Is it possible to be addicted to ibuprofen?

Question

I take 8 200mg tablets about 3-6 or more times a day for over the past year. I used to take 4-6 tablets but my headaches just keep getting worse so i take 8 and then as many times a day as i have to but its usually 24 plus tablets a day. Ibuprofen is the only thing that will work for my headaches that i get everyday. Is it possible to become addicted to ibuprofen?

Answer 1

Taking more than the maximum dose of any drug (except for the advice of a pharmacist or doctor) is irresponsible.

Be responsible and talk to a doctor about your problem.

Answer 2

You are having rebound head aches.  And Im not medically educated to know if it is an actual addiction or not, but I do know it is because you are taking so much.  You are so used to just popping pills everytime you have a head ache, thats all you do instead of correcting the issue thats causing the head aches.

You need to get to the issue of why you are having all these headaches.  Are you overly stressed?  You may need to find outlets for your stress such as relaxation exercises or a punching bag.  Does your eye sight need to be evaluated?  Do you need a good night's sleep?

Or, the rebound could be purely psychological.  You are soooo used to getting these headaches every day.  You automatically reach for the advil.  When you know its been about 4 hours, your head ache comes back.  In other words, you are/have convinced yourself that unless you take a handfull of advil, you are going to have a head ache.  You are sooo certain that no other med helps, but I wouldnt the advil helping either with what you are experiencing.

I think you should take a real look into why you are having head aches.  Keep a head ache journal (which is what any doctor is going to ask you to do when evaluating head aches)  Write down when you notice the pain, what you were doing, how you feel, mood, rate the pain 1-10, and write down if you took meds or not.  If you notice your head no longer hurts, write down the time you notice, what you are doing, how you feel and your mood.  Also write down what part of the head the pain was in.  At the end of the day, write down any patterns you may notice or any other comments/thoughts.  Keep this journal for a couple weeks, I bet you are going to narrow down some patterns to these headaches.  knowing the pattern can help you get rid of them.

Another more direct approach is to not take any meds for headaches for a couple weeks  That will help if it is a problem of your body's tolerance to the med.  But also keep a journal for this as well.

Answer 3

One cannot get addicted to Ibuprofen. When the word addiction is used in a medical sense, it means that the person cannot live without taking a particular drug because he will suffer from withdrawal symptoms when he is removed from  the drug, .  Drugs like heroin  and other narcotics are addictive drugs in that sense.

Drug addiction is a complex brain disease. It is characterised by compulsive , at times uncontrollable, drug craving and seeking in the face of negative consequences.

This is due to an effect the drug has on the brain functions.

Relapses can occur even after large periods of abstinence.

In the case of Ibuprofen this does not happen.

The same dose may not be sufficient later to relieve the same symptom and hence the patient gets used to a higher dose. It is so ,even with paracetamol.

The dose of Ibuprofen allowed per day is 1.2 to 1.8 G in 3 to 4 divided doses.

The maximum possible increase is 2.4 G daily taken as 3 doses.

Please note that Ibuprofen can have the following side effects.

gastrointestinal damage, vertigo, insomnia,bronchospasm, renal damage, hepatic damage, pancreatitis etc. with prolonged use in high doses.

I advice that you should meet a doctor and re-assess the causes for your headache.

Answer 4

You could get addicted to any drug.  So yes.  It is possible to get addicted to ibuprofen,