Ibuprofen abuse

[Corksil]

Hello all. This is going to be an odd sounding post...

Recently a family member hurt his back as the result of a construction accident (heavy lifting or something normal.) He got a prescription for 30 vicodins, and instead of sticking to the prescribed dose and interval, he abused them and ate them at the end of the day with alcohol for the opiate buzz. He quickly ran out after a few nights, and instead of looking for the doctor to get more, he went to costco and bought a big bottle of Advil (like 500pills.) As far as SWIM knows, he ate all of them (and definitely abused them.) It's odd because SWIM knows a bit about drugs, and has never heard of OTC pain med abuse... Eating Advil excessively to get high? Didn't know it could be done, or anyone was stupid enough.

The Advils ran out, so the person went back to costco and bought two 500pill bottles of Ibuprofen tablets 200mg. SWIM has been watching the bottle, and as far as SWIM can tell, the person is eating quite a few, quite frequently. He doesn't know exactly, though it could prolly be determined by counting and the like... SWIM wouldn't want someone watching and criticizing his drug intake, but SWIM knows more about drugs and how they affect the body/brain than the person 'abusing Ibuprofen.'

The person's significant other just left on a trip for a month or so, and the person used to drink occasionally, maybe a beer a night. (No pills.) Now the person is drinking excessively (6-12 beers a night) and eating Ibuprofen on a regular and frequent basis. (SWIM is still in shock that someone would do such a thing when there are drugs like Morphine, Oxys, Cocaine, and all kinds of other addictive things with potential for abuse... Why Ibuprofen and Advil?)

SWIM's questions are...
1) Do Ibuprofen/Advil/OTC painkillers have abuse potential? How about if coupled with Alcohol?
2) How long will someone's liver last if they are (speculation) 50yrs old, 9 beers a night average 6 days a week, 5-10 Ibuprofen 200mg tabs a day, 6 days a week with a poor diet?
3) Should this person be alerted that they may be seriously damaging themself? SWIM does not care persay what the person is doing, because he would not want people hassling him if he was depressed and using excessive drugs to ease his pain --- though it would be 'polite' to tell him that he is killing himself rapidly. (Assuming he is and he doesn't know...)

Thank you all for your input, I appreciate anything anyone adds to this thread.

.:EDIT:.
The issue was touched upon the other day, and SWIM said something like "I hope you're not taking Ibuprofen for pain, because it's extremely hard on the heart compared to other drugs..." -- The person responded with "Huh? Wait how do YOU know...?" -- The person was intoxicated at the time and became defensive. SWIM figured he'd leave the person in peace with his pills. He went out.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Any painkiller would probably have abuse potential.Perhaps otc ones don't give any high but the person might get to the point that they pop them for any little head or bodyache.Then it reaches the point that the person has those little head and bodyaches whenever they aren't taking the otc painkiller of their choice.This is bad,worse than opiate abuse.Acetaminophen especially does some nasty things if used frequently.This behavior is nearly suicidal and should be stopped immediately!

[Jatelka]

Ibuprofen, alone, as an NSAID, does not have abuse potential.

It can be very hard on the stomach (gastritis, possibly resulting in GI bleeding), especially combined with alcohol. It also (as mentioned previously) has the potential for cardiovascular complications, as it causes a pro-thrombotic tendency (tands to make the blood clot). This results in an increased risk of MI and Stroke

[Orchid_Suspiria]

I guess it would depend on how we are defining "abuse".No one is getting any euphoric effects from Ibuprofen or any other NSAIDS.I think the problem is people will take these things at the slightest aches and pains and do this on a daily basis.I think this could be called abuse.

[snapper]

High doses or chronic high dose use of ibuprofen is a guarentee for GI ulcers and kidney damage/failure. Oh yeah, and it has NO abuse potential. Tell your friend to take the recommended dosage and stop committing suicide!

[Corksil]

SWIM will indeed. Just last night he was complaining of chest pain... Interesting how his woman takes away his desire to live by merely leaving the state for a few days...

Thanks to all the replies, they helped much.

Anyone have a recommendation on the best way to bring it up? The occasions it has come up in the future have barely touched upon it, and the person has gotten defensive and loud.

[toe]

SWIY might try telling him that you recently met a woman online who was admitted to hospital with a hemoglobin of <4. As a result of taking the ibu in directly prescribed quantities. Also tell him that if this happens to him, not only will he get the pleasure of spending a few days mainlining the PRCs of strangers, but they will also want to shove hose up his ass before he leaves to make the whole thing worthwhile.

[Corksil]

Hypothetical situation ---

Father decided to upgrade to cocaine from ibuprofen and alcohol. Father snorts on average 10 times a day to son's knowledge -- may be more but atleast 10 bumps.

Son finds foil with burnt cocaine powder on it in trash -- son recognizes the smell and residue from when a friend of his tried burning powder in the past. Son speculates that father is trying to smoke it, unawares that crack and cocaine are different things and cocaine powder can't really be smoked. Father probably assumes he's doing it correctly -- could father really be that ignorant?

If father is using 10 bumps on average a day, is it safe to say that father is addicted?

Would it be a stupid idea for son to ask father to quit for son's b-day present and take up marijuana smoking instead? Assuming son supplied father with herb to smoke and pipe to smoke it in...


If anyone would like to comment on this post SWIM would appreciate it.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Sorry but swim doesn't really get this last post.Ibuprofen is not euphoric in any way nor is it a stimulant so why would anyone be interested in cocaine from using ibuprofen?Sorry but this doesn't make sense,true swim thinks ibuprofen can be abused but not in the same way or the same reasons as one would abuse cocaine or even alcohol.

[Corksil]

Hypothetically speaking. SWIM speculates the person was looking for drugs, because he heard great things about how they can help with pain - not only physical. To be honest, SWIM doesn't know exactly what was going through the head of this hypothetical person. But this person got a vicodin script for some legitimate pain a ways back, abused it completely, and didn't want to talk to the doctor about getting more when he used it up 20 days before it was sposed to run out. He bought advil, approached with the same perspective - use as directed to take away minor pain, use multiple times the directed amount to get high. --- Didn't quite apply to advil the same way it applied to vicodin -- so he bought ibuprofen. All the while decent quantities of alcohol were used in hopes of adding to the 'high.' The vicodin high was definitely not found with anything OTC but that didn't stop this person from trying. Eventually this person went looking for something else - probably something more fun than OTC NSAIDs and alcohol... and found coke.

Like SWIM said, he doesn't know how this person thinks, but he lives with them and interacts with them and has known them for many years. SWIM may be completely off-base in trying to understand how this person thinks, but this is the best he can come up with. Whether it's accurate or not, the person is using coke to a degree which SWIM reads may be considered 'excessive.' Any more questions please do not hesitate to ask... Thanks for the interest in my hypothetical situation.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

This person is destroying his liver!Ibuprofen abuse,cocaine,alcohol,good thing acetaminophen wasn't added to this already lethal cocktail.

[tayo]

I suggest Milk Thistle supplements for liver protection.

[Orchid_Suspiria]

Yes some very heavy daily doses of milk thistle at that.What this person is doing is near suicidal.