It's the best medicine I've ever been on n if I skip a day or two you'll find out how much the pill is actually working I have 5 herniated dehydrated bulging discs in my lower back n some in neck I hurt everywhere. N I can tolerate doing house work or walking if I take them. Some days I go 3 or 4 days cuz I'm horrible with medicine but as my pain is heightened that much I'm like did I forget n I take it. Sadly I see it being a med I'm on for the rest of my life because it does offer that pain relief more than a dam percocet.
I am on this medication 7.5 twice a day. ITs for inflammation control Its just like ibprohren but stronger so when they say not more then 15 Mg a day then stay to it. If I don't eat I feel sick otherwise there's no serious side affects that I have experienced. My doctor told me to stay away from grapefruit and other high citrius fruit there's a big chance it will eat a hole through the lining of the stomach luckily I hate grapefruit. It doesn't seem to help with the pain at all though so I have to take extra meds too. I think ibprophren did better then this with inflammation and pain but doc said it was too many pills. I doubt this helps much but I hope it does some.
Hey annsalo and welcome to the forum.
Look up the Lupus diagnostic criteria. To help the doctors diagnose lupus, a list of 11 common criteria, or measures, was developed by the American College of Rheumatology.
If you have at least four of the criteria on the list, either at the present time or at some time in the past, there is a strong chance that you have lupus.
----Source: Lupus Foundation of America-----
You can then make a fast comparison with your rheumatologist's investigation, which led him/her to the current determination.
Meloxicam doen not seem to be a mainstream med and I doubt if you will have much direct feedback from members who have been on it.
I'm with you on the "I hate meds" and I know of a few natural anti-inflammatory supplements, which actually surpass the effectiveness of prescription ant-inflammatory drugs, (not at first) after using them for a few weeks.
There are a few things you can also do to reach beyond the level of maintenance and symptom management.
Please let me know if you're interested to explore some these ideas,
Best wishes.
Niko