I have to take anti inflamatory medication for a bad shoulder. I also have had problems with my stomach and am on medication for that. I no longer take Motrin. The Dr has me on Vioxx and its great for my shoulder but my stomach suffers from it. I only take it when I have too. Does anyone in this group know which of the anti inflamatory medications is the easist on the stomach. What about buffered aspirin?
Thanks
grb

Tylenol is easy on the stomach but not very potent if you have severe pain.
I have arthritis but couldn't take Celebrex or Vioxx because of my stomach. My GI doc gave me Relafin (sp?). It worked very well for pain and didn't bother my stomach. :)

The most commonly used NSAID's are aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen.
Relafen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication that can cause stomach problems too. There are many different anti-inflammatory medication on the market and you just have to be careful on the one you take and hoepfully find one that works for you. A lot of people like Celebrex which works like Vioxx and Bextra. The cox-2 inhibitors are supposed to cause less somach irritation but it can still cause it.

All NSAID drugs (even the newer ones like Vioxx and Celebrex) have the potential to cause irritation, ulceration, bleeding and perforation of the lining of the stomach. And don't mix blood thinners like Warfarin Sodium! It's usually best to take NSAIDS with food also.

There is a theory that the use of cox-2 inhibitors is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack. It's hasn't been proven though.

Some people go the natural approach with using essential fatty acids, EV.EXTTM 77 (supposed to work like a cox-2 inhibitor), bromelain and others. I tried a lot of these but none of them worked as well as the prescribed stuff. You just have to balance the risk vs reward and pay close attention to any pains or discomfort you may feel from taking any of the pain medications. Good luck!