My doctor...

[dalebert]

He wants me to take 2400 mg of ibuprofen a day! I'm not gonna. I'll take some right before bed I guess. That's when the pain is a problem. It's interfering with my sleep. Isn't ibuprofen somewhat hard on your liver or something?

[Jim Johnson]

That much doesn't sound right.

[Tom Sawyer]

http://www.drugs.com/ibuprofen.html

The maximum amount of ibuprofen for adults is 800 milligrams per dose or 3200 mg per day (4 maximum doses). Use only the smallest amount of medication needed to get relief from your pain, swelling, or fever.

[MaineShark]

He wants me to take 2400 mg of ibuprofen a day! I'm not gonna. I'll take some right before bed I guess. That's when the pain is a problem. It's interfering with my sleep. Isn't ibuprofen somewhat hard on your liver or something?

That's a very high dose.  When Denise was dying of cancer, they had her on 1800mg/day, because it didn't exactly matter if they damaged her liver, at that point.  While it's possible to get away with more than that in an average patient, it's also possible to damage someone's liver if that individual isn't right in the middle of the Bell curve.

Do you have an inflammation issue, or a pain issue?  While ibuprofen will certainly relieve pain, it is primarily an anti-inflammatory.  Depending upon the actual cause of the pain, there may be a number of other drugs available that can relieve it, without the risk of super-high-dose ibuprofen.  If it relates to a muscle spasm, for instance, then an anti-spastic like baclofen would be more useful, as it would relieve the actual spasm, rather than just treating the inflammation and resulting pain.

[dalebert]

My shoulders, but particularly the left one, are all jacked up from sleeping on my sides. It's the only way I can actually sleep well to avoid sleep apnea. It was fine for years, but apparently my aging body is just more fragile or something.

So anyway, it's joint pain. Good news is the x-rays didn't show any spurs or noticeable joint damage so it's probably something like a sprain. It's just that it's been hurting since June and not healing. It seems to get better for a while and then gets worse again and fluctuates like that without ever going away. Lately it's bad enough that it's seriously interfering with my sleep.

[KBCraig]

My shoulders, but particularly the left one, are all jacked up from sleeping on my sides. It's the only way I can actually sleep well to avoid sleep apnea. It was fine for years, but apparently my aging body is just more fragile or something.

I have dealt with a similar situation over the last year. I discovered that I was sleeping differently on my left side than on my right side. I made some adjustments to how I place my pillows, and changed how I place my arms. It seems to have worked...I used to toss back and forth multiple times per night, but now I usually only roll over one from left to right, then once again back to my left side.

I find that naproxen sodium (Aleve) is the best for inflammatory issues. Taking two capsules initially, then one every 12 hours for 2-3 days usually clears it up for a week or so.

[Free libertarian]

A good Indica strain of cannabis has been known to help with sleep issues.  Careful though, it may make you want to dance with black guys and jump off buildings and such, to say nothing of the breasts you'll grow.   

[MaineShark]

So anyway, it's joint pain. Good news is the x-rays didn't show any spurs or noticeable joint damage so it's probably something like a sprain. It's just that it's been hurting since June and not healing. It seems to get better for a while and then gets worse again and fluctuates like that without ever going away. Lately it's bad enough that it's seriously interfering with my sleep.

Joints can't get sprained - only muscles get sprained.

Your doctor should be attempting to actually identify the cause of the pain.  If it's not inflammatory in nature, then taking an anti-inflammatory won't help.  If it's in the muscle rather than the joint, then trying to treat joint pain isn't going to help (unless you just take massive doses of painkillers, but that's clearly not the ideal).

[blackie]

A good Indica strain of cannabis has been known to help with sleep issues.

In maine, if the ibuprofen doesn't work, after 6 months a doctor can recommend cannabis.

I've been making cannabis ointment. I wonder if that would help.

I had this same issue with my shoulder the other day. I was manicuring cannabis for over three hours. My shoulder hurt all day after that, and I couldn't sleep well.

[dalebert]

Joints can't get sprained - only muscles get sprained.

Honestly it's probably kind of in between. It feels like tendons that have become strained. The most painful position to assume is pulling my arms in close to my chest which is essentially what sleeping on my sides does. They actually feel a little better at the moment and last night wasn't too bad (after 800 mg right before bed) but I'm not confident that will last at this point. I've been at this point before in the last 6 months.

[Jim Johnson]

Did you try living through a natural disaster?  I under stand that the experience changes the way you view your current pains. 

After a few days of disaster therapy you sleep really well.   

[dalebert]

Did you try living through a natural disaster?

Dood... I'm friends with Neal. It hasn't helped so far.

[Raineyrocks]

Hi Dalebert,

Here's a scary article about what happened to a guy taking Ibuprofen:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2542083/Father-left-coma-skin-peeling-taking-ibuprofen-flu.html

I'm glad your not going to listen to your doctor.  I've read a lot about tumeric or curcumin, (same thing, different name), really helping with inflammation if your interested in checking that out. 

Good luck!

[Pat K]

Did you try living through a natural disaster?

Dood... I'm friends with Neal. It hasn't helped so far.

Snort !

[MaineShark]

Are you taking anything for joint health?