Feedback on Vioxx Side Effect and Usage
Vioxx Feedback
If you’ve used Vioxx, please help others by adding your feedback. What would you tell your best friend about this product? Please remember that we do not give medical advice. That is for your local health care provider, who is familiar with your medical history. You can use the form below to add your comments, feedback or Vioxx review.
Subj: No side effects
Date: 6/16/2004
I have taken Vioxx for two years to relieve the chronic pain of a herniated and fragmented disk (C4, C5). It has literally changed my life and made me fully functional again! For the first two years following my injury, I stopped doing anything that involved carrying things on my shoulder (like my purse) for more than 5-10 minutes. Now I can go all day with a purse, overnight bag, briefcase, whatever. I had thought the “irritation” was life-long stress that caused my shoulders to ache and “crunch”. Then, I got a real diagnosis and a plan calling for Vioxx. At 38 years old, I felt alive again! No side effects — I had lost 60 pounds (with the help of Weight Watchers) before starting on Vioxx, and I’ve been able to keep it off for two years now. I’m a big believer.
Bobbi
Subj: Improvement
Date: 6/29/2004
I began using vioxx due to severe knee pain. The improvement was almost immediate. However, now the stiffness and pain have returned. I think the product served its purpose but needs to be utilized in conjunction with an all around wellness program if you suffer from OA.
Mark
Subj: Heel spur
Date: 7/9/2004
I have just taken my 3rd dose of Vioxx for a heel spur and so far so good. The pain from the heel spur is already gone and I’ve not felt any side effects so far.
Ellen
Subj: Unusual experience
Date: 9/30/2004
I also had a very unusual experience the first day I took viox. It was a wavy dizzy feeling that made my upper body feel very weak, almost like I had no control over it. I took it for only 3 days and I still get that same experience periodicly. My right upper stomach has had on and off pains daily for a month. My legs swell or muscles tighten in them, I tingle and extremities fall asleep/ and my loer lip is numb. I took vioxx for an injured finger.
Juli
Subj: Withdrawals from Vioxx?
Date: 10/16/2004
Has anyone experienced any type of withdrawals from stopping the use of Vioxx. I have been taking it for about a year and was cut off cold turkey by my physician at the Veterans hospital.
Leona
Subj: Vioxx should be banned
Date: 2/24/2005
I also took Vioxx for 3 weeks, I am now thining away and the doctors can not figure it out. I get jaw pains and upper right abdominal pain. Notice that I stopped using Vioxx quite a while ago. These effects seem permanent. This Vioxx should be banned for destroying lives. I am sure it was the Vioxx. You all have the same symptoms as me.
Steven
Subj: Almost died on Vioxx
Date: 7/26/2005
DON’T TAKE THIS DRUG! My step dad was on Vioxx for back pain and almost died due to its use. He started out by just acting strange and doing strange things. Then ended up in the hospital after blacking out at the store. They found that his breathing was shallow and his hart beat was irregular. They still didn’t know exactly why these things were happening to him. He had 3 more of these episodes and leg swelling/stiffness and major chest pain. Then finely they took him off of the Vioxx and within the week my dad was symptom free. We are still not sure if it was because of him taking Vioxx with other prescription drugs to decrease blood pressure and pain meds or not. But we do know that it was the Vioxx. His Dr said that he might have died and that all the other meds he was taking should have been fine with Vioxx. I’m sure that he would have died if he hadn’t stopped taking the Vioxx.
Crystal
Update: Vioxx has been pulled from the market. According to the FDA, a worldwide recall of Vioxx was due to an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events, including heart attacks and strokes. If you are a Vioxx patient, call your doctor about switching to an alternative medication.
Subj: Severe fasciculation syndrome
Date: 3/3/2008
I am a former vioxx user. As a member of a yahoo group for vioxxcox2 inhibitor victims, we share symptomology. The most common symptom among all seems to be leg cramps. Symptoms suggest “severe fasciculation syndrome”, though individual diagnosis have differed. Research at the University of Buffalo, (Singer, et al) suggest cox2 inhibitors (celebrex was used) to be potassium channel blockers.
Other research indicates cox2 to effect the sensory neurons by slowing respiration of the mitochondria. The yahoo victim’s group is 200 or more in numbers and the incidences of fasciculation is almost 100 per cent. This group is about 4 or 5 years post ingestion of Vioxx and continue to experience these symptoms. However, in reviewing the Celebrex questions on your website fasciculation doesn’t appear to be a significant complaint. Do you have any thoughts on this issue? May we (the group) be of any help to you in terms of correlational studies or else… Best regards,
Dan – clinical psychologist-retired
AskDocWeb: For those not familiar with fasciculation, that is the medical term for twitching. Benign fasciculation syndrome (BFS) is a neurological disorder characterized by the twitching of various voluntary muscles in the body. Twitching can occur in any of the voluntary muscles but is most common in the eyelids, arms, legs, and feet. The twitching may occur occasionally or nearly continuously. Typically an intentional movement of the muscle will cause the twitching to cease immediately, but it may return once the intentional movement is discontinued.
Although twitching is sometimes a symptom of serious diseases, it is more often due to more benign causes (BFS, over-exertion, etc), and virtually everyone experiences some episodes of benign fasciculation during their lifetime. There are many conditions, diseases, dysfunctions and drugs that can cause twitching. Here is a partial list.
