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Q: I am a 55 year old female who recently had what my doctor referred to as a lunar stroke. I was prescribed a drug called Plavix. I suffer from a serious case of osteoathritis in my hands. It is very painful and sometimes unbearable. My doctor does not know what to prescribe for me to treat my arthritis. He says I cannot have aspirin or ibuprofen because of the Plavix. What about Oruvail? My doctor has never heard of it, but my son takes it for arthritis he suffers as a cause of sports injuries.
A: The medicine you are already taking, Plavix, is an inhibitor of platelet aggregation in the blood. Hence, it prevents blood coagulation. This drug may be employed for the reduction of atherosclerotic events in patients with atherosclerosis to try to prevent the reocurrence of a cardiovasculart event. In other words, this drug may be employed in your particular case to try to prevent the reocurrence of a stroke. In patients receiving Plavix, the concurrent administration of nonsteoidal antiinflammatory agents such as ibuprofen increases occult blood loss in the digestive tract. Hence, this combination should only be used with extreme caution. Also, aspirin potentiates the effect of Plavix on platelet aggregation and the safety of this combination has not been established. Oruvail is also a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug which may be used for arthritis. Just as for the other antiinflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, it may also cause bleeding of the digestive tract and, hence, the combination with Plavix is not advised. Recently however, a new class of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents which minimizes the risk of bleeding has been introduced. The drug Celebrex belongs to this class and could be employed to treat arthritis symptoms while at the same time reducing risk of bleeding Although there is always some risk for bleeding, it is, nevertheless, lower than that for the other antiinflammatory agents. You should discuss your particular case with your doctor, who should advise you whether he/she thinks that the use of Celebrex might be considered in your case to treat your arthritis.
Updated: 07/09/99
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