Meloxicam is a prescription-strength pain medication. It can reach peak concentration in the blood in a few hours but can take weeks to take full effect in chronic conditions.
Medically reviewed by Jennie Olopaade, PharmD, RPH
Meloxicam is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) available by prescription. It comes as an oral tablet or injection. This medication treats chronic conditions like osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Doctors also use it to treat gout and acute pain after surgery.
Individual factors and the underlying condition can affect how long it takes for meloxicam to work. It can provide relief within hours or not reach its full effect for several days.
Scientists have studied using this medication for other conditions besides arthritis, such as nonspecific back pain. To get the best response out of the medication, it might be best to take the oral tablet with a meal at the same time every day.
Alternatives for meloxicam include other NSAIDs as well as systemic medications, depending on the underlying condition that requires treatment.
Meloxicam does not give immediate relief. Intravenous (IV) formulations that doctors give via an injection into your vein have a more rapid onset than tablet forms of the drug.
Oral meloxicam reaches its peak activity about 5–6 hours after a person takes it with food. Many people have to take the drug daily to treat chronic arthritis, and it takes several days before a person experiences full pain-relieving effects.
IV meloxicam works much more quickly. The pain-relieving effects can start in as little as 10 minutes. Both forms of oral and IV meloxicam are on a once-daily dose schedule.
Research indicates various timelines for pain relief in chronic conditions.
In a 2018 study of 2,078 people with acute, nonspecific back pain, 75.2% of participants achieved complete pain relief in an average of 8.61 days. Most individuals got meloxicam by injection for the first 3–5 days, followed by an oral dose.
Research from 2000 found that people who took oral meloxicam daily for osteoarthritis experienced results within 2 weeks. The study assessed effectiveness by evaluating several factors, including pain, stiffness, and physical function.
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You can take oral meloxicam with or without food. Since it’s a once-daily formulation, you should try to take it at the same time every day. You can take it in the morning or the evening, as long as each dose is about 24 hours after the last.
Despite these recommendations, some research suggests oral meloxicam might work more quickly if a person takes it with food.
A 2018 review, citing research from 1995, said the time to reach peak concentration in the blood doubled when oral meloxicam was taken in a fasting state. When a person took it after breakfast, the drug reached maximum blood concentration in 5–6 hours.
Alternative medications
Oral meloxicam treats osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. The injectable formulation usually treats postsurgical pain.
Each of these conditions has other treatments.
Medications for osteoarthritis
NSAIDs are typical osteoarthritis treatments. Many people need prescription-strength NSAIDs to reduce inflammation and pain, but there are also over-the-counter (OTC) options:
Injectable corticosteroids and hyaluronic acid are other osteoarthritis treatment options.
Medications for rheumatoid arthritis
There are many medications for rheumatoid arthritis, including NSAIDs and corticosteroids. NSAIDs can help with pain relief and, at higher doses, reduce inflammation. Corticosteroids are also anti-inflammatories. Other rheumatoid arthritis medications include:
Meloxicam is a prescription-strength NSAID. Although doctors most commonly prescribe it in its oral form to treat certain types of arthritis, they sometimes use the injectable formulation to treat postsurgical pain. The injectable form has a quicker onset than the oral form.
The length of time meloxicam takes to work varies greatly. You might experience initial relief just a few minutes after administration of the injectable form. It may take up to several days or weeks to experience the full effect of the oral form.
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Christensen SE, et al. (2018). A randomized double‐blind controlled trial of intravenous meloxicam in the treatment of pain following dental impaction surgery. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5947566/
Karateev AE, et al. (2018). The efficacy of meloxicam in acute back pain: Results of an observational non-interventional multicenter study. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30040797/
