Ibuprofen tablets, not so good!

[tom73]

This is the report I got from the scan, most I don’t understand lol

Findings: Severe degenerative change in the acromioclavicular joint which is narrowing the subacromial space. There looks to be an almost full thickness tear of the anterior footprint of the supraspinatus tendon with mild tendon retraction and overlying tendinopathy. There is also probable high-grade partial-thickness tear of infraspinatus, with oedema within the tendon and muscle. There is no significant muscle wasting. There is fluid in the subacromial bursa and in the shoulder joint as well as the subcoracoid bursa.

The subscapularis is probably intact. The biceps looks intact. Possible tear of the superior labrum also.
🤷‍♂️🤣

That's a nasty bunch of injuries.

 

[gbb]

I had that
I got a sudden massive headache while in the shower one day
the massive bit died down after a few hours but there remained a really bad headache.
Doctor told me to use max dose of paracetamol and ibuprofen - which carried on for several weeks - I do take omeprazole as well anyway

This carried on for quite a while - in spite of several trips to the doctor

In the end I read about analgesic induced headaches and decided to stop them - in spite of still having bad headaches towards the end of each dose - especially the paracetomol

That fixed it - by the end the headaches were actually being CAUSED by the pain killers which had initially been blocking it

Interesting because like so many, ibrufen seems less problematic than paracetamol to most people.
I take it regularly but sporadically ( if that makes sense) for arthritis.
I get prescribed Naproxen but prefer not to take moderately heavy duty stuff.
Same with Co codamol, they make me woozy and give me constipation.
Paracetamol doesn't work so well (not an anti inflammatory).
I tried picking nettles and making tea with it last summer but couldn't 'feel' much benefit.

Luckily, while I take it 'regularly'...its only when the pain is too much, I tend to stubbornly manage without as much as possible.

 

[vickster]

Yours seems very similar to mine. I was lucky as the guy that did the report, phoned me first to explain in laymen’s terms. I asked him if he knew someone and he put me onto a sister company of BUPA. From the MRI to the surgical procedure is only 16 days. Ok I have to pay, but the quicker the better as I’m not earning being self employed.

Hopefully not too physical a job as you’ll need a while off after having that lot repaired and a load of rehab. Have you got a private shoulder expert physio lined up for when you’re released by surgeon to start rehab?

Have you had your iron checked again since stopping the NSAIDs, assuming it’s still low, and you’re male, you should really get it investigated before surgery.

Which sister company of Bupa out of interest?

 

[froze]

My wife said that naproxen does nothing for her, nor does it work on me, and the docs won't give her Oxycodone, I think I had that for my back, I had a couple of those bottles I never used so I let my wife take them when she needed them, they're gone now.

My wife has gone through a lot too and still is going through a lot, sad. As a husband, I want to protect her from bad stuff but I can't do a damn thing for her. To add to all her current stuff, she might be showing signs of memory loss, our friends have noticed it, and I have too. Getting old sucks

That back of yours must have half killed you in terms of pain. I’ve seen those operations and they look like they could really give out some pain!
To be honest, im not so sure the ibuprofen makes much of a difference.
Maybe that’s why people turn to cannabis for pain relief 👍

Initially, the first 3 or 4 days were the worst, during those days the pain meds they gave me worked pretty good, but when I switched to 4 IBs every 4 hours it took the pain down to a low roar instead of a whisper, and sometimes I took the prescribed meds but instead of 4 times a day I would take either 1 or 2 and supplement with the Ib's depending on when I got tired of the pain.

Everyone I spoke to who has had back surgery claim they are in more pain afterward than they were before. I didn't have a back problem till I T-Boned a drunk driver who ran a stop sign while I was doing 60 mph and killed him instantly. My car was mangled, and it took them about 45 minutes to cut me out, but I wasn't hurt at all except for a mild pain in my back, the hospital took X-rays and found a disk had moved, later the back doc said that disk has to go or it could eventually damage the spinal column and cause major issues, so they removed the disk, put a fake one in, and put in two titanium rods about 2 inches long? not sure.

I think I was an unusual case, combined with a doctor who did a very good job on my back surgery, very few people who have had back surgery are ever pain-free years later unlike me. The doc told me not to ride my bike for 6 months, 3 or 4 weeks later I was riding my bike, not far, just around the block, but what I discovered was that when I rode the pain nearly went away and would be gone for about an hour afterward, the longer I rode the longer the pain stayed away, after about 6 months I had slowly worked my way up to 50 miles, never told the doc all of this, he probably would have been mad at me because I was risking crashing and thus risking injury. But I did crash about 3 months after the surgery when I wiped out on mud and landed on my back, nothing happened, didn't even have any unusual pain from hitting that area, never told the doc, he was running routine x-rays to make sure all was going well, and all was going well.

