Celebrex and Headaches: What Users Say

• Orc...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 2, 2019

For Pain "I am on my second day of Celebrex. I was taking way too many ibuprofen every 4-6 hours for widespread osteoarthritis and skeletal-muscular pain. The first day, I was really dizzy and drowsy and spent all day in bed. Today, I am back to work, and while I feel my overall arthritis is slightly improved, the areas where I have the most swelling (ankle, knees) are not responding as well as with the ibuprofen. And areas like my back, shoulder, and hands have increased pain levels. I am having more trouble walking. I keep getting headache pain that comes and goes and causes me to feel dizzy and nauseous. I am not sure if this is typical and I just need time to adjust or not. But I find myself having trouble getting through the work day."

• tst...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 11, 2022

For Pain "I know you should give medication time to work, but with this one, I couldn’t handle a third day of trying it. My dose was 100 mg, once daily. I was so hopeful that it would work out because my pain is so bad. I woke up after the first day of taking this medication and I didn’t feel well. I didn’t put it together with the medicine until I took the second dose. I felt like my stomach was going to pop from bloating, with gastric disturbances in my intestines. My head felt weird, more than just a headache. The headache came with a feeling of depression and brain fog. And fatigue? Wow, how could I keep going like this? I was miserable. Taking one more day could do me in. I wasn’t meant to keep taking it. Now I’m disappointed. I really wanted it to work. I’m happy for everyone who has extreme pain and can take this medication. It’s not easy to deal with chronic pain."

• LJ...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 13, 2013

For Osteoarthritis "I was given some samples of Celebrex from my physician for wrist and hand pain. After I took the second capsule of 200 mg, I awoke in the night with an extremely bad headache, had the chills, aching muscles, runny nose, and a dry hacking cough. I stopped taking the pills, but as my symptoms persisted, I believed I had the flu. Three weeks later, I again tried Celebrex, and on the second day of taking the pills, I was again stricken with chills, a headache, nausea, and the runny nose. These symptoms have stayed with me for the past three days."

• Jus...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 3, 2022

For Pain "I had extreme stomach pain, nausea, headaches, and flatulence while on this medicine. The side effects were so great that I couldn't even tell if it was helping with the nerve pain in my legs. I am not impressed with this medication and do not plan to take it again."

• big...
• October 31, 2012

For Pain "A few years before I went through menopause. I used to have incredible pain, headache, and felt like my lymph nodes were going to burst out of my throat 3 days before my menstruation, and when I started to take this, it worked totally. I had tried all kinds of painkillers, but nothing made any difference. My doctor had prescribed it for my back pain originally. So one day, I decided to try taking it for my menstrual pain and was amazed that it worked so well for my lymph nodes and headache as well."

• Car...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 10, 2022

For Spondyloarthritis "I relied on Celebrex for 5 years for inflammation relief. Took 200 mg daily, sometimes 400 mg. Naturally, it’s important to protect your stomach lining. Cimetidine did this job fine. Right now, I’m on a break from Celebrex. My rheumatologist is seeing lots of petechiae due to chronic use, even at 100 mg a day. It does thin the blood. After 7 days of stopping, the petechiae has faded dramatically, there is no new bruising on my body anywhere at all, something I’ve become used to seeing. I don’t have a crushing headache every day, a side effect worth the joint pain relief. But I’m in pain without it. I’m taking 1-5 mg of prednisone for now. Keeps me awake, but it’s nice to see my arms and hands look normal. Petechiae is strange. It’s red, usually one medium spot with a whole bunch of little spots sprinkled around it. They take forever to go away and come back quickly. Makes me look OLD. I still recommend this drug as needed, but maybe not every day."