses later. After all, attempting to minimize side effects is the NSAIDs' whole reason for being. In general, they are thought to cause less bleeding and fewer ulcers than aspirin. Some of them, like aspirin, can make your ears ring. Others may change your appetite or your blood pressure. Most of them have the potential, like aspirin, to cause a rash, itching, or hives.

For all the help they provide, the NSAIDs do not cure arthritis. Since they do not cure, NSAIDs are long-term therapy. And yet, as you may have noticed, their effects can wear off with time.

NSAIDs may be prescribed for osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, to good effect, but the drugs play different roles in the two ailments. Rheumatoid arthritis is by definition an inflamma­tory disease, and NSAIDs are a mainstay of treatment. Even if you require one of the second-line drugs for rheumatoid arthri­tis, such as gold or penicillamine, your doctor will no doubt tell you to continue taking one of the NSAIDs.

The role of inflammation in osteoarthritis, on the other hand, is much foggier. Inflammation may be present some of the time, as opposed to most of the time, or it may be present in such a slight degree that only the most sensitive diagnostic measures can prove it's there. However, since the process of inflammation is thought to damage the joints, controlling it with NSAIDs when necessary makes sense — and, of course, the NSAIDs also act as painkillers. If you have osteoarthritis, your doctor will probably strive for the lowest dose possible, and he or she may suggest that you drop the NSAID from time to time, to see how you fare without it. This cautionary move is to avoid the risk of GI side effects. There is no danger of becoming addicted to any of the NSAIDs, as there is with narcotic painkillers.