Dx with gastritis--can I still take NSAIDs occasionally?

Posted by nancyjt @nancyjt, 15 hours ago

A year ago, after an abnormal FIT test, an EGD showed gastritis with erosions, but not too bad, and no H. pylori; colon was clean.

I HAD been taking a lot of Aleve--800 mg/day--for arthritis and general achiness (fibro) for 10 years, and before that took daily doses of Advil for another 10 or 15 years. So a lot of NSAIDs over a long time!

After the diagnosis, I laid off the Aleve (a year ago) except now taking smaller doses very occasionally--sometimes once a week, sometimes once every few weeks--when I have too much pain (maxed out on Tylenol already).

I have ALWAYS been careful to take the NSAIDs with food and/or a lot of liquid.

I need a knee replacement but want to postpone it. I'm wondering whether taking smaller amounts of Aleve--say, 400 mg/day, maybe once or twice a week, would re-damage my stomach lining--which I HOPE has healed by now. I can't tell, because I didn't have stomach pain or other gastritis symptoms to begin with--it was only found because of the abnormal poop test.

Any advice?? Thank you!

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Lisa Lucier, Moderator | @lisalucier | 4 hours ago

Hi, @nancyjt. that is a good question about the NSAIDs, especially if you are getting to the point of needing a knee replacement and are likely experiencing pain.

Here are a couple of publications related to this topic that may be useful:

- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and the gastrointestinal tract https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1470211824033244?via%3Dihub

- Gastritis https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gastritis/symptoms-causes/syc-20355807

Please note this part in particular in the Mayo Clinic article, found under the "Risk factors" subheading: Regular use of pain relievers. Pain relievers known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, also called NSAIDs, can cause both acute gastritis and chronic gastritis. NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others) and naproxen sodium (Aleve, Anaprox DS). Using these pain relievers regularly or taking too much of these medicines may damage the stomach lining.

However, I'm wondering what your gastrointestinal specialist or your primary care physician suggest regarding the use of NSAIDs for you, given your particular medical situation?

nancyjt | @nancyjt | 3 minutes ago

In reply to @lisalucier "Hi, @nancyjt. that is a good question about the NSAIDs, especially if you are getting to..." + (show)

@lisalucier Thanks so much for the reply. The Science Direct article was interesting.

I haven't talked to my doctors specifically about occasional use of naproxen, and I would apparently have to restart as a new patient with the GI doc in order to talk to him. Maybe the ortho PA, whom I'm seeing next week, will have some advice, as I imagine it's not an uncommon situation for arthritis patients.

Thanks again!
Nancy