What is Rheumatoid Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is traditionally considered a chronic, inflammatory autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack the joints. It is a disabling and painful ...
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Hello everyone,
I was wondering if anyone has taken a drug called Indocin. I read up on it a bit and geeze, the side effects are long and dreadful. I get wicked insomnia and the docs have tried me on pretty much every pharmaceutical known to man. None have worked. Ambien made me dream while I was still awake, which was one heck of a trip. Butterflies were all around me, curtain rods turned to snakes and the raindrops outside looked like perfect crystal balls. Yeah, reminds me of the Grateful Dead shows. I saw people trip but was always too scared to do it myself. Ambien probably out did their trip ten fold. Anyways, my current rheumy is total old school. He is old, so what can one expect? The guy is 77, knows his stuff but often bickers with his physician assistant who is a very young woman, who prescribes drugs for symptom relief. I like dealing with her, she had me on pain meds that worked, the old doc didn't like it and I had to go off cold turkey. Oxycodone is not fun to go off of like that. Yeah, he offered to put me in a detox place, where I could be sedated but as it is, he didn't offer to pay for it. We sure as hell can't. I couldn't sleep, as the insomnia, when it comes, lasts like exactly three days. He gives me this stuff indocin. It is aspirin based and old school, before methotrexate. I did try the methotrexate for weeks and we did not get along. It made me sick for days, took my good days and gave me bruises everywhere. They just would pop out in the hundreds, literally. They took me off but it seems to work for everyone else and I don't know if I want to try it again. Back to the Indocin. Anyone on it, heard of it? Your advice would be gratefully accepted. Warm Regards to all, Kelleybme Posted on 10/15/08, 10:10 am |
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I don't personally know of Indocin, but I just read the firt few words in the drug description, and I can say with some confidence, even though I'm not a medical person, this drug will not do the trick in the long run. It is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), in the same class as ibuprofen, Celebrex and others, that will help to a certain degree with inflammation and pain, but they will not arrest the progress of the disease. There is a class of drugs called DMARDS (disease modifying antirheumatic drugs), which slow or stop the progress of the disease. You should look into them. (methotrexate was just one of many), and talk to your doc, or his assistant.
When it comes to treating symptoms, that's good for short-term solutions, which unfofrtunately drag on sometimes, but it's my belief that you should be ab;e to get beyond that and attack the disease. DMARDS aren't cures, but they do combat the disease. I personally take oxycodone, and took much higher doses when I had no primary drug. My primary care doc understands the need to reduce pain in order to heal, and he may very well have saved my life. I understand the bias against narcotic drugs, and I try to avoid the discussion, but I'm here to say they worked for me. I tapered my oxycodone from 75 mg to 10 mg, although I'm back to 20, as I await another Rituxan treatment, but I had no apparent withdrawal sysmptoms. I'd be interested to learn what the withdrawal symptoms are, if you don't mind sharing. Hopefully, my day of stopping is coming soon. Sorry for rambling. I hope you get some good relief, soon. BTW, Ambien was one of the many drugs I tried for sleep relief, and I can't say I dreamed while I was awake, but I certainly was awake. It wired me like speed. Did not work, as advertised, for me. 
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I would like to add to what BC2 said - instead of getting symptom relief, get your doctor (you may have to change to a better and younger one!)to provide you with real treatment.
The research on RA shows that THREE months after diagnosis is the ONLY window of opportunity you have to start a treatment with DMARD's that would prevent irreversible damage to your joints. If you wait with the treatment beyond this time, you may suffer irreversible damage AND the disease will get so entrenched that it would be very difficult to kick. The trouble is that old time doctors (and insurance companies!!!) sometimes leave RA sufferers on symptom relief (basically, Aspirin) for months and months. The insurance companies benefit from this because the treatment is cheap and some doctors (old timers) believe that the RA will just vanish by itself. It never does! So, please listen to what BC2 said in his message and act on it as soon as possible! Hugs. Me
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Yes I took indocin during my onset but it did not do a thing for me and I was taken off pretty quickly. I was also taking MTX and prednisone at the same time which was doing nothing for me either. I hate to fight like hell to get oxycontin- finally after I hadn't slept a wink in two weeks (from severe pain cycles that lasted from 11 PM until 11 am) and got so weak I couldn't even sit up AND my GP intervened I got the pain meds I needed.
I still got no relief and I changed doctors. New one jacked up my prednisone to 40 mgs and the change was unbelievable and overnight I was remarkably better! Maybe you need the same thing. The high dose "resets" something- I can't remember what.
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Oh and about the MTX- I take a prilosec every day. Also always take the MTX after eating. Folic acid everday. Drink lots of water.
No adverse effects because of this I think. All doctor's orders.
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Back in the day when they thought I had gout, bursitis in my ankle, bad feet,and a bad knee, before being diagnosed with RA, I was on Indocin or Indomethacin. It's a pharmaceutical grade motrin, ie. antiinflamatory drug. It's hard on the stomach for some people. It does state it may make you sleepy, but it never did for me.
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Sorry reply #2. I have heard of two people that went on an aspirin therapy for RA and they never got it back again. One woman has been free of symptoms for 40 years. So you cannot generalize what RA will do in all people's bodies. It can go into a remissions and your immune system can fight it and keep it at bay forever. Everyone's bodies are different.
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