Indomethacin Side Effects

Not everybody suffers indomethacin side effects. The most common problem is stomach upset, but more serious stomach problems can occur. As with all treatments, you must decide what is best for you in your particular circumstances.

You must discuss side effects fully with your doctor before you start to take any drug and whenever you experience any adverse effects. Also, you should be aware of general gout medication side effects.

Minor side effects that may go away

You only need consult your doctor if these become severe or prolonged

Constipation
Depression
Diarrhea
Dizziness
Drowsiness
Fatigue
Headache
Stomach pain
Unusual hair loss
Nausea, unless with skin rash – this is serious – see below
Vomiting

Serious side effects

You must stop taking Indomethacin and consult your doctor if you have any of the following

Aching or painful muscles
Blood in stools or black, tarry stools
Blood in vomit
Breathing troubled or short
Bruising or bleeding without obvious cause
Chest tight or wheezing
Eyes yellow
Hands or feet numb, tingling, painful or weak
Hearing diminished or ringing in ears
Hives
Itching
Lethargy (tiredness or weakness without obvious cause)
Mouth ulcers
Rash, especially with vomiting or nausea
Skin yellow
Swelling of hands, feet, lower legs or ankles
Tarry, black stools
Urine suddenly decreases in amount

If you are concerned about side effects of indomethacin, or any other medication, you must seek qualified medical help as soon as you can. Pharmacists are a good source of information about gout medicines. I’m pleased when people discuss their gout treatment experiences on the gout cures forum, but we cannot give individual advice or recommendations about specific side effects.

Health warnings

Indomethacin is a member of the NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) group of drugs. All these drugs can have severe, even fatal, effects on the stomach. It is appropriate for short term use, at the lowest dose possible, to treat pain from gout flares, but never for more than a few days.

Vision problems are associated with this drug.

Indomethacin Dosage for Gout chart compares Indocin with other gouty arthritis medications. It is from the ACP Guideline. See the correct indomethacin dosage for gout. Then compare it with ibuprofen, naproxen, diclofenac, cox-2 inhibitors, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, corticotropin, generic colchicine, Colcrys, probenecid, generic allopurinol, Zyloprim, generic febuxostat, and Uloric.

Indomethacin Spellings

Like many medicines, indomethacin is often misspelled. Though spelling is often overrated, it pays to take extra care with medicines, as a misunderstanding might cause treatment problems in the unlikely event of a similar sounding drug being taken mistakenly.

Also, be careful with brand names such as Indocin. When buying medicine, it is usually best to use the generic name rather than a brand name, unless additional active ingredients make indomethacin side effects less troublesome to you.

Endomethacin: Indo replaced by Endo.
Idomethacin: Indo replaced by Ido – missing n.
Indo: A common abbreviation, but not recommended, as abbreviations can often cause confusion.
Indomecine: thacin replaced by cine. This appears most frequently in Chinese articles.
Indomenthacin: meth replaced by menth.
Indomethacine: e added at end – French spelling. Also occurs as indometacine.
Indomethacyn: cin replaced by cyn – possibly Indonesian or other language.
indomethasin: thacin replaced by thasin – s instead of c.
Indomethcin: missing a near end.
Indomethecin: a replaced by e.
Indomethicin: a replaced by i. Also gets written as endomethicin.
Indomethocin: a replaced by o.