Question
Been diagnosed with osteoarthris and prescribed 25 mg vioxx daily. It’s helped with all but my hands. Are there any side effects with this medication and will taking a higher dose of vioxx improve its’ effectiveness?
Answer
Look under non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on this website for more information. Generally well tolerated but side effects can go up with increasing dosage. The main side effect is gastrointestinal– ulcers, bleeding, gastritis. Kidney effects including edema also tend to go up with dose as well.
The approved dose of Vioxx for RA and OA is 25 mg daily. In the clinical studies, the higher doses had similar side effects as the lower doses but also were similar in effectiveness. But in my experience, there are patients that benefit from the higher dose.
