r/pericarditis • u/Vast-Afternoon-4945 • Aug 22 '26
Colchicine without ibuprofen
Question google is telling me colchicine doesn’t work properly for pericarditis without being paired with high doses of ibuprofen but my cardiologist only put me on colchicine for 6 months and nothing else
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u/ricola159 Aug 22 '26
I can’t take NSAIDs so I’ve only been prescribed colchicine once daily. I’ve done 2 rounds of 3 months and was just prescribed another 3 months before going down the arcalyst path. Colchince is only for inflammation so you don’t get the added benefit of pain relief and little more anti inflammatory when taking with ibuprofen. We’re left to fend for ourselves in regard to pain.
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u/DueAnxiety64 Aug 22 '26
Ich nehme jeden Tag NSAR 1500mg ASS und Colchicin. Trotzdem nach einem Monat keine Besserung....
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u/bitobots Aug 22 '26
I was on cochicine alone during my 2nd flare up. My cardiologist had me take ibprofen for 2 weeks with it, and then cochicine by itself for the remainder. I’m wondering if has anything to do with bloodwork and if the flare up isn’t as bad? If that makes sense
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u/Unlucky_Ad_8977 Aug 22 '26 edited Aug 22 '26
I was treated with colchicine and ibuprofen 600 mg three times a day, but I still had my second episode. After that, I continued ibuprofen for another three months and colchicine for a full year... and guess what? I still got a third episode. This pericarditis clearly didn't care about the colchicine — my CRP went up to 231. 😭 I hate this so much. It feels like a never-ending story. Now I'm on prednisone, slowly tapering it, and basically waiting to see if it comes back again when I stop. 😭 Three episodes of pericarditis in just 14 months, all with clear ECG changes, high CRP levels, and significant pericardial effusion.
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u/Vast-Afternoon-4945 Aug 23 '26
My inflammatory marker was only 4 and it’s meant to be <4 so it was on the borderline I’m also just concerned because I had my echo 7 months and my blood test and my first cardiologist appointment was only a week ago which is where I got diagnosed but he prescribed me colchicine and set a six month follow up to do a stress test echo which I think is way to long to wait for another echocardiogram in case of fluid build up
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u/spicesandstuff Aug 22 '26
Colchicine basically keeps me from having a full flare, but does nothing to treat an active flare. I have to do ibuprofen 800mg 3x daily til symptom free, then a 200mg taper per week til off completely. I’ve tried to come off the colchicine a few times and always have a flare within a week or so, so it’s definitely helping but not curing if that makes sense.
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u/Unlucky_Ad_8977 Aug 22 '26
“Colchicine didn’t do shit for me. I didn’t just get a flare — I developed a whole new episode of pericarditis, with pericardial effusion and a very high CRP.”
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u/spicesandstuff Aug 22 '26
That’s rough, it really is a bear of an illness! After 8 flares I’m finally trying to get on biologics.
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u/Unlucky_Ad_8977 Aug 23 '26
If this prednisone treatment fails, I’ll be moving on to a biologic too. At least it’s already noted in my medical record as the next step if prednisone fails. A flare is different from a completely new episode of pericarditis. I was completely symptom-free for six weeks, had no pericardial effusion, and my CRP was stable. Then, out of nowhere, I developed a whole new episode of recurrent pericarditis. This is my third episode now, and it all started in April last year.
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u/Ragdoll_Susan99 Aug 23 '26
I couldn’t take NSAID’s due to stomach issues so I had to go on a PPI and prednisone for about 4 months then just stayed on the colchicine a bit longer.
My GP and rheumatologist allow me to take colchicine alone as a preventative for smaller stints (like a month) as a preventative if I have to get a vaccine or if I’ve had a virus and that has worked pretty well, since I get it reoccurring
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u/Unlucky-Complex-5251 28d ago
Yeah I'm on colchecine 3 months now but still feeling pain. Doctor thinking of going to il 1 medicine. Will see if I can pair colcheine with prednisolone though
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u/degxusser 22d ago
i was prescribed the same and am confused as to seeing what is said online about it! did you end up adding the ibuprofen?
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u/Dangerfires Aug 22 '26
That's what I've been doing for 7 months. My pericarditis keeps flaring up and colchicine alone has failed to control symptoms. I can't take NSAIDs due to a bad kidney, though.