Did I take too much ibuprofin?

Question

I had horrible menstrual cramps yesterday, so all throughout the day I was taking ibuprofin... I would estimate that over the course of 24 hours, I took probably 13 200mg pills (two or three every four hours or so)—more than recommended on the bottle, but I figured it was ok because my doctor told me that you can do that for severe pain, as long as you don't do it very often.

But I'm still kind of worried because although I feel that taking that much was justified considering my pain, I have never taken THAT much before, ever. Could I have done any damage to my liver/kidneys?

(I'm 19 and normally healthy/pain-free)

Answer 1

It will only do serious damage to liver/kidneys if you get hooked on taking pills all the time, over a long period of time, but it still isn't good to take so many so often.  Please be careful.  You don't want to overdose or fall asleep and never wake up.

Answer 2

Short answer: probably not. relax:) Probably safer to take panadol. The main side effect of taking NSAIDs is increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding (eg. peptic ulcers), but this is uncommon and is dose-related.

Ibuprofen belongs to a class of drugs called NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). They are more useful for inflammatory and/or musculoskeletal types of pain eg. muscle aches. For menstrual cramps, you can take ibuprofen but it may not be the most effective type of analgesic you can use - but of course, do check this with your gynaecologist or GP/family doctor.

Others you can try are:   (*=first-line)

*paracetamol/acetaminophen (eg. panadol)

*aspirin

ibuprofen+codeine (eg. nurofen plus (in Australia))

paracetamol+codeine (eg. panadiene)

hope this helps, cheers.

Answer 3

hmm... its a fair bit of ibuprofen and if you really had to take that much to feel better than perhaps you should try a different medication.  next time if you get headaches only try excedrin migraine or extra strength (it will keep you up so only take during the day) or excedrin PM during the night if you are trying to sleep (because it will put you straight to sleep).  If it isn't headaches i.e. cramps then try vicodin but be very careful on this pill because it can become addictive if you are dependent on it all the time, but yes it will definitely clear up any type of pain that you could possibly think of.  It is also much more dangerous than ibuprofen so do NOT take more than you are supposed to take. Now about your kidneys and liver, whether or not you did any damage to them, they (especially the liver) can repair itself more than most other body parts and very fast, so don't worry about it unless you take that amount every single day, because then your liver would probably fail.  Good luck to your liver and kidneys and to dealing with pain in the future.

Answer 4

You'll be fine, but be careful, that's a lot nonetheless.

Answer 5

Caution with the ibuprofin.   It can cause internal bleeding in your digestive tract.

I suggest you ask this question of a pharmacist.

Answer 6

nah not just doing it one time. you should be fine.