Anyone Take Voltaren XR?

My mother took Voltaren and ended up in the hospital needing a blood transfusion due to an ulcer it caused. I use the Voltaren ointment on my back. I order it w/o a script from a pharmacy in Canada.

On 3/14/2015 Kachina624 said: My mother took Voltaren and ended up in the hospital needing a blood transfusion due to an ulcer it caused. I use the Voltaren ointment on my back. I order it w/o a script from a pharmacy in Canada.

My internist isn't too happy I'm taking Voltaren. My orthopedic doctor prescribed it. Do you know how long your mother took it? I hope she's o.k. now!! Does the Voltaren ointment help your back? Thanks so much, Kachina, for answering my post!!

Being a CPhT although I am allergic to NSAIDs better half is not. He uses topical Voltaren Gel occasionally on one of his hands and takes the oral immediate release diclofenac rarely if the topical Voltaren is not relieving his pain. He has not had any side effects with either form that have outweighed the benefits of the medication to date. He has Neurofibromas Type 1 and unfortunately the toll the disease takes on the bones is severe in his and many other cases. Rheumatoid Arthritis is one of the possible things that can develop having NF1 and it has done so in his case. My advice to you, fortune, is what I would tell you with basically any medication you take or are considering taking, ask yourself "DO THE BENIFITS OF THE MEDICATION FOR ME OUTWEIGH THE RISKS?" NSAIDs themselves no matter what one you take do have some risks that need to be considered and that you need to be aware of so that if you feel like something is not right with you, you don't ignore it and you address the symptoms you are feeling with your physician immediately. So please be aware with ANY NSAIDs including Diclofenac XR, can cause serious gastrointestinal (GI) events which can occur at any time, with or without warning. For patients who develop a serious upper GI event, only about 20% were symptomatic. Upper GI ulcers, gross bleeding, or perforation occurred in approximately 1% of patients treated with NSAIDs for 3 to 6 months and 2% to 4% of patients treated for 1 year. Patients with a prior history of peptic ulcer disease and/or GI bleeding had a greater than 10-fold increased risk for developing a GI bleed than patients with neither of these risk factors. So please just keep this in mind and may you continue to have relief from you pain as well as continuing to be healthy!

On 3/14/2015 fortune said:

On 3/14/2015 Kachina624 said: My mother took Voltaren and ended up in the hospital needing a blood transfusion due to an ulcer it caused. I use the Voltaren ointment on my back. I order it w/o a script from a pharmacy in Canada.

My internist isn't too happy I'm taking Voltaren. My orthopedic doctor prescribed it. Do you know how long your mother took it? I hope she's o.k. now!! Does the Voltaren ointment help your back? Thanks so much, Kachina, for answering my post!!

I don't know how long she took it. I lived some distance away at that time. She died in 2003, of West Nile Virus. The Voltaren gel allows me to get out of bed in the morning. I can't hardly move without it.

A guy friend of mine uses the Voltaren cream, he raves over his results.

I've had patients who take the pill and complain of tinnitus (ringing in the ears). As others have mentioned on here, the cream or gel is a lot better with less side effects.

Nicole WI is right; you do have to be careful with NSAIDs because there are GI effects, especially stomach ulcers and potential for bleeding. As long as you take Tylenol ES no more than 2-3 times a day, I think you will be OK. Of course, consult your doctors to ask what is a safe dose for you since we don't know your kidney or liver functions.

Thanks, everyone, for taking the time to answer my questions!! I sure do appreciate it! I may switch from the pills to the cream. I was almost unable to walk before taking Volteran , and it really has helped! I hate to go off it, but the side effects sound really awful!

Many years ago I took it for arthritis. I stopped taking it (also years ago) because I'd read a few negative things about it (I believe in being pro-active with what I take, how I take medicine, etc).

I now take X-Strength Motrin. It helps some. Nothing is going to totally take away my pain. I decided with what other medicine I took arthritis medicine (the less the better) worked for me.

I've dodged a bullet (so to speak) on several medicines by reading before I take them.

DH takes this and has been taking it for several years. At least two years, that I remember maybe a bit longer. He has not had any side effects. It really helps his arthritis and his back. It really helps his range of movement, so much that he hasn't been to physical therapy in a long time.