NY Times article about ibuprofen use and exercise

[salsabike]

I remember hearing several of you say that there have been occasions when you've taken ibuprofen before some kind of workout and have felt unpleasant effects, so thought you all would be interested in this article.



http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/phys-ed-does-ibuprofen-help-or-hurt-during-exercise/?em

[ny biker]

Very interesting - thanks for posting that.

[Cataboo]

I once read some book about the r4's and exercise (this is about then endurox r4 came out...) and it pretty much recommended taking ibuprofen before exercising to minimize muscle damage.

And while I do confess to using ibuprofen fairly regularly, I'm glad that I'm mostly lazy and really don't actually take it before exercise... I take it if I'm really sore.

[SadieKate]

I wonder if the actual study covered the use of ibuprofen only for a big event. He talks about regular use before every workout, but not about intermittent use only for a big event.

[Cataboo]

I wonder if the actual study covered the use of ibuprofen only for a big event. He talks about regular use before every workout, but not about intermittent use only for a big event.

I'm going to see if I can find the original article... if you read some of the comments after it - sorenzo's in particular... did they control for which athletes went in with injuries and were taking the ibuprofen for that? because they'd have more inflammation to begin with. I guess you'd have to measure their inflammation levels before & after the race to do it properly.

[SadieKate]

Thanks! I'm interested in what it says because I think there a lot of people who don't use Vitamin I routinely but may use it on days when extra long and intense effort is involved. Like only for a century ride but not for the training leading up to it, especially if you're, ahem, a bit undertrained.

[Tuckervill]

For me, it called into question my daily use of meloxicam (Mobic--also an NSAID) for my arthritic knees. I don't take the ibuprofen except under extreme need because I take the meloxicam daily. I'm wondering if those who took it regularly built up a tolerance or something? And am I in the same situation with the meloxicam?

I will say this...the meloxicam makes me able to get out of bed in the morning and walk down the stairs with very little pain, and I'd have to have a specific compelling reason before I gave up that little bit of heaven.

Karen

[Cataboo]

I'm always surprised by people who find ibuprofen actually relieves pain... I take it when I have a sprained ankle, wrist pain, knee pain... and I can take 800 mg of ibuprofen, and I still feel the joint afterwards and the pain... Ibuprofen's never really made pain go away, but what I do find is that the inflammation/swelling goes away quicker if I take ibuprofen... If my wrists flare up, I can take ibuprofen for a couple days and then they'll go back to normal.... or I can not take anything and a week or two later they'll still be hurting...

I don't know if this is a tolerance I've built up to ibuprofen or it just never really worked on me to begin with. (I only take 800 mg if I've just sprained an ankle or something like that... my regular dose is 2)


However, my bf'll take 1 ibuprofen very reluctantly and claim it makes broken leg pain go away or something like that... And not take it because he wants to be able to feel the pain in case he's messed up something in his body and he wants the feedback. I dunno, but I get plenty of feedback while taking ibuprofen.

[SadieKate]

It works for me when muscle spasms or strain are involved. That's why Motrin is prescribed for menstrual cramps. I don't think it masks pain since it is really a muscle relaxant.

Headache - Tylenol
Muscle spasms - IB
Fever - alternating regimen

[Possegal]

The original article says that subjects were placed into either the Ibuprofen or Control groups based on their historical use during training and competition. But later they talk about the I group having used it the day before and the day of the race. They also note that they did not control for use of the drug in the weeks prior to the race. Which to me doesn't quite hold up the same definition of "historical" as one would think. Admittedly I don't have the time to print and read the whole article, but it seems that they assume the I group use it on a regular basis, but I don't see that they actually knew that. They gave them questionairres and I guess that is where they got that info, but it isn't spelled out very well in the article.

And I see nothing about athletes with injuries being excluded or treated as a sub-group in any analysis. But again, not a thorough read of the article.

[ny biker]

According to this:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682159.html

Ibuprofen works by stopping the body's production of a substance that causes pain, fever, and inflammation. Nothing about being a muscle relaxant.

I was in college when Ibuprofen became available without a prescription, and the professor I worked for had me do research on pain killers at the time (I don't remember why, since he was a marketing professor, but anyway.) The articles I read were about the dose-response relationship for Ibuprofen and Acetaminophen (Tylenol). For both drugs, the research found that the dose-response curve is not linear, and that the response levels off as the dosage increases. Which means if you take 500 mg, you get less than twice as much of the effect you get at 250 mg. That might explain why some people don't get much relief from acute pain with ibuprofen if they're already taking it regularly for something else.

[BikingNurse]

NY Biker, Thats right it is not a muscle relaxer. It is for pain and inflammation (inflammation = pain) (I'm a nurse in a surgeon's office- we preach this stuff daily)
Really good article It was interresting. But I would like to know what the questions and avalible responses were if it were a paper survey.

[SadieKate]

Ibuprofen works by stopping the body's production of a substance that causes pain, fever, and inflammation. Nothing about being a muscle relaxant.Interesting since I had medical professionals tell me it was a muscle relaxant, but this was 25 years ago and they may have been putting it into "layman's terms" which frickin' drives me up the wall.

[Possegal]

It is not a muscle relaxant, it is an anti-inflammatory, pain reliever and anti-pyretic. But you are right, someone likely thought they would make it easier to understand and then actually gave you incorrect information. I've been a Dr of Pharmacology for (oh dear lord, 17 yrs) and it has never been thought to be a muscle relaxant in any of that time. They were probably trying to explain why it is better for menstrual cramps than other NSAIDs, but I don't recall ever reading anywhere why that is, just that we know it to be so. Which is not uncommon with our knowledge of drugs. :)

The original article talked about here, does not give a sample of the questionnaire and although they say they asked about prior history, subjects were put into the groups based on use the day before and day of the race. I guess you could argue that the subjects that used ibuprofen would have been people that normally used it, but not sure you can tell that from the publication (and there are several papers that seem to have come out of this study).

[SadieKate]

I've been a Dr of Pharmacology for (oh dear lord, snip yrs) . . . Cool. You have an opinion on my spray vs pill question regarding B12 and D supplements?

I feel like the entire supplement industry has a snake oil salesman lurking around every corner.

[Possegal]

I hadn't seen that question but I too sometimes have that same feeling. :) I am not anti-supplements, not by a longshot. I just wish there were more regulations for them to prove safety and efficacy and more regulations to govern the manufacture to ensure that you are getting what you think you are getting.

[SadieKate]

Possegal >>>>>> http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=33446


:o :D :)

[snapdragen]

Guess it's a good thing my doc made me stop my 4 Advil every 4-6 hours habit. :o

[SadieKate]

Good lord!

[emily_in_nc]

Very interesting article! Gabe Mirkin picked it up in his e-zine this morning too. I have been taking ibuprofen before our weekly long ride to help with my SI joint issues since my bike accident in 2005. Sometimes I forget, and there really seems to be no correlation between taking ibu and my hip feeling better or worse on a ride. Now I know why. I won't take it again.

[snapdragen]

Good lord!

Gee, that's what the PA said too.......

[Cataboo]

Gee, that's what the PA said too.......

That sort of reminds me of when my sister couldn't get her 7 year old daughter to take the calcium supplements her doctor told her to take, so my sister decided to just give her like 5 multivitamins a day to make up for it...

Luckily, my sister told the doctor at some point she'd done that, who promptly freaked.