# Bugger.  I had to go to the emergency room Friday night.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bugger-i-had-to-go-to-the-emergency-room-friday-night/547938>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [July 25, 2010, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bugger-i-had-to-go-to-the-emergency-room-friday-night/547938 "2010-07-25T12:38:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bugger-i-had-to-go-to-the-emergency-room-friday-night/547938/21 "2010-07-27T16:34:27Z")

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[quote=“Mama\_Zappa, post:20, topic:547938”]

[quote=“Cat\_Whisperer, post:16, topic:547938”]

> [@Mama\_Zappa](#):
>
> No fun ☹
> 
> . . . Back to the OP: How are you feeling now that you’re off the NSAIDs for the time being? I know I’m always in a lot more pain when I have to stop (like right now - had to stop a week before a colonoscopy and it’s 2 weeks until I can have them again).

Kinda achey. The thing is, I did try to bring up my aches and pains and subsequent ibuprofen usage with my GP during a physical last month, but he seemed to just tune me out. I think he sees a lot of older people and probably the achey joint griping just becomes background noise for him. Maybe if he had heard how much ibuprofen I was taking he might have cautioned me at that time. As it was, since I didn’t experience much in the way of stomach upset ahead of time, it didn’t occur to me that I was doing any damage until the ER night.

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**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bugger-i-had-to-go-to-the-emergency-room-friday-night/547938/22 "2010-07-27T16:45:44Z")

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> [@teela\_brown](#):
>
> Kinda achey. The thing is, I did try to bring up my aches and pains and subsequent ibuprofen usage with my GP during a physical last month, but he seemed to just tune me out. I think he sees a lot of older people and probably the achey joint griping just becomes background noise for him. Maybe if he had heard how much ibuprofen I was taking he might have cautioned me at that time. As it was, since I didn’t experience much in the way of stomach upset ahead of time, it didn’t occur to me that I was doing any damage until the ER night.

It’s funny - we think of those meds as so safe and innocuous until SURPRISE!!

I was on OTC-strength ibuprofen reasonably constantly for several months over the fall (due to shoulder and knee pain). Not excessive - 4-6 tablets a day. But when my gallbladder flared and I had to have blood drawn I got a _nasty_ bruise around the needle. Clearly it was affecting my ability to clot. It wasn’t affecting my gut (but then I was already on acid reducers).

Oooh - just noticed: you said ibuprofen _and_ Aleve. Were you taking the two at once???

In addition to adding a stomach protector such as misoprostol, maybe use of acid reducers (antacids or proton-pump inhibitors such as Prilosec) would allow you to get NSAID-like benefits? Definitely something to discuss with your doctor!!

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