Vioxx / cox-2 inhibitors

shmurciakova
shmurciakova Member Posts: 906 Member
edited March 2014 in Colorectal Cancer #1
Hello all! I was just wondering whether anyone besides myself had been put on Vioxx to prevent recurrences (or in hopes of preventing them). My tumor tissue was sent to the U of Oregon a while back and was determined to be cox-2 dependant. So I was put on Celebrex which caused me to feel like I had the flu all of the time. I was then put on Vioxx which I have been taking daily for about 11 months now. As you may have heard, it has been pulled off the market now for doubling the risk of heart attack and stroke. I had noticed that my blood pressure has increased, tightness of the chest, heart palpitations, occasional hard heart beats, etc. and was planning on speaking to the doc about it when I go for my checkup in late Oct. Now I do not know what I am going to do. I wrote an e-mail to my onc down at MD and hopefully he can put me on Bextra because I am afraid to go off cox-2 inhibitors all together. Is anyone else experiencing this? What did your doctors have to say.
Thanks for any info. you may have, Susan

Comments

  • spongebob
    spongebob Member Posts: 2,565 Member
    #2
    Hi, Susan -

    They put me on Celebrex for chemo-related/induced arthritis and as an inhibitor. It doesn't really give me any sort of side-effects. I wasn't aware they had pulled Vioxx off the market. Can you get it through Canadian outlets?

    - SpongeBob
  • nanuk
    nanuk Member Posts: 1,358 Member
    #3
    Susan: I have also been using Vioxx and Celebrex-(not together) I have been taking 400 mg of Celebrex daily for about a month now. The Onc and Radiologist both think that Celebrex may enhance the effects of chemo/radiation, and possibly prevent recurrence..the flu-like symptoms are interesting. I get an allergy-like chest/throat congestion as the day wears on; usually fine in AM, then progressively worse in the afternoon.Are these symptoms similar to yours? Also some chest tightness. Have been taking an over-the-counter expectorant(Mucinex,orGuafenesin) which helps reduce mucus
    and doesn't seem to have side effects. I asked the
    Onc about the conjestion, but she had no comment.
    What does "Cox-2 dependent" mean? If Vioxx has increased risk of heart attack and stroke, then I wonder if it follows that Celebrex may have the same risks? Bud
  • shmurciakova
    shmurciakova Member Posts: 906 Member
    #4
    hi and thanks for responding. Lisa, they probably have you on Celebrex to lessen the "hand and foot syndrome" associated w/ the Xeloda which can be horrible. My side effects from Celebrex were not congestion (although I did get tightness of the chest from Vioxx). My symptoms were more like just feeling like caca all day long, esp. in the afternoon. By that I mean weakness and feeling sick like when you have the flu. There is one more drug you can try called Bextra which I believe is like the "new generation" form of Celebrex. New and improved Celebrex? at any rate, I guess at MD Anderson they've pulled everyone off of cox-2 enzyme inhibitors pending further studies. I am not sure I want to stop taking them all together though so I am going to write back my doc.w/ my concerns and see what they say. He says there is not enough evidence to prove that cox-2 enzyme inhibitors prevent angiogenesis, but if there is any chance that is what has been keeping me cancer free for the last 1 1/2 years, then I am very reluctant to go off of them.\
    -Susan

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