NSAID Colitis Treatment

It's kind of ironic that the very thing millions of people take daily to help with pain and inflammation can lead to new sources of pain and inflammation. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen, are used widely as over-the-counter remedies for everything from muscle pain to arthritis. For people who have to take them on a regular basis, however, the medicine can upset the gastric tract and cause ulcers, a condition also known as colitis.

Stop Taking the Drugs

• If you experience inflammation in the gastric tract, particularly in the colon area, you should stop taking NSAIDs. Of course, you should consult with your physician to come up with a strategy for dealing with the problem that required NSAIDs to begin with. Stopping the medication is the first step to allowing any inflammation and ulceration to heal.

Complementary Medications

• You may not have to stop taking NSAIDs for long. There are complementary medications that can be taken along with a regular dose of NSAIDs. Getting the colitis fixed is the first step in restarting the medication. But then, when you do, you'll want to take a proton pump inhibitor, such as omeprazole or raniditine. According to a March 2009 study done by the American College of Gastroenterology, both of these proton pump inhibitor medications significantly lowered the risk of gastric complications due to NSAIDs, including colitis.

Non-NSAID Medications

• Gastric problems including colitis have been a driving force behind medicine's search for a replacement that does the job but doesn't mess with the digestive tract. Cox-2 Inhibitors are one of the new-wave medications designed to work as a substitute for people taking NSAIDs for pain and arthritis relief. In the same clinical study performed by the American College of Gastroenterology, Cox-2 Inhibitors were found to have a much lower rate of gastric consequences than traditional NSAIDs when taken regularly for rheumatism and arthritis.