Nabumetone: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Nabumetone is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Tablet
- Sold as
- 2 products — Nabumetone and Relafen
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $4 for a 30-count supply — not your price
Every nabumetone product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 66/100 | Prescription | Tablet | Generic | $4 | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Tablet | Generic | $4 | View → |
What nabumetone pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
How long nabumetone keeps
No nabumetone label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Nabumetone and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for nabumetone: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadBecause no information is available on the use of nabumetone during breastfeeding, other agents may be preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised June 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about nabumetone
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 6,561 reports naming nabumetone, and the FDA flagged 54% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- nausea387 reports
- fatigue364 reports
- headache326 reports
- arthralgia323 reports
- dyspnoea253 reports
- diarrhoea249 reports
- pain in extremity240 reports
- dizziness230 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean nabumetone caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
Can you take nabumetone with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run nabumetone against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is nabumetone sold under?
We track 2 nabumetone-containing products in the U.S.: Nabumetone and Relafen. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does nabumetone come in?
Across the brands we track, nabumetone is currently marketed as tablet, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic nabumetone?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic nabumetone product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Nabumetone: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/nabumetone
- MLA
- “Nabumetone: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/nabumetone.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for nabumetone on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.