Study linking OTC painkillers to hypertension

[LadyCrimson]

Common pain relievers may increase blood pressure in men (also women, but the article is on a male study)

 

I find this personally interesting, not so much because it's surprising to me that a drug may have potential long-term harm, but because the numbers in this one study are so high.

 

My husband has suffered from constant headaches for 20 years; first it was loads of asprin, more recently it's ibuprofen. He can go through a 750count bottle in a few months (that's around 50-60 a week). We 'discuss' this a lot... ... He pops these things like candy, I think in part because he believes that there's no lasting harm to doing so as long as he's not seriously "abusing" them via taking lots more than recommended on the label each day, on average. I wonder if this is a common attitude.

 

Do you try to to avoid taking OTC painkillers for all but the worst aches and pains?

Do you think there should be more regulations/restrictions on how non-narcotic painkillers are sold to consumers?

[Gorth]

Do you try to to avoid taking OTC painkillers for all but the worst aches and pains?

My last two "painkillers" was a shot of morphium more than 20 years ago after a bit of surgery and then local anasthetic 10 years ago when getting a root canal done at the dentist...

 

Do you think there should be more regulations/restrictions on how non-narcotic painkillers are sold to consumers?

Yes. But then, I think OTC medication is a very bad idea in general.

 

Way too many people swallow the stuff for petty reasons like the common hangover etc.

[SteveThaiBinh]

I don't think there should be legal restrictions on how these drugs are sold - it's up to the individual to weigh the risk of hypertension against the discomfort of her pain. A good pharmacist can take information like this report and inform customers of the risks.

 

I do take painkillers for anything more than a very minor pain, but if it hasn't gone away in a couple of days I tend to go see the doctor rather than continue taking them indefinitely, in case there's a serious cause that needs treating. So far, touch wood, the medical profession hasn't let me down, but there are plenty of people with chronic pain that the doctors can't treat - they may not even understand the cause of the pain.

[kalimeeri]

I think many people equate OTC medicine to mean 'safe at all speeds', and that is not the case. For instance, the hypertension medication I used to take had a warning buried way down deep in the PDR--not to be used with ibuprofen. That is not information that I learned from talking to my doctor, or on the label, or from the pharmacy; I researched it on the internet years after it was prescribed. And I've got to wonder if it was because the OTC painkiller counteracted it.

 

I don't like medicine, period, and refuse to take it unless I really need it--and then I stick with the simple stuff (aspirin, or sudafed ... until they pulled it from the shelves). Most fancy flu or cold meds put me to sleep.

[kirottu]

My husband has suffered from constant headaches for 20 years;

 

That would have been even more funny if you were guy saying "My wife has suffered from constant headaches for 20 years", but in these modern times of equality it