Using paracetamol and ibuprofen together for leg pain while waiting for GP

[elliejjtiny]

Ds2 is 18 and has muscle pain in his leg. We are waiting for an appointment with the GP. He has asked for painkillers which is a bit worrying as his pain threshold is really high. Paracetamol on its own didn't help so now he is having ibuprofen as well. Just wondering when you take them if you take both to avoid breakthrough pain and do you always take ibuprofen with food?

Ideally ibuprofen should be taken after food but as a one off it wouldn’t do a young healthy person any harm.
Biofreeze gel is also very good for muscular aches and pains (avoid deep heat and deep freeze as they just don’t really work)

Whereabouts is the pain and what sort of symptoms is he experiencing? Neither ibuprofen nor paracetamol will work for nerve pain and ibuprofen should not be taken excessively if you suspect bone stress.

He's got pain in his thigh and calf. He's also got selective mutism so it's very difficult to have any kind of conversation with him. He usually doesn't mention that he is in any kind of pain and he had an ingrown toenail and cellulitis without any pain relief apart from the general anaesthetic to have the toenail removed.

Taking ibuprofen with food is advised.

it helps soften the impact of it on the stomach.

You can alternate the doses throughout the day to keep ‘topped up’. So take paracetamol then 2 hours later (after food), take ibruprofen. Then repeat every few hours (obviously not above the maximum daily amount).
If the pain is severe, you can also get low strength codeine over the counter from pharmacies. Or he may want to try an ibruprofen gel. Heat/cold patches can help if the problem is muscular.

How long until the GP appointment?

Thank you. Appointment is in 3 weeks

Alternate throughout the day, but don’t take them together.

Do you have some Omeprazole or similar for the tummy?

You should ask for an urgent appointment

Thigh and calf sounds like sciatic pain.

Will he show you his leg ? Any swelling? Does it feel warm or look a different colour in the area of pain?

You can take them together. They work differently in the body.

Ibuprofen can be taken with a glass of milk, it doesn't need to be with food.

You can take 800mg of ibuprofen too - the standard tablet is 200mg but I buy 400mg (from the pharmacist). I have chronic knee pain (waiting to be old enough or for it to further deteriorate so I can have it replaced) and my consultant said to take the higher dose (have been for several years). If you can't get a gp appointment do you have a minor injuries unit nearby or even a sports physio might be able to advise?

I don't tolerate normal ibuprofen but get on OK with the Nurofen fastmelts that dissolve on the tongue. Post surgery recovery, I was told paracetamol x 2 every 4 hours in 24; and 3 x 2 ibuprofen every 6 hours preferably with food. Like this:

Paracetamol: 8am, 12pm, 4pm and 8pm
Ibuprofen: 10am, 4pm and 10pm.

That is case-by-case advice and needs to take into account someone’s medical history rather than being safe advice for everyone.

When I have been taking both (post sections & broken ankle), I prefer to offset doses so one takes effect before the other wore off. Both can be taken up to 4 times a day, so if he needs 24h coverage (the pain is bad enough to wake him for more painkillers), then take alternating doses every 3 hours. Ibuprofen works better with food, so I tried to time it so the middle of the night dose was paracetamol, and kept a packet of biscuits with the medication if I needed in away from meal time.

If it's more come and go pain, or comes on when he's moving, he might be better taking closer together (4h between doses of same thing), but with a gap overnight, or taking both at the same time before physical activity

I thought ibuprofen was only 3 times per day and paracetamol was 4 times.
Check the maximum limits on the box and dont exceed the daily dosage