Heart patients should use caution with pain killers

If you have had a heart attack and you are living with chronic pain, you may need to talk to your doctor about the type of pain medications, analgesics, that you’re taking.

We’ve heard the news about Vioxx and how it caused heart problems before it was withdrawn from the market a few years ago. It was found that people with heart problems who were taking Vioxx had almost three times higher a risk of having another heart attack or dying than did those who weren’t taking Vioxx. But, the news doesn’t stop there. New research has found that people with heart problems who take Celebrex, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), can still increase the risk of heart attack by  double, and those who take the generic diclofenac had almost double the risk. Ibuprofen, an over-the-counter NSAID, increased the risk slightly.

The findings of the study led to the recommendation that if doctors do prescribe NSAIDs for their heart patients, they should do so in low doses.

If you’re concerned, speak with your doctor as he or she knows your case better than any information you can find on the Internet.

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Tags: living with chronic pain, chronic pain, chronic pain blog, pain blog, celebrex, vioxx, diclofenac, NSAIDs, NSAID, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, ibuprofen, heart attack