[quote]MODOK wrote:
No, this is not true, but is often thought to be the case by the lay public. Non-selective COX inhibitors are rough on the stomach because of COX-1 inhibition. All in all, there’s nothing much you can do to lessen the effect of nonselective COX inhibition, regretably so.
[/quote]
The “lay public”? Does that include doctors and pharmacists?
Where might the rest of us dumbasses find the “true scoop” on COX inhibitors and why taking them on a full stomach doesn’t lessen the harmful effects?
Almost all of these OTC painkillers and cold medications are bad for your liver. I had to take out a million dollar life insurance policy for a business I was buying and the insurance company ran so many tests on me I felt like a lab rat. Anyway, I was taking an OTC cold med. for seasonal allergies and the doctor told me my liver enzymes looked like I was drinking a six pack a day. My coverage was denied. Thankfully I figured out the issue and was able to schedule another test 2 weeks later. I dropped the meds and took a bottle of milk thistle and my tests came out withing the acceptable range. Unbelievable that an OTC cold medication almost cost me a business loan.
What is really disturbing is the public at large has no clue. Even my wife will go out and down a few martini’s and then come home and swallow a handful of Tylenol because she get’s a headache from cigarette smoke. Then she wonders why she has an ulcer.
[quote]MODOK wrote:
Well, I AM a Doctor of Pharmacy. I wasn’t trying to insult you, In saying lay public, I was meaning people who aren’t in the medical profession, I thought people pretty well understood that.[/quote]
I know what the term lay people means. Sorry if I’m a bit prickly about statements like that. The doctors and pharmacists thing was my way of saying that I guess you felt that they were lay people too, since they have the same worng idea.
Let me explain. I was diagnosed with a wrist tumor last year and prior to surgery I was given a prescription for strong(er) ibuprofen. The doctor, a published hand and wrist surgeon, indicated the “take this with food” notion. In addition, my pharmacist put the little sticker on the bottle.
As you can see, these folks are NOT lay people, but they are apparenetly proliferating this myth.
[quote]If you want to read up on cycloxygenase, any introductory pharmacotherapeutic text will work. You may be able to Google it even, if you use the right search terms…Cyclooxygenase, human inflammatory mediators, etc. Good luck!
[/quote]
Thanks for the tips.
[quote]MODOK wrote:
Ah, well there is a bit of crossed wires here, let me try to clear things up. When you inhibit cyclooxygenase 1, you inhibit the stomach’s ability to produce enough of the protective mucosal lining which is constantly being produced under normal conditions. Acid then gets at the stomach lining, and an ulcer may develop. So, when you eat food with the ibuprofen, the stomach WILL be less upset, because it has a buffer for the stomach acid ( food of higher pH than 1-2), but it isn’t the direct action of the ibuprofen on sitting on the stomach lining ( like aspirin ) but rather the effects of the drug after its been absorbed and it goes to work inhibiting COX and prostaglandin synthesis. I know, I know it may be a redundant point, as food lessens the irritation regardless of why. I just wanted to bring it up, because everyone always says ibuprofen “eats a hole in your stomach”.[/quote]
And the light bulb is finally coming on! Thanks a bunch for the excellent and concise description of this process.
[quote]TestosterTon wrote:
I’ve been getting migraine headaches since I was six years old (it runs in my family).
I took massive tylenol between the ages of 6 - 10ish until I found I had liver problems already.
I’ve taken Motrin since then, but found out a while back that because it gets absorbed through your stomach that it can cause ulcers.
The only solution that I’ve found so far for myself that is not medication based…“cardio”! Found this out through the years though (21 now). I still migraines during finals though (and when I’m around smokers).
-ton[/quote]
Try asking your doc for Midrin or Celebrex if you want something, but want to stay away from narcotic medications.
[quote]jsbrook wrote:
I don’t think Vioxx should’ve been taken off the market. Some people need it. As long as the risks are clear. [/quote]
Damn straight. I had a couple of dozen young, military guys taking Vioxx and doing great with it, mostly for PFS, the others for some other musculoskeletal problem. I think in that population, it was great and low risk compared to the hype that was publicized.
I was given Vioxx the first time I had the wrist tumor (last year was a reoccurence) and it didn’t do shit. I was also given it for rotator cuff problem, also no effect. The drug companies were really pushing that crap on all sorts of doctors back in 2001 and 2002.