Although it probably would seem I am biased, as many are, in favour of the narcotic painkillers, I must say that I feel Celebrex is not much more effective than Ibuprofen, and in my experience, is one of those medications you try, along with many others, until some day the doctor sees the light, and gives you a proper pain medicine.

My doctors of the past three years have been happy to hand out bagfuls of Celebrex samples to me, in the hope that I would shut up about pain medication.

The drug itself has not helped me very much, and when I did take it for a few weeks, I developed stomach troubles, even though it's supposed to be much gentler than other NSAIDs.

I have known family members with bad backs to get some relief out of Celebrex, but again, not as much relief as they got from, say, Norco, or Percocet. Yes, I know most narcotics do not provide any inflammation relief, but the sheer pain relief has more than justified them in favour of NSAIDS.

But so as to not let this become a discussion on narcotics, I would like to summarise: some relief from Celebrex, but not much. Certainly not worth the high price. If you get relief from them, you will be happy to know that physicians hand out Celebrex samples like candy.