The Risks of Ibuprofen.

I sometimes have issues with my lower back. I bulged a disc about a year and half ago and it flares up from time to time, and sometimes sidelines me for quite awhile.

Last weekend I stressed it doing something stupid (no, I'm not going to tell you what it was).

My only saving graces have been exercises (which I have not been doing nearly often enough, but just enough to seem to have helped), chiropractor visits, and ibuprofen.

As a matter of fact, taking 4 ibuprofen every 4 hours became the norm last week. So I thought I would look up the risks to scare myself into taking less:

Common adverse effects include: nausea, dyspepsia, gastrointestinal ulceration/bleeding, raised liver enzymes, diarrhea, constipation, epistaxis, headache, dizziness, priapism, rash, salt and fluid retention, and hypertension. A study from 2010 has shown regular use of NSAIDs was associated with an increase in hearing loss.

Infrequent adverse effects include: esophageal ulceration, heart failure, hyperkalemia, renal impairment, confusion, and bronchospasm. Along with several other NSAIDs, ibuprofen has been implicated in elevating the risk of myocardial infarction (heart attack), in particular, among those chronically using high doses.

I am going to limit my intake if I can. Nausea is definitely present!