# Paddling with pain: Advil, how much is too much?



## badkins (Oct 30, 2003)

I have a broken rib, this is the 3rd time this has happened to me so I'm getting pretty used to it. It's been about a week and a half since I broke it and the water was up on one of my favorite runs. I wasn't about to let this slow me down. While loading up to run shuttle I'm contemplating how many Advil I should take. I notice on the bottle it says, "do not take more than 6 in 24 hours", so I figure I'll just max out my allotment for today in one dose. That comes to 1200mg of ibuprofrin. It worked, I had very little pain during the run. So how bad/stupid was that?


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## JCKeck1 (Oct 28, 2003)

I'm no doctor, but I can tell you that the long term effects of taking advil are not good. The complete destruction of your liver is a very likely event if you're taking lots of advil over long periods of time. As for the large one dose, I don't know.


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## l-dot (Dec 20, 2003)

I was taking Motrin for my knee and my Doctor told me to take 800mg of over the counter Motrin. He said it was the same as taking prescription ibuprofrin but way cheaper. He also said that taking more than 800mg wasn't going to do much for pain but that it did continue to help for the inflamation. He did also mention that this shouldn't be regular practice but just to get me through a day.


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## ID Surfer (Nov 6, 2003)

According to to Davis Drug Guide for Nurses, adults can take 400-800 mg of ibuprofen 3-4 times daily as needed for pain. You shouldn't exceed 3600 mg/day. Administration of higher than recommended doses dose not provide increased effectivness, but may cause increased side effects. In school they told me you shouldn't take more than 4 g/day due to risk for hepatotoxicity. I bet your one time dose is cool. I wouldn't make it a habbit.


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## badkins (Oct 30, 2003)

Cool I suspected as much. Usually my rule with Advil is if I can do without I will. The next morning I was in a lot of pain and decided to just give it a rest and not paddle, so I didn't take any more. Thanks!


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## paddlebizzle (Oct 15, 2003)

Everyone seems to have this under control, but i would throw in my two cents:
The bottle says do not take more than 6 200mg tablets in 24 hours. This is over the counter strength. Prescription strength is 800 mg (4 200mg tablets for you slow people) every 6 hours. 

The immediate results are simply reduced pain, but ibuprofin therapy really becomes effective after a 2-3 day window. Pain relief is still evident, but the antinflammatory response is much more pronounced. This is when ibuprofin is much more useful. You can continue this program for 2-3 weeks with little side effect. 
However, it is very helpful to drink ALOT of water, which helps reduce the irritation and long-term side effects on both the stomach and the kidneys.

DO NOT drink alcohol when doing this program. Seriously. This amount of ibuprofin is not great for the stomach or kidneys, but putting alcohol into the mix can cause liver failure and big-time kidney problems, let alone stomach bleeding and intestinal irritation. blood in poop, urine, vomiting, trouble digesting, etc. Not pretty.

definitely ask your doctor too. they are pretty open and honest about ibuprofin, since it is so commonly taken for pain. they'll also tell you what drug interactions are bad too.

Broken ribs suck. watch for punctured organs because you can die, and that means you can't paddle, which defeats the whole reason you took advil. 

Cheers! Jeff


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## badkins (Oct 30, 2003)

> Broken ribs suck. watch for punctured organs because you can die, and that means you can't paddle, which defeats the whole reason you took advil.


You mean I can't paddle in heaven? That sucks! :evil:


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## paddlebizzle (Oct 15, 2003)

Badkins - i wish that was the least of my problems. all i know is that i have a barstool in hell, and it's not getting any cooler.


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