Had another crash about 7 or so years later and landed on concrete on my back, nothing happened to the back but had a huge bruise on the back of my shoulder.

There are some problems to this day. I can no longer push my lawn mower, so my lawn guy who does all my properties mows my home yard. The doc told me I can no longer lift more than 45 pounds, but about 2 years ago I had to lift 12, 60-pound bags of concrete from off the home improvement floor onto a cart, then from the cart onto the back of the truck, from the truck to the ground, I was very sore after that, took 4 Ib's and the next day all was forgiven.

I know I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but I also know that too much pain can hinder healing, but some of the meds for pain also hinders healing, so I end up taking just enough to get me over the initial hump which is just a couple of days or three, then IB's when I feel like I need a rest from the major portion of the pain. I never tried cannabis nor plan on using it for any future problems, though my wife might have to at some point, but it's not legal in Indiana so I have to go into Michigan to get it, and sneak it back over the border, LOL!

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

Hopefully not too physical a job as you’ll need a while off after having that lot repaired and a load of rehab. Have you got a private shoulder expert physio lined up for when you’re released by surgeon to start rehab?

Have you had your iron checked again since stopping the NSAIDs, assuming it’s still low, and you’re male, you should really get it investigated before surgery.

Which sister company of Bupa out of interest?

After surgery I have physio all lined up. Yes I have a very physical job but tying to get light duty works to start with.
I think it’s going to be at least four months before even thinking about going back to work. Just have to see how the physio goes. I’ll do my best to get the shoulder up to full strength asap.
The sister company of BUPA is called Medbelle. They have been superb to deal with and have given me access to all their facility’s if I need them. 😀

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

My wife said that naproxen does nothing for her, nor does it work on me, and the docs won't give her Oxycodone, I think I had that for my back, I had a couple of those bottles I never used so I let my wife take them when she needed them, they're gone now.

My wife has gone through a lot too and still is going through a lot, sad. As a husband, I want to protect her from bad stuff but I can't do a damn thing for her. To add to all her current stuff, she might be showing signs of memory loss, our friends have noticed it, and I have too. Getting old sucks


Initially, the first 3 or 4 days were the worst, during those days the pain meds they gave me worked pretty good, but when I switched to 4 IBs every 4 hours it took the pain down to a low roar instead of a whisper, and sometimes I took the prescribed meds but instead of 4 times a day I would take either 1 or 2 and supplement with the Ib's depending on when I got tired of the pain.

Everyone I spoke to who has had back surgery claim they are in more pain afterward than they were before. I didn't have a back problem till I T-Boned a drunk driver who ran a stop sign while I was doing 60 mph and killed him instantly. My car was mangled, and it took them about 45 minutes to cut me out, but I wasn't hurt at all except for a mild pain in my back, the hospital took X-rays and found a disk had moved, later the back doc said that disk has to go or it could eventually damage the spinal column and cause major issues, so they removed the disk, put a fake one in, and put in two titanium rods about 2 inches long? not sure.

I think I was an unusual case, combined with a doctor who did a very good job on my back surgery, very few people who have had back surgery are ever pain-free years later unlike me. The doc told me not to ride my bike for 6 months, 3 or 4 weeks later I was riding my bike, not far, just around the block, but what I discovered was that when I rode the pain nearly went away and would be gone for about an hour afterward, the longer I rode the longer the pain stayed away, after about 6 months I had slowly worked my way up to 50 miles, never told the doc all of this, he probably would have been mad at me because I was risking crashing and thus risking injury. But I did crash about 3 months after the surgery when I wiped out on mud and landed on my back, nothing happened, didn't even have any unusual pain from hitting that area, never told the doc, he was running routine x-rays to make sure all was going well, and all was going well.

Had another crash about 7 or so years later and landed on concrete on my back, nothing happened to the back but had a huge bruise on the back of my shoulder.

There are some problems to this day. I can no longer push my lawn mower, so my lawn guy who does all my properties mows my home yard. The doc told me I can no longer lift more than 45 pounds, but about 2 years ago I had to lift 12, 60-pound bags of concrete from off the home improvement floor onto a cart, then from the cart onto the back of the truck, from the truck to the ground, I was very sore after that, took 4 Ib's and the next day all was forgiven.

I know I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but I also know that too much pain can hinder healing, but some of the meds for pain also hinders healing, so I end up taking just enough to get me over the initial hump which is just a couple of days or three, then IB's when I feel like I need a rest from the major portion of the pain. I never tried cannabis nor plan on using it for any future problems, though my wife might have to at some point, but it's not legal in Indiana so I have to go into Michigan to get it, and sneak it back over the border, LOL!

