Hey guys,

As some of you know, I have had extensive ortho work on my shoulders. I did something to my left shoulder about a month ago. I was doing some incline bench and it just felt weird at the time. Well, that evening I really felt it. It is much better now, but still sore. I was given naproxen but it didnt help much. I have been taking 800 mg of ibuprofen and it helps. Well, this guy at work was stating that it can cause stomach problems. Does anyone know if taking 800 mg of ibuprofen is ok 2 or 3x per day? Thanks,

After long term use yes it is dangerous. I was taking insane amount of it at one time to deal with my pain. Then my doc told me not to take that much. If you get an rx for ibuprophen its usually 800mg 3x's a day. Like I said long term use will cause health problems. Kim

Wow. What do you take now? Does it work?

To tell you the truth I still take alot of them. I dont know what is worse taking the vics for the pain or taking over 240 advil liquid gels a month! For now I take the advil but I have to stop taking so much and I know this is dangerous and will and can cause internal bleeding. I'm kinda in a catch 22 situation. And I even cut back on the Advil like I said I was taking alot. I guess this is something I should ask my Dr about huh! I did once and he said stop taking all that advil! So obviously there are serious side effects down the road to using so much. I wish I had better advice for you. Kim

This may sound crazy, but really do not want to step foot in a dr.s office. I am still pretty heated up by the entire profession. This might be a good topic to put in the pain mgmt board. Thanks for the info.

This may sound crazy, but really do not want to step foot in a dr.s office. I am still pretty heated up by the entire profession. This might be a good topic to put in the pain mgmt board. Thanks for the info.

Tim I dont blame you for being upset with the Dr's. I also take toradol not very often though and I have an RX for that for my migrains. See I cant win. Maybe someone on the pain boards might better assist you. I go check it out once in awhile seems like everyone over there is on opiates though. So I dont check in there often. I'm sure you will get some help over there.

Hey BOB I've seen you around!!!

Kim

Hey Tim,

After getting off the hydros, I was taking advil as soon as I woke up every morning to get the pain out of my joints. I would feel so nauseous after a while, I thought something else was going on. I started taking the advil with milk and a piece of toast, and that helped get rid of the nausea. The ibuprofen was irritaing my stomach lining. So, I do believe that if you take it without food or milk, your stomach lining will suffer and you could get ulcers. I guess even with the food or milk ibuprofen, taken at high doses for too long, could mess with your stomach and even (I've heard) your kidneys. But, if you moderate it a bit and take with food and milk, it should help to protect your stomach. That helped for me, but we know everyone is different. I just wanted to let you know it made me really nauseous without anything in my stomach.

It seems every drug has it's price. I tried Neurotin, and I felt drunk on it..really goofy. I stopped that. I tried Ultram. I didn't feel addicted, but it did appear to give me unwanted energy, especially if I took it in the evening. I still think Ibuprofen is the best as long as it doesn't start messing with your stomach or anything else.

Feel good, and thanks for your words of encouragement to everyone here every day.

Lisa

just an FYI to anyone who has to take any sort of NSAIDS(ibuprofen ans others like it)there is a med called "cytotec" that was created just for people who have to take NSAIDS and don't want to end up getting an ulcer.you just take the cytotec along with your ibu dose and it will help prevent ulcers and it also keeps that burning that some people get(i am definitely one of them)whenever they have to take any sort of motrin or other NSAID type meds.this stuff really was amazing and it worked wonderfully for me.even taking zantac about one hour before any NSAID really helps alot.i have done this too.always check with your pharmacist tho before taking any sort of stomach med like anything that contains magnesium or aluminum,in some cases,with only certain meds,the mag and aluminum will prevent the other actual med you are taking from working.

the cytotec is only availiable with Rx from your doc but the zantac you can get OTC.both of these meds work really well to prevent ulcers.just always make sure you are staying well within the dosing guidelines when taking any NSAID as they can affect your clotting ability along with causing possible kidney issues when taken on a chronic basis.hope this helped.that cytotec really really saved my stomach when i had to be taking motrin and aleeve for a couple of years before i finally went and got my herniated disc checked out and surgery done.good luck,Marcia

Thanks for the information guys. I think im going to break down and go see a primary care doc next week. It would prob be for the best. I just dont want to screw up my health by taking the otc stuff. There has to be some sort of non narc stuff that I can take to make things a little better. Its not horrible pain, but is sore pretty much all the time. its like a deep bruise feeling.

Hey Tim,
Have you tried any alternative medicine? My brother in law had great luck with acupuncture on his chronic back pain. Sometimes chiropractic work and massage can help as well. I have a massage therapist that has done wonders for me w/shoulder and nerve issues.
Hope you get relief for the pain soon.
Minn

Hey Tim - I am right with you brotha! I actually had an impingement in my shoulder from lifting about 5 years ago. Everytime I would try to bench or do any exercise that put pressure on my shoulder I had a sharp, stabbing pain and had to stop doing any excercises that used my shoulder. That turned out to be almost everything - you use your shoulder in some capacity in almost every upper body movement. I literally had to quit lifting for about 5 months before it finally healed. That was very hard to do. Anyhow, I know the feeling - if you lift weights intensely you are more than likely going to have pain of some sort somewhere. Right now it's my forearms - they are always sore. I just pop 600-800mg of Ibuprofen before I go to the gym and ice/heat the area after. For any of you who don't lift, I know this sounds like a knucklehead thing to do, but once you get to a certain fitness level you really don't want to give it up so you fight through the pain. However, I would never keep going if I had a real injury that had to heal. Anyhow, I only take the Ibu right before working out and I can do that for up to 6-8 weeks at a time. Thus far, I've never had stomach issues. Also, I make sure to supplement with omega3 fatty acids for liver health.

Agree about not wanting to give it up. You do use the shoulder in pretty much every freaking exercise. ugggh. I'm that way. I have worked hard to get where I am at now. Its been like 6 weeks since I have hit my back and shoulders. I pretty much do chest/arms every other day. I do cardio every day. Thanks for the info.

I'm in the same boat you were in. Therapist says I have a shoulder impringement & possible tearing in my rot. cuff. don't have insurance but don't want surgery any way. This is driving me nuts. I depend on wt. training to help w/ depression & alcoholism. I'm on Ibuprophin 800 but doesn't help. Riding a bike & doing leg work isn't enough. I'm 49 & don't want to start over. Tomorrow I'm trying something called Myopathic Muscular Therapy. Have you heard of this ? Any suggestions ? Thank You, Mike

Hi, No I haven't heard of that. If you try it, please let me know how it works.