My cortisone shots cost me around $120 and I only pay 10% co pay.

And they quit working after a while.

I did the other shots also and got no releive from them.


I am praying that taking the wait off will reduce my pain--if it this gastric bypass does not work I will really be disappointed.

Brenda

I have arthritis in my back and my doctor told me the best exercise is swimming! It takes off the pressure from yout spin and makes you feel weightless at the same time! See about a local YMCA or omething of the sort!

In medicine we use the formula " risk vs. benefit ", there is no medical school in the country that will teach you that  NSAIDS are safe for any bariatric patient no matter what their procedure.......

Celebrex is considered  " safer " but not safe, it effects an enzyme( COX-2)  that effects inflammation and pain in the body. There is concern about COX-2 and blood clot formation, a effective COX-2 drug called Vioxx was taken off the market ( voluntarily) by it's own manufacturer because of problems they noted in their own studies.

The FDA felt that Celebrex could stay on the market as long as it had a "black box" warning and it was up to the patient to decide if they were willing to take the( risk vs. benefit ) of possible negative consequences.
I hope your MD discussed this risk with you before he put you on Celebrex.

My arthritis is so severe it is impossible to just walk without terrible pain..........

I pray that we all find ways to lessen our pain, Patrick.

I have RA too &  I totally agree with you that VSG is the best option for serious arthritis sufferers.  I never even considered wls until I found out about the VSG.  My primary got really excited when I told her about it and so did my Rheumatologist.  I heard that in August that Medicare no longer considered the VSG as experimental and that the coding changed to 43775, (there's a posting about that on the Insurance forum).  I was told that UHC covers it now so I am waiting to see if my Medicare Advantage plan well cover it this year.  Good luck to us both and everyone else in our boat who are waiting!!

I inject methotexate.  The pills were very hard on my stomach even before WLS so I started injections.  I don't know about any studies, but from my own experience, the pills were very harsh.  I still have some nausea after I inject, but  no pain or "acid' feeling in my stomach  The injection once a week is easy to do...