I believed life was meant to start at 40, 20 years later I’m still waiting 🤣
My body has been very good to me up to recently. Fingers crossed I can put that right. Last night was very rough but only two more nights and the magic day arrives.
Nothing worst than your wife being in pain and there’s nothing you can really do about it. I’ve watched documentary’s on people who are constantly suffering in pain and as you say, you get feed up with it. To many tablets and your doing more harm than good, not enough and your walking around in circles with teeth gritted.
I’ve never taken cannabis, but plenty of people here in the uk do, I can smell it when riding, it stinks😂
Here in the uk it’s almost acceptable now. I have no problems with people taking it, but not if they are driving!!

 

[rydabent]

For pain, just plain old asprin works best. It has been around for over 100 years.

 

[UphillSlowly]

After surgery I have physio all lined up. Yes I have a very physical job but tying to get light duty works to start with.
I think it’s going to be at least four months before even thinking about going back to work. Just have to see how the physio goes. I’ll do my best to get the shoulder up to full strength asap.
The sister company of BUPA is called Medbelle. They have been superb to deal with and have given me access to all their facility’s if I need them. 😀

DOI I'm an NHS doctor, as @vickster says, ibuprofen doesn't directly affect iron levels but does cause bleeding, especially in combination with other drugs. So would recommend meaning sure your iron corrects itself, otherwise if I was your GP I would go hunting for a source of bleeding. Hope your operation goes well. My dad had similar. Can be very painful immediately afterwards (he also happened to give himself a stomach ulcer taking anti inflammatories for a similar shoulder problem)

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

DOI I'm an NHS doctor, as @vickster says, ibuprofen doesn't directly affect iron levels but does cause bleeding, especially in combination with other drugs. So would recommend meaning sure your iron corrects itself, otherwise if I was your GP I would go hunting for a source of bleeding. Hope your operation goes well. My dad had similar. Can be very painful immediately afterwards (he also happened to give himself a stomach ulcer taking anti inflammatories for a similar shoulder problem)

The hospital will give me a block that lasts for around 18 hrs then say they will supply their pain killers.
I can’t get a doctors appointment so no idea what to do to investigate the low iron 🤷‍♂️ other than my shoulder problems I feel on top of the world ❤️

 

[UphillSlowly]

The hospital will give me a block that lasts for around 18 hrs then say they will supply their pain killers.
I can’t get a doctors appointment so no idea what to do to investigate the low iron 🤷‍♂️ other than my shoulder problems I feel on top of the world ❤️

Good luck for when block wears off (I used to work on an ortho ward as a junior doc). Sorry you can't get a GP appt. The op is going to muddy the waters as far as your iron levels go as you may have a small amount of bleeding. Would recommend you write to your practice and say you had low iron/haemoglobin after taking lots of ibuprofen and ask if they want to follow you up. You can bleed from the stomach with no symptoms

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

I can’t understand what’s going on with my health practice, I live in the same road as them, yet they don’t take appointments over the phone or over the counter. Only way is online, yet there are no appointments now or future. The large car park is rammed during the week so god knows how they are getting appointments. 🤷‍♂️
The online 111 is just as useless, they told me to make a doctors appointment 🙄
Crazy world we live in today.

 

[vickster]

I can’t understand what’s going on with my health practice, I live in the same road as them, yet they don’t take appointments over the phone or over the counter. Only way is online, yet there are no appointments now or future. The large car park is rammed during the week so god knows how they are getting appointments. 🤷‍♂️
The online 111 is just as useless, they told me to make a doctors appointment 🙄
Crazy world we live in today.

Have you done what was suggested above? My surgery has an online system, plenty of space to type in concerns, questions, that would like to speak to GP, get blood test whatever.
I can’t book an appointment directly, they do via the system based on what is put in by me. If appointment time not suitable, can then call to discuss. Mostly works ok

 

[vickster]

Good luck for when block wears off (I used to work on an ortho ward as a junior doc).

Indeed. Having had two shoulder OPs, don’t assume the block will last the full 18 hours either.
Have the strong stuff and the ice ready.
Also, the private hospital may well only give you 1-2 weeks worth so make sure you can get a repeat from your GP if needed!

 

[UphillSlowly]

I can’t understand what’s going on with my health practice, I live in the same road as them, yet they don’t take appointments over the phone or over the counter. Only way is online, yet there are no appointments now or future. The large car park is rammed during the week so god knows how they are getting appointments. 🤷‍♂️
The online 111 is just as useless, they told me to make a doctors appointment 🙄
Crazy world we live in today.

It's known as "Total Triage" and the push is from NHS England to use it. Helps practices manage demand, apparently. If you put lots of details in the online thing they should be in touch, especially if you tell them that the transfusion service said your haemoglobin had dropped

 

[CAESAR AVGVSTVS]

It's known as "Total Triage" and the push is from NHS England to use it. Helps practices manage demand, apparently. If you put lots of details in the online thing they should be in touch, especially if you tell them that the transfusion service said your haemoglobin had dropped

I’ll give that a go, thanks guys 👍