COX-2/prostaglandin

[badger]

I was told by my gyno that taking ibuprofen 3x/day for a couple of days before and during my period would take care of my cramps.

However, this week I'm 4 days late (def. not preggers!) and now I've been taking it for close to a week. I've noticed an increase in stomach irritation.

So, I've started to do an armchair research on prostaglandins and COX-2 inhibitors.

Couple of questions here:
at what point do I have to worry about gastric damage due to ibuprofen use (super paranoid about that)

I notice there are some herbal supplements that can reduce COX-2, but it seems they're mostly for arthritis pain and nothing acute like uterine cramping.

I'm not interested in going the prescription route.

Any thoughts?

[Melalvai]

I'm really keen to hear the answer on this one. I've heard that too, about taking ibuprofen a couple days before your period starts to reduce the cramps & excessive bleeding. It didn't work for me. The school nurse wants me to try it on my 15 yr old daughter. Eh. She never did learn to swallow pills so that would be a lot of children's motrin.

I met the nurse at the High School Open House last night. I explained that once a month she'll probably need to lie down for an hour or two. They don't have a place for her to do that, so I said she can call us and we'll bring her home for the day. The nurse seemed a little suspicious because she gets a lot of girls who use it as an excuse to get out of stuff. Had we taken her to a doctor? Had we thought about hormones? (Yeah, except that my research is breast cancer prevention...I am not putting her on hormones for half her life. And anyway it didn't help for me.) How about ibuprofen two days before? I know she was trying to be helpful but I was getting pretty pissed off. In the end she said that was fine, Nell will need to remind her that I've talked to her and then she'll be allowed to call.

What I want is for Nell to change her diet. Cutting out sugar made such a difference for me (post-hysterectomy, but still with one ovary), and I've heard that cutting out dairy, red meat and wheat can have marvelous effects. I think it won't be long before Nell is on board with that. She's got the same problems I did (fainting) when I was her age, and I would have tried anything.

[badger]

that's horrible that you and your daughter have such difficult periods. Mine used to be a breeze until this past year when they've been getting worse and worse. My gyno said it's very common for women my age (39) to start experiencing more difficult periods.

As luck would have it, my period finally started today, but I didn't take any ibuprofen yesterday. I'd say taking it now is like chasing a shopping cart down a hill...

[elk]

I think it's always wise to get checked out when your period changes...

[lo123]

at what point do I have to worry about gastric damage due to ibuprofen use (super paranoid about that)

From what I've been told by my GI doc, higher doses correspond to risk of gastric issues. If you take it with food it's supposed to help too.

I had an NSAID induced GI bleed a few years ago, but I was taking high doses of prescription NSAIDS.

My GI doc said to take a proton pump inhibitor (prilosec or similar) with a COX-2 inhibitor (Celebrex) instead of older NSAIDs because that's been shown in clinical trials to be safer for those who've had adverse GI effects from NSAIDs in the past.

[jenniferh]

After a car wreck last Dec, I was prescribed 800mg of ib. 3x per day and I took it for about 3 months. I specifically asked about side effects and long term use and my doc told me that 3mo would not hurt me.

[badger]

that's good to know.

I must say that this month I'm feeling markedly less crampy than I have in a long time. I can almost forget I even have my period, which is amazing on a second day. I'm taking some herbs for it, but I suspect it's the ibuprofen that's made this difference.

[ny biker]

After a car wreck last Dec, I was prescribed 800mg of ib. 3x per day and I took it for about 3 months. I specifically asked about side effects and long term use and my doc told me that 3mo would not hurt me.

And yet taking lower doses for only a couple of days makes me nauseous. It might not cause long-term problems but it certainly causes short-term problems for some people.

Personally I prefer to ask the pharmacist about drugs rather than the doctor. Pharmacists tend to know more.

[Crankin]

I can't take more than one ibuprofen in a day, or else I go into a swirling downhill spiral of GI symptoms, including pain in the upper GI area. I always take it with a Zantac, which helps, but still. There's been a few times when I've had sports related injuries that i wished I could take more, but I knew better.
After I had my first son, I had a lot of issues with my period (well, worse than usual, since i had issues right from age 11). At the time, in 1982, IB was a new thing. My doc gave me a prescription for it and that just about did me in.

[badger]

I do wish ibuprofen had fewer gastic issues. I was having some problems earlier in the week, but I had run out of my mastic gum supplement. If any of you have digestive issues, I highly recommend mastic gum, it REALLY helps.