Ibuprofen

[goldfish.girl]

Does anyone have any info or advice they received from doctors about taking Ibuprofen?

Having just read on another thread about medication that can thin your blood (and not wishing to take over that thread) reminded me of a conversation I had with the Rehab Consultant last month. I am convinced I was told NOT to take Ibuprofen after I had my SAH???? But the rehab Dr suggested trying this with Paracetamol when Paracetamol alone didn't take the headache/head pains away. I mentioned that I was told not to take it as it thins the blood and she said she would have to read back through my medical notes to find the reason why not.

Is this something anyone else has been told? Perhaps the advice was only relevant to the early stages of recovery and it would be ok to take it now (a few years on)?

Michelle x

[Tina]

Hi Michelle please seek this advice and info from your Doctor or Consultant. There maybe a reason that you were told not to take it. When i left hospital i was prescribed both for the pain. I had a craniotomy. xx

[goldfish.girl]

Hi Tina,

Thank you for your experience. I'm waiting for the rehab consultants advice but am not seeing her again until July. She did seem baffled by why I was told not to take Ibuprofen but she is very thorough & I'm sure she will investigate it fully. Paracetamol very rarely works for me, other than to take a slight edge off the pain and it would be good to be able to take something 'mild' on top of it as a new measure rather than have to wait 4 hours before taking something strong enough to make me sleepy at best.

I wonder if it's an issue that is different for patients who have been clipped rather than coiled? The consultant I saw was in Aberdeen, where they only do clipping, not coiling surgery (Edinburgh is the nearest place for that) and maybe that would have some bearing on what she knows of using this medication? However, she is very well thought of, so I am sure she will look into it fully before advising me further.

Thanks again,

Michelle x

[Skippy]

Hey there, Ibuprofen is an anti inflammatory but also increases blood pressure which could be why you were told not to take it directly after SAH. I couldn't tell you whether or not you would be ok to take it now though. Sorry.

[goldfish.girl]

Thank you Sami,

I take two medications for high blood pressure so your post makes sense as to why I was told I shouldn't take Ibuprofen if it increases blood pressure.

Michelle

[Skippy]

You're welcome hun - my dad can't take them for the exact same reason xxx

[Super Mario]

I was coiled and came home with Ibuprofen, Tramadol and Paracetamol to take together for pain. I also take aspirin to thin my blood and 3 drugs that lower blood pressure although for a reason other than high blood pressure and continued to do so along with those.

I think it depends on what your neuro thinks is safe and they all have different ideas or it could be the location of your SAH that makes a difference.

Each patient has different needs so you really must check. Can you get in touch with with the Rehab's secretary and see if she can find out any information for you.

[Gill C]

yep it will be the blood pressure thing, Ian has high bp & tries not to take ibuprofen or anything like sudafed which raises your bp.

I used to take ibuprofen almost daily pre op but rarely take it now. Have you tried steam for a bad head? It can work if your sinuses are bunged up but not for every cold, I also take soluable co codamol but that is only in the short term.

My bp now seems to be under control but since sah has been higher than it used to be. My gp seems to favor amytrip for my back pain but as I take that at night it doesn't solve the problem during the day

[kpaggett]

It is a known side affect that it increases BP, but this may or may not be the reason you were told not to take it. I was told to do many things by other care providers that were contra indicated for me, but no one has time to read your whole history and such so I found that it was basically up to me and my family to remember all the restrictions or side affects that could come up. It's horrid that it has to be this way, but it is.

My advice is to hear it straight from your doctor once and for all if you are still not advised to take it and why. Or just don't take it and you'll never know, but at least you can rest easy whatever the reason was.

~Kris

[Skippy]

Good advice Chris.

This is what I did and was told by my GP not to take ibuprofen as it raised blood pressure and that wouldn't be good given my circumstances. However, it may be that this was because it was the direct weeks after my SAH and as I've never suffered with or had high blood pressure could have been a precautionary measure. But as we all know - all advice seems to differ with each specialist/consultant/gp.

[jess]

I take it occasionally wasn't told I couldn't but wasn't told I could either I really would check with a doctor I say that cause a girl who I work with her dad had a sah and was told to take aspirin everyday I wasn't, and I would of thought that a bad ideas seeing as it thins blood so I really would check with your Dr. Sorry I cannot help. Jess.xxx

[goldfish.girl]

Thanks everyone for the advice/shared experiences

Knowing that the common opinion is that Ibuprofen raises blood pressure is enough for me to decide that I will not be taking it, regardless of what any of the many doctors tell me from now on. My BP is already high but controlled by medication although 'spikes' still happen with stress & upset so I will not add anything avoidable in to that.

