How many painkillers do you take in a day?

[Walkmehome]

I know some people suffer serious pain conditions which I don’t but I get headaches and lower back pain and seem to be popping pills every day. Today I have had four ibuprofen and my back is feeling so sore I am thinking of taking another two. Then possibly another one or two at bedtime if it still hasn’t shifted. Is this normal for the average person with no particular illness?

Not normal. You should be looking at the causes for the back pain and addressing those

You might also be addicted to painkillers which is giving you headaches

Depends on the strength and the frequency allowed. Read the pack.

Also use non-painkiller methods (heat etc.)

Definitely look at other ways of managing it and causes.

Have you looked into rebound headaches.

You are absolutely shredding your stomach lining and your gut lining.

Also your kidneys.

Oh dear am I?

Thats way more than I do and, I have a chronic illness. No wonder you have a headache.

Every day?? You shouldn't be self medicating every day unless your Dr is telling you to, painkillers are for short term problems unless used in a managed way under a Dr. At least that's how I see it, I hate using pain killers and only do so when really needed. Never used them for than a few days at a time for flu or whatever.

Is it better then to tolerate the pain?

Are you addicted to painkillers do you think ?

It’s the back pain that is most troublesome today. I have been for a long walk and it’s worse.

Can you self refer to physio locally? We can where I am, but otherwise maybe head to your GP and discuss this with them.

I only take painkillers during my period usually, on the first couple of days.

It better to go and see whats causing it and to get pain medication/physio that will help the problem.
If that amount of painkillers don't help you must have done something serious to it. Or you're addicted to ibuprofen.

how long have you been doing this?

my stomach can't tolerate strong painkillers. A few years back I injured my back in an accident. Was given two different types of strong painkiller but couldn't stomach either.

so I did have to tolerate the pain, or some days I took 4 ibuprofen max, for about 3 weeks. When I returned to work, I had an ache, but just put up with it. I didn't find paracetamol any help.

I did used to take a couple of paracetamol each week for stress headaches at work, that probably went on for a couple of years.

if you have long term pain like i do the dr will prescribe painkillers to take on a regular basis mine i take at night which means i get a good nights sleep and helps me cope next day if i have to and rarely do i take paracetamol but no more than the 8 prescribed. i saw a programme years ago of a man who had taken an od of them more a cry for help and he recovered but he had done irreversible damage to his liver and subsequently died as a result scared the bejesus out of me as i have in past take od of them never again

For your back, you need physio. For your headaches you need to see if they're withdrawal headaches (a very common thing that prevents people who abuse NSAIDs from stopping).

www.migrainetrust.org/about-migraine/types-of-migraine/other-headache-disorders/medication-overuse-headache/

cross post

are you stretching properly before and after long walks? What advice have you had about the pain?

I Mentioned the back pain to the gp but she was not overly concerned. I got the impression she thought it was general getting older aches and pains. She suggested vitamin d which I have not bothered continuing as I didn’t feel any benefits and the tablets tasted awful.

I've taken 2 ibuprofen in the last few years. Are you addicted do you think? That can't be good for you.

On a normal day to day basis, none. A couple of times a month I'll take one dose for a headache or similar.

Recently I've had ongoing wisdom tooth issues along with lots of ulcers so have been taking at least one dose most days for a week or so but the maxfax surgeon told me to take whatever I needed. I had one of the teeth out today and will take the max dose for the next couple of days while the swelling is bad. I'm waiting for an appointment for the second tooth to be removed too.

I wouldn't take OTC painkillers at or close to max dose for more than a few days without speaking to an hcp of some kind about the issue I was medicating.

I don't think you can be addicted to bog-standard ibuprofen?

I take loads OP, but only the ones prescribed by my doctor and consultant due to chronic pain and other conditions.
That many ibuprofen in a day isn't great.
Go back to your GP and don't be fobbed off, there's obviously something not right for you to be needing those tablets.

I will try to cut down but also look into self referring to a physio which I noticed they have just started doing at my gp surgery.

Only time I take painkillers is if I have a hangover which is not often. I prefer to use natural remedies otherwise. I really believe that if you take too many painkillers you become immune to the effects after a while.

Just ring up the surgery and ask for a referral to physio. Or alternatively, an MRI.

Please tell me they're not 400mg!

Why ibuprofen and not paracetamol? I only ask because ibuprofen is bad for you long term. Long-term use of ibuprofen can increase the risk for heart attack, stroke and ulcers. It can also increase the risk of bleeding in the stomach and can affect liver, kidneys and blood pressure.

i have chronic pain and severe nerve damage i take solpadol and amatryptline every day 6-8 solpadol depending on the pain level that day and 50mg amatryptline at night.