In the spirit of helping others, let me share my recent experience with Aleve. I’m a fit 62YO/M who exercises every day – pickleball, gym, yoga, biking, hiking – something to stay in motion (big believer in the book Younger Next Year). To enable this level of activity I became a habitual user of Aleve (Naproxen), mostly daily (1-2 tablets of 220 mg) for over two years (hey, it’s OTC, what could go wrong? /s).
A recent PB injury to my non-dominant shoulder led me to medical specialists, questions, and a reexamination of my supplements. Based upon this, I decided to stop cold turkey.
I’m glad that I stopped and I’m now more aware of the long term risks of NSAIDs. While I never had significant GI symptoms, the risk of internal bleeding is serious (a side effect that is blamed for more than 200,000 hospital visits every year). Even more worrisome for me is the association with cardiovascular events.
There are studies on both sides of the CV effect (pharma funds lots of studies). A good review of recent guidance: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fda-strengthens-warning-that-nsaids-increase-heart-attack-and-stroke-risk-201507138138 Bottom line is that I should have known better, especially after the Vioxx scandal (great book - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2648690/
What really brought home the power of this drug was my surprise at the withdrawal symptoms. Lightheaded, dizziness, sweating and overall discomfort. I wondered if I was coming down with the flu, but while my blood pressure was lower than normal, my temperature was fine and no other symptoms presented. My PB game went to **** and I stayed very aware of the fact that CV events are much more likely (>50% in the first month from the below study) after stopping long term naproxen use : https://consumer.healthday.com/bone-and-joint-information-4/rheumatoid-arthritis-news-43/heart-risk-spikes-after-stopping-painkillers-522865.html
“Fischer's team found that, compared with those who did not take NSAIDs, those who stopped taking the drugs had an almost 50 percent higher risk of having a heart attack in the first month after ending NSAID therapy.
The greatest risk was among patients who had been taking NSAIDs for rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. For these patients, the risk of having a heart attack was about three times higher. For others who used NSAIDs for long-term therapy, the risk was about two times higher.
So, I hope my learning and experience might help others. We are all unique, but we must make good decisions (and be lucky) to maintain our health.
A recent PB injury to my non-dominant shoulder led me to medical specialists, questions, and a reexamination of my supplements. Based upon this, I decided to stop cold turkey.
I’m glad that I stopped and I’m now more aware of the long term risks of NSAIDs. While I never had significant GI symptoms, the risk of internal bleeding is serious (a side effect that is blamed for more than 200,000 hospital visits every year). Even more worrisome for me is the association with cardiovascular events.
There are studies on both sides of the CV effect (pharma funds lots of studies). A good review of recent guidance: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/fda-strengthens-warning-that-nsaids-increase-heart-attack-and-stroke-risk-201507138138 Bottom line is that I should have known better, especially after the Vioxx scandal (great book - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2648690/
What really brought home the power of this drug was my surprise at the withdrawal symptoms. Lightheaded, dizziness, sweating and overall discomfort. I wondered if I was coming down with the flu, but while my blood pressure was lower than normal, my temperature was fine and no other symptoms presented. My PB game went to **** and I stayed very aware of the fact that CV events are much more likely (>50% in the first month from the below study) after stopping long term naproxen use : https://consumer.healthday.com/bone-and-joint-information-4/rheumatoid-arthritis-news-43/heart-risk-spikes-after-stopping-painkillers-522865.html
“Fischer's team found that, compared with those who did not take NSAIDs, those who stopped taking the drugs had an almost 50 percent higher risk of having a heart attack in the first month after ending NSAID therapy.
The greatest risk was among patients who had been taking NSAIDs for rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. For these patients, the risk of having a heart attack was about three times higher. For others who used NSAIDs for long-term therapy, the risk was about two times higher.
So, I hope my learning and experience might help others. We are all unique, but we must make good decisions (and be lucky) to maintain our health.
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