I was just hoping to take something else less debilitating for the pain when paracetamol doesn't work as the prescribed medications I take can't be taken with paracetamol & are also quite debilitating for several hours after I take them. They are also co?di? something dol? based. There are 2, I get confused with them! I know both can cause rebound headaches so I try not to take them but this leaves many days of trying to deal with the pain to limit any rebound pain that the medication causes.

Sure there will be an answer at the next appointment as to something I can take to prevent the pain rather than try to put up with it or give in every few days. I appreciate that no-one is qualified to recommend any medications but it was good to hear why a medication may not be prescribed - that was very helpful & made sense to what I already know.

Thanks for all the replies.

Michelle x

[shricthism]

When I came out of hospital I was taking paracetamol, Diclofenac, Tramadol and Oramorph ( when required). I quickly stopped the Tramadol and Oramorph.

When I went for a repeat prescription the GP decided that Naproxen would be better than Diclofenac. However it caused me to feel bloated, and to have disturbed sleep. I stopped it and substituted Ibuprofen, however the pharmacist was very alarmed by this and said I had no business changing medication without speaking to the GP. He was probably right but when I then went to the GP, he was quite unconcerned and said he had no problem with patients switching over the counter painkillers, and promptly prescribed more Ibuprofen. He didn't take my blood pressure.

I had no idea until now that there was an issue if taking Ibuprofen for people with high blood pressure, although now I have looked this is confirmed on lots of medical web sites. Maybe it was just as well I only took it for a few days.

Edited April 5, 2013 by shricthism

[kpaggett]

Aspirin thins the blood.

Tylenol is still your best bet or whatever you call it there. Isn't it funny how we refer to drugs by brand rather than chemical? Anyway, If you can't take it with your other meds, you have to decide which is better for you to do. A doctor can advise/prescribe anything, but it is up to you to decide what to take for your own body. Tylenol tends to work for me in slightly higher doses. Why is it contra indicated? That's what i'd want to know.

~Kris

[shricthism]

From what I have read Tylenol is only available in the US and Canada and is a name used to market a range of painkillers based on Paracetamol. These range from basic paracetemol, to mixtures including co-codomol. In Canada they often include caffeine which of course is not recomended for people who have had a SAH.

The basic Tylenol sounds similar to Panadol which we have in the UK. Its paracetamol with marketing and a higher price tag.

I think the original post from Goldfishgirl was asking about what people took in addition to Paracetemol, so Tylenol would be a very bad idea, since excessive doses of paracetamol soon starts causing damage to your body.

Edited April 5, 2013 by shricthism

[Karen]

Okay, I have read this thread and would agree that I wouldn't have taken Ibuprofen in the early months or years post SAH, as it also causes stomach problems in high doses/long term, plus I wouldn't have wanted to have taken anything to increase my blood pressure or pose a risk to my post operative state. This was through my own research and not by any advice from the Doctor, as there wasn't much advice at all!

I was always told to take Paracetamol and to only take Codeine/Opiate based painkillers in the short term, due to physical dependency factors or basically, getting "hooked" on them, plus there's the complication of having re-bound headaches.

I don't and never have had high blood pressure or problems with *high cholesterol, which is a stroke factor (*which is may be why some people are told to take Aspirin?) This is something that you need to ask your Doctor about, as each patient case post SAH will vary and there seems to be varying opinion within the medical practice itself and I've seen people on here who have been advised to take Aspirin, as their Consultant believes that Aspirin may be beneficial to the patient post SAH. http://www.neurology.org/content/54/4/872 If you "Google" Aspirin and SAH you will probably find more info on the research.

I used to take Panadol pre SAH for classic migraines/with aura ... I believe that Panadol Advance is faster working than normal Paracetamol, but it's a lot more expensive, but it did hit the spot faster than non-branded Paracetamol. https://www.panadol.co.uk/All-Products/panadol/panadol-advance-arthritis/

I think that it's a bit of a lotto situation ... you get conflicting advice/opinions from all over... and as per usual, not enough research has been carried out, so we kind of don't know, which way we should follow or who to follow?

I can only say what works for me and this isn't a recommendation at all!... and that I take a dose of one non-branded/Supermarket 500mg Paracetamol and one non-branded/Supermarket 200mg Ibuprofen and I find that this combination works well for me, over a short period of time...even if I get a classic migraine. It's been a bit of a trial and error thing with me over the years, as I do suffer from occasional nerve pain around my affected eye at times and this combination hits the spot and takes the edge off it. I was asked if I wanted to take a daily medication for nerve pain, which came with a lot more side effects than the pain killers and after having to take anti-seizure medication and the side effects that I experienced + withdrawal, which were horrendous, I said "No" ...

You need to consult your GP, as one size doesn't fit all when it comes to pain relief, especially if you have additional health problems to the SAH which need to be taken into consideration.

Interesting thread though and one that I'm sure that will keep rumbling on throughout the years with varying professional opinions!