You would not deny that pain can be either physical or psychological. Fortunately, there are treatment options for reducing each of them in the majority of cases. Psychological pain is best cured by love, understanding, and support of relatives and friends. If all this does not work, time will help to lessen it.

Physical pain can be killed in different ways by using multiple methods, created by medicine. The majority of them does not cure the pain, just lessens it. However, it is better than nothing.

Celebrex is one of the effective pain killers. It aims in reducing arthritis and acute pain (from strains or after surgery), and painful menstrual cramps. It is also used to reduce the number of colon and rectum growths (colorectal polyps) in those, who suffer from a disease called Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP).

Celebrex was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1998. It is one of the so called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). It is known to relieve pain up to 24 hours, though the response of different people to the medication may vary.

The active ingredient of this drug is celecoxib, which works by inhibiting an enzyme COX-2, responsible for pain and inflammation in the organism. Unlike some other NSAIDs (Motrin, Naprosyn), this pill does not target COX-1 enzyme, which helps protect the lining of the stomach. Therefore, Celebrex is less likely to cause stomach ulceration and bleeding.

Nevertheless, there are some other dangers of using Celebrex, which must be mentioned. The latest researches showed that this drug is likely to cause cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack or stroke. The risk of provoking these problems is shared by all the NSAIDs. Celebrex is also blamed for causing liver damage, kidney problems, and fluid retention (holding of water in the body).

Less serious side effects of this medication are: headache, indigestion, upper respiratory tract infection (a "cold"), diarrhea, sinus inflammation, nausea, and abdominal pain.

People are usually not advised to take Celebrex if they: - are allergic to celecoxib or sulfonamides; - have experienced asthma, hives, or allergic reactions after taking aspirin or other NSAIDs; - are pregnant (especially in the third trimester) or breastfeeding (this chemical is passed into human milk); - are prone to heart, kidney and liver diseases; - have recently had any surgery operations; - have anemia.

The given medication has not been tested in children under 18. Usually, the dosage of this medication varies from patient to patient, depending on the age, health condition, and type of pain to relieve (osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, acute pain, menstrual cramps or familial adenomatous polyposis). People over 65 are more likely to have side effects; therefore, they may need a lower dose of this drug. It will be easy for a doctor to choose a dose individually, since Celebrex is available in 100-mg, 200-mg, and 400-mg capsules.

Overdose symptoms are: breathing difficulties, coma, drowsiness, gastrointestinal bleeding, high blood pressure, kidney failure, nausea, sluggishness, stomach pain and vomiting. In this case seek for urgent medical help.

Celerex may interact with many different medications, affecting their work and causing side effects. To avoid complications, be sure to tell your doctor about all the prescription and OTC drugs and creams, as well as about vitamins and food supplements you take.

Ivanna

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External resources
http://www.celebrex.com
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/celebrex/celebrex-ptsk.htm
http://www.healthsquare.com/newrx/CEL1078.HTM

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