Meloxicam is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to treat arthritis. It decreases joint stiffness, joint inflammation, and discomfort.
Created by Boehringer Ingelheim, meloxicam was patented in 1977 and approved for pharmaceutical purposes in 2000. It is commonly seen as a suitable substitute for opioid medications, lowering the possibility that users will require addiction therapy. It is made in three primary forms for oral use: tablets, dissolving tablets, and capsules.
How Does Meloxicam Work?
Meloxicam functions by inhibiting the action of cyclo-oxygenase (COX) enzymes, which are naturally occurring substances. These enzymes assist in the body’s production of prostaglandins, another type of molecule. Some prostaglandins are created at the locations of damage or injury, leading to pain and inflammation. Fewer prostaglandins are made because the COX enzymes’ impact is blocked, reducing inflammation and discomfort.
How Should Meloxicam Be Used?
Meloxicam is manufactured as a liquid solution and tablet for oral use. Generally, it is taken once a day with or without meals. Meloxicam should be taken each day at the same time. Consult your physician or pharmacist to explain any instructions on your prescription label that you need clarification on consuming. Meloxicam should be taken as advised by your doctor. Never consume it in higher or smaller amounts or more often than directed by your doctor.
Your dosage requirements may change if you modify the medication’s brand, strength, or form. Only use the dosage and form your doctor prescribed to prevent dangerous mistakes. Meloxicam dosages are determined by weight, especially in children and teenagers. Therefore, weight increase or loss may alter your dosage requirements.
Capsules for Oral Dose Form
For treating osteoarthritis, adults should take 5 mg once a day initially. If necessary, your doctor can increase your dosage. The dosage is often at most 10 mg per day. For children, your doctor will decide the appropriate use and dosage.
Oral Dosage (Disintegrating Tablets)
When used to treat adolescent rheumatoid arthritis in children two years old and over who weigh 60 kg or more, your doctor will determine the dosage depending on the child’s body weight. Your doctor must decide the use and dosage for children under two years old and under 60 kg.
For osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, adults should take 7.5 mg once a day at first. Depending on your needs, your doctor could raise your dose. The dosage is often at most 15 mg, used once daily. For children, your doctor should determine the use and dosage.
For Pills or Suspensions Used as Oral Dose Forms
When treating adolescent rheumatoid arthritis in children two years old and over, your doctor will calculate the dosage based on the child’s weight. The dosage is 0.125 mg per kilogram of body weight, administered once daily. If more is required, your doctor may raise the dosage. However, the dosage is often at most 7.5 mg and administered once a day. The doctor must determine the use and dosage for children under two years old.
For osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, adults should take 7.5 mg once a day at first. Depending on your needs, your doctor could increase your dose. The dosage is usually no higher than 15 mg, used once daily.
Risks and Warnings for Meloxicam
Meloxicam can bring on serious health problems and side effects. For specific individuals, this risk could be even more significant. If this concerns you, see your physician or pharmacist about alternate possibilities.
Liver Damage
Although rare, meloxicam can result in fatal liver damage. Contact your healthcare professional immediately if you develop unexplained stomach discomfort, light stools, nausea, vomiting, dark urine, or if your skin or eyes turn yellow. You will require blood tests to determine the condition of your liver.
Stomach Bleeding
Meloxicam might cause stomach bleeding. Speak with your doctor before starting this medication since several health conditions and drugs increase your chance of developing this issue. Speak with your healthcare practitioner immediately if you experience stomach discomfort that won’t go away or if you observe blood in your vomit, bright red blood in your stool, or stool that looks like coffee grounds.
Risk factors include:
- Age
- History of stomach bleeding
- Taking aspirin or other oral NSAIDs, oral corticosteroids, or blood thinners
- Alcohol consumption
- Smoking
- Long-term meloxicam use
Heart Attack and Stroke
Your risk of blood clots, heart attacks, or strokes may increase if you take meloxicam. The chance of this happening is greater in those who have cardiac issues, use meloxicam in high dosages, and have been taking it for an extended period. Use this drug for the shortest time and at the lowest dose feasible. Before starting this medication, discuss with your healthcare professional if you have cardiac issues.
Avoid taking meloxicam if you have undergone or will soon undergo cardiac bypass surgery. If you develop chest discomfort, shortness of breath, weakness on one side of your body, or difficulty speaking or walking, call 911 or get emergency medical attention. Other risk factors include a history of cardiovascular issues and high dosages or prolonged use of meloxicam.
Allergic Reactions
Meloxicam may cause severe allergic reactions, including potentially fatal conditions, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and anaphylaxis. If this happens, dial 911. After taking meloxicam, contact your doctor immediately if you develop open sores all over your body, hives, rashes, swelling of the mouth or tongue, or breathing difficulties. Before starting meloxicam, inform your doctor if you have a history of aspirin or other NSAID allergies.
Kidney Damage
Meloxicam can harm your kidneys. The risk increases for those with specific medical conditions and those who take this medication for prolonged use. If you observe a difference in how frequently you urinate after beginning meloxicam, speak with your healthcare practitioner.
Risk factors include:
- Kidney issues
- Heart failure
- Liver issues
- Dehydration
- Certain blood pressure drugs
- Age
- Long-term meloxicam use
Effects on Unborn Babies
If taken during the last trimester of pregnancy, meloxicam can increase the likelihood of a cardiac condition in the unborn child. Discuss with your doctor or pharmacist what is safe and effective for you while pregnant.
