Question about aspirin and ibuprofen

[purplefish]

I took one 300mg tablet of aspirin about 45 mins ago for a headache as I came out if the supermarket and then took two ibuprofen tablets about 5 minutes ago. Afterwards I read the back of the box which says you shouldn't take ibuprofen with aspirin over 75mg and now I'm panicking! What should I do?

nothing as the dose was relatively low.
if you notice side effects tell gp or pharmacist.
just stick to one of them from now on.
main risk for both is stomach discomfort/ulcers which is why they shoukd not be taken together.

Phew thankyou! That makes me feel better! Still have a headache though! Ah well....

If you still have a headache take some paracetamol and / or some codeine. I wouldn't worry about the error you just made with the asprin and ibuprofen, just don't do it again and don't take any more of either for 8 hours.

What were you doing taking 3 tablets of any painkiller in the space of 40 minutes, for?! I wouldn't be self-prescribing myself that much pain relief.

rabbitstew You can take 2 paracetamol with 2 ibuprofen. One is a pain killer, the other an anti-inflammatory so they do not interfere with each other but double up to further reduce pain. They work quite well together.

Sounds like the OP assumed it was the case with aspirin too, but it's not as they're both anti inflammatory drugs.

BOTH are used as painkillers, and for most things you could use either, particularly, eg, for a headache, it's just that aspirin is a NSAID and paracetamol works another way and is less effective at reducing inflammation. Since the leaflets giving advice on packets of painkillers do not give advice on what other painkillers you can take with them at the same time and in what proportions, I would assume I ought to seek advice from a doctor before mixing my painkillers, rather than self medicating. Particularly if I didn't even know the difference between the different types of pain relief. And then I would follow the doctor's advice, rather than mixing and matching different painkillers myself in future. (Puts on smugly disapproving face - there should be a smiley for this...).

Easy mistake to make OP, but Aspirin and Ibuprofen are both anti-inflammatories and can interact with each other.

Your best bet is to remember to use ibuprofen OR aspirin alongside paracetamol. Can you ring NHS direct, explain the situation about the aspirin and ibuprofen and ask for advice on what to do. They should be able to help you.