- Acanthocytosis
- Aceruloplasminemia
- Acute hypoglycemia
- Addison’s Disease
- Adrenal adenoma, familial
- Adrenal Cancer
- Adrenal Cortex Diseases
- Adrenal gland hyperfunction
- Adrenal gland hypofunction
- Adrenal incidentaloma
- Adrenal medulla neoplasm
- African sleeping sickness
- Alcohol withdrawal syndrome
- Alcoholic intoxication
- Alcohol-Induced Disorders
- Alkalosis
- Amphetamine abuse
- Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
- Anteromedial-inferior thalamic syndrome
- Anticonvulsant drugs
- Antipsychotic drugs
- Antipsychotic drugs
- Anxiety
- Arginase deficiency
- Asterixis
- Ativan withdrawal
- Basal ganglia calcification, idiopathic 1
- Benign familial essential tremor
- Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
- Brain Fag syndrome
- Calcification of basal ganglia with or without hypocalcemia
- Carbamate insecticide poisoning
- Cerebellar degeneration
- Cerebellar disease
- Cerebellar tumor
- Ceroid lipofuscinosis, neuronal 6, late infantile
- Choloxine
- Chromosome 20p, partial duplication
- Cocaine Hydrochloride
- Cockayne syndrome
- Combarros Calleja Leno syndrome
- Congenital hepatic porphyria
- Congenital herpes simplex
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
- Da Costa syndrome
- Degenerative motor system disease
- Dementia With Lewy Bodies
- Demerol withdrawal
- Dextrothyroxine Sodium
- Dilaudid withdrawal
- Discontinuation syndrome
- Dopram Injection
- Doxapram Hydrochloride
- Dysphasic dementia, hereditary
- Dystonia 3, torsion, X-linked
- Dystonias
- Essential tremor
- Fahr’s Syndrome
- Fatal familial insomnia
- Fluphenazine
- Friedreich’s ataxia
- Frontotemporal dementia
- Fucosidosis
- General paresis
- Graves’ disease
- GTP cyclohydrolase deficiency
- Hepatic encephalopathy
- Herb Alerti
- Heroin dependence
- Heroin withdrawal
- High T4 syndrome
- Holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency
- Huntington’s Disease
- Hyperadrenalism
- Hypercapnia
- Hypercapnia Hypercapnia (elevated partial pressure of carbon dioxide)
- Hyperthyroidism
- Hypoadrenalism
- Hypoadrenocorticism – hypoparathyroidism – moniliasis
- Hypoglycemia
- Hypomagnesemia primary
- Hypothyroidism
- IBIDS syndrome
- Interaction of Aldomet and lithium
- Interaction of Amodopa and lithium
- Interaction of Labetalol and tricyclic antidepressant
- Interaction of Methyldopa and lithium
- Interaction of Normodyne and tricyclic antidepressant
- Japanese encephalitis
- Joubert Syndrome
- Krabbe leukodystrophy
- Kwashiorkor
- Lhermitte-McAlpine syndrome
- Lidocaine toxicity
- Lindsay-Burn syndrome
- Manganese toxicity
- Marchiafava-Bignami disease
- Mental retardation, X-linked, Cabezas type
- Mercury poisoning
- Metachromatic Leukodystrophy
- Methylmalonicacidemia with homocystinuria
- Minamata disease
- Multiple endocrine neoplasia
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Myoclonic epilepsy benign, adult, familial
- Myoclonus
- Neuhauser-Daly-Magnelli syndrome
- Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome
- Neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease
- Neurosyphilis – general paresis
- Normokalemic periodic paralysis
- Olivopontocerebellar Atrophy
- Opiate withdrawal
- Optic atrophy 2
- Organophosphate insecticide poisoning
- Pallidopyramidal syndrome
- Parkinson disease
- Pelizaeus-Merzbacher brain sclerosis
- Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease
- Phenothiazine antenatal infection
- Phenothiazines
- Phenytoin
- Pheochromocytoma as part of Neurofibromatosis
- Physiologic tremor
- PIBIDS syndrome
- Pick’s disease of the brain
- Pituitary tumors, adult
- Porphyria
- Purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency
- Ramsay Hunt Syndrome Type 2
- Respiratory insufficiency
- Salvioli syndrome
- Schilder’s Disease
- Selenium poisoning
- Serotonin Syndrome
- Severe respiratory insufficiency
- Sialidosis type I
- Sialidosis type II
- Spinal bulbar motor neuropathy
- Spinocerebellar
- Spira syndrome
- Substance Withdrawal Syndrome
- Thalamic syndrome
- Thyrotoxicosis
- Toxoplasmosis
- Tremor hereditary essential, 1
- Tremor hereditary essential, 2
- Uremic syndrome
- Venezuelan equine encephalitis
- Wernicke’s disease
- Wernicke’s encephalopathy
- West Nile encephalitis
- Western equine encephalitis
- Whole-body acute irradiation – cerebral syndrome
- Wilson’s disease
- Zinc deficiency
It is common for the patient to fixate on ALS, MS, Parkinson’s or some other serious neurological disorder, refusing to believe the BFS diagnosis. Vioxx report – Page 27 – Last page 3