Meloxicam Side Effects
Meloxicam has a black box warning. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issues this as its most serious warning. It informs physicians and patients about potential adverse pharmacological effects after taking the drug.
Common side effects include:
- Urinary tract infections
- Headache
- Worsening of arthritis symptoms
- Diarrhea
- Flu-like symptoms
- Upset stomach
- Joint pain
- Swelling
Other side effects can include:
- Gas
- High blood pressure
- Nausea
- Skin rashes
- Accidental injuries
- Dizziness
- Falls
- Back pain
Can Meloxicam Get You High or Addicted?
Like many other NSAIDs, Meloxicam manages various incapacitating diseases and temporarily reduces pain and inflammation. Chronic osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis have all been treated with meloxicam. The drug also has veterinary usage for dogs and cats. Although it is a potent analgesic and therefore doesn’t contain opioids, some individuals misuse it because they believe it does.
Meloxicam doesn’t have the same euphoric effects as opioids and isn’t classified as a narcotic. It doesn’t affect the brain. Therefore, it doesn’t have a physically addictive quality. However, people who take meloxicam to treat chronic pain may misuse it and grow psychologically dependent on the drug, believing they require it to function.
It’s essential to remember that addiction may affect both the mind and the body. Drugs that may not be physically addictive can still have psychological effects, and many individuals become dependent on them. Additionally, developing a physical and mental reliance on meloxicam can be problematic, but it is not as severe as that of opioids.
Behavioral Indications of Meloxicam Misuse
Meloxicam can indeed be misused like any drug. Misuse is using more pills than recommended, either in higher or more frequent amounts. Meloxicam can potentially cause psychological reliance and physical dependence on pain alleviation. Individuals who must take meloxicam to operate may become anxious if they run out.
Misuse includes:
- Early prescription renewal because of overuse
- Acquiring prescriptions from numerous physicians or pharmacies
- Attempting to borrow or steal tablets from other people’s medications
- Continuing to take the drug even after no medicinal need exists
Meloxicam Overdose: Is It Possible?
Meloxicam doesn’t cause a euphoric high, but an overdose is still possible. According to the FDA, only four meloxicam overdose cases have been documented. These individuals consumed six to 11 times the maximum advised dosage, but all four fully recovered. NSAID overdose symptoms might include nausea, vomiting, sleepiness, lethargy, heartburn, gas, and bloating. While supportive treatment usually reverses all these overdose symptoms, severe poisoning can result in acute renal failure, liver dysfunction, delayed breathing, unconsciousness, and cardiac arrest.
Overdose signs might include the following:
- Vomiting
- Drowsiness
- Difficulty breathing
- Lack of energy
- Nausea
- Stomach pain
- Vomit that contains blood or resembles coffee grounds
- Seizures
- Bloody, black, or tarry stools
- Coma
Meloxicam Legal Risks
Meloxicam is not included on the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Schedules I through V, nor does it appear on the prohibited drug list. Thus, federal sanctions are not applicable in this regard. Nonetheless, it’s against the law to possess or even use prescription medications without a valid prescription, so there can be state-specific legal repercussions.
Withdrawal From Meloxicam
Meloxicam does not cause withdrawal symptoms like alcohol, opioids, or stimulants. This results from meloxicam’s lack of psychoactivity, which prevents it from penetrating the blood-brain barrier and altering the brain’s chemistry.
Since meloxicam is used to treat pain and inflammation, even if it doesn’t produce withdrawal syndrome, anyone who abruptly stops taking it can have their pain or inflammation return. Signs of inflammation include stiffness, swelling, redness, and heat. During your course of treatment, you may require a dose reduction. When thinking about stopping or modifying any prescription, it’s important to first talk to your doctor.
Find Help
Even though meloxicam is not addictive, serious side effects can result from taking medication excessively or for an extended period. Still, many of these side effects can be treated with supportive care. Before discontinuing the use of meloxicam, it’s important to discuss pain management because having chronic pain can cause stress, tension, and depression.
Like other substance use treatments, therapeutic support for those with meloxicam dependency may be provided through behavioral therapies, talk therapy, and support groups. Changing behaviors might reduce meloxicam use and aid in pain management while lessening anxiety, tension, and depressive symptoms.
Staging an intervention for a loved one battling addiction is often the first crucial step toward recovery, but your approach must be thoughtful and compassionate. If not appropriately managed, interventions – even those with the best intentions – can backfire.
Granite Recovery Centers
The experienced staff at Granite Recovery Centers communicate across disciplines to develop the best recovery strategy for each client. In addition, we offer direction to individuals seeking the next stage in their recovery. No matter the issue you’re struggling with, we will work with you to set attainable recovery objectives and create a comprehensive strategy to help you reach them.
Our staff will consider the difficulties you or a loved one may face before and after recovery and will work with you to discover the best program, whether residential inpatient treatment, sober living, or outpatient therapy. We emphasize adopting therapies that teach clients to effectively describe their experiences, identify cravings and negative thought patterns, and create coping mechanisms to handle challenging feelings. We want to swap harmful beliefs for recovery-focused ones.
Addiction treatments involve more than just medical knowledge. It requires flexibility, understanding, patience, and empathy. The team at Granite Recovery Centers are all subject-matter specialists sympathetic to their clients’ addiction challenges. In addition, our staff comprises individuals who have personally battled addiction and have overcome it. These professionals have a profound grasp of addiction and a remarkable compassion for others battling this destructive disease.
