That and to deal with the symptoms of their illnesses that have gone untreated because a) too expensive and/or b) doctors here gaslight you that it's just anxiety.
My wife just paid $150 to go to a walk-in to check what is clearly a swollen blocked gland or something under her ear. It’s killing her. She was there for an hour. The doctor was in and out in under 2 minutes. He told her to take Tylenol and come back when it gets worse.
So yeah, it’s cheaper and you waste less time buying OTC pain killers in bulk I guess.
No. This was purchased because someone thought it was a "great deal". They will use about a quarter of the bottle before it expires and then just throw the rest out.
Not everyone is a lonely neck beard. Some folks live with families, and some of those family members might just have to take a daily pill or two daily.
Someone obviously doesn't have rheumatoid arthritis, or any other one of a plethora of painful diseases. Even with my biologics, flare ups happen, and ibuprofen takes the edge off.
On the other hand, maybe Europe has cured RA, and just hasn't shared it with the rest of the world?
Sure, NSAIDS are great, but 99.9% of RA patients still shouldn't need 1000 tablets of half strength Ibuprofen if they are actually seeing their rheumatologist. We usually use coxibs for prolonged therapy supplementing with paracetamole or paracetamole codeine as needed. Most of the time pain control is achieved quickly via steroids and we generally recommend patients to try and avoid NSAIDS once they are started on steroids.
You can't buy more than 10 at a time here unless you have a prescription.. On the plus side, you can almost get them for free if you do have a prescription
You can get them if you have a prescription so if the doctor seems a good reason, there is no problem. Note that its free to visit the doctor and free to get a prescription. Also prescribed medication is cheaper than over the counter medication even if it is the same medication. The state helps cover the cost of prescribed medications.
That said, it's better to fight the cause of the pain instead of the pain, You can also get physiotherapy prescribed or other treatment that will help against whatever is hurting.
Also construction work is often very safe and protected both by education and insurance due to unions. Although its hard work it is often strongly regulated and controlled to follow rules that will protect workers from getting hurt or worn out
The part where you need 1000 tablets, that’s more than a lifetime supply. If you need that many you’re better off visiting the doctor and fix whatever the issue is.
A very sizeable percentage of Americans can't even afford rent on a one-bedroom apartment working two jobs, and they don't have health insurance. There is no "going to the doctor" when paying out of pocket at even just the clinic costs more than a week's wages. Between chronic discomfort and homelessness, they choose discomfort.
......fixing general muscle pain? What do you expect a doctor to resolve there? This is fucking Ibuprofen. Advil. Am I taking crazy pills or is this thread actually happening in real life?
ibuprofen is addictive, in my country they are a prescription only medication because of this. Paracetamol on the other hand, is available off the counter
too much ibuprofen or paracetamol is bad for you. Youre poisoning yourself
never, ever, take that much pain killers unless you have a known condition and the doctor agrees. You could be hiding something else by using the painkillers
i feel bad for you. Is the headache that bad? I usually ignore those but i have a high pain tollerence :)
I used to have to use them about 3 to 5 days a week. It had been going on for years.
Turns out my blood pressure was too high. Took some blood pressure medication and now I haven’t had a headache that bad in close to 6 months. I wouldn’t have believed it myself if I hadn’t experienced it but you may want to get that looked at.
I fortunately do not get headaches often. I usually get them when I stop drinking caffeine for a day or so. When I do get headaches, I take acetaminophen.
You can only absorb 400mg in one dose, so 200 is a great idea (you get to choose taking one or two). Any excess you take will not have an effect on your pain.
Well, sorry, but that is complete bullshit. You can go up to 1g/4h with effect, and if you take more you can overdose and fuck up your liver pretty badly.
Many common over the counter drugs in America are banned or require prescriptions in Europe. Ibuprofen and pesto/imodium require prescriptions, and they’re not too fond of giving you them. Fun things you learn while traveling Europe with migraines and shiting thunder. Remember to pack enough while traveling.
Have a medical problem in Europe at an inconvenient time? See an emergency doctor, get a prescription, visit an emergency pharmacy, pay a deductible amount, get your medication.
For the coffee before 10am thing: Bakers and shops open at around 6 to 7am and there is a thing called 24-hour petrol station.
The absolute maximum amount anyone should be taking in a single day would be 16 of these, and that’s spread throughout an entire 24 hours, and not on a consistent basis.
Finishing this bottle in a month would require taking 33 of these pills a day, everyday. How are you alive?
Let’s see, three at a time most days, with 4 on bad days.
That’s every five hours, unless I have shit to do.
So that’s 3×4 minimum a day. On average it’s higher, what with bad days and having a teenager which means having to do shit I can’t just avoid. So 12 a day times 30 days is 360 minimum.
February, I got a new bottle on the second or third, and I have about 200 left, unless I miscounted. February was bad though.
But that does mean I was wrong in my guesstimate. I just end up buying a bottle every month, which isn’t really the same thing as taking the entire bottle.
As to the consequences of the over use, it takes a lot of pepcid and other options to keep things under control. But the doc refuses to prescribe other NSAIDs because of the supposed heart risk, and aleve fucks me up even worse. Seriously, the amount of blood coming out of places it shouldn’t on aleve was ridiculous.
But what else can I do? Fucking hands don’t work without something to reduce the inflammation. You can’t stay on steroids long term at all, and it isn’t the pain that’s what keeps them from working, it’s the stiffness, so opiates are useless.
3 at a time is just enough to function most days. And there’s days where it’s every 4 hours instead of 5, but I do keep an eye on things. So far, no ulcers, no bleeding, just a lot of heartburn and some cramping. I think it helps that I always take them with food of some kind. Kidneys are doing fine as of October. No liver issues either, though that’s not a high risk.
Plus, I do take breaks from it when I know I won’t need the movement range as much. Every few months, even if I have to tell people to bugger off lol.
Damn though, there was a time when I had decided that I’d rather die from the medications than live with what they treat. The arthritis is mostly in my hands, but I have other musculoskeletal issues, and was essentially unable to walk without extra support for a year or two back in 08. So I was throwing down two Tylenol, 4 ibuprofen, and whatever herbal shit I could find at every dose, every four hours. If that didn’t kill me, I reckon I’m going to survive as it is for a while longer.
This drugs can be prescribed in bulk, they just can't be bought without prescription in bulk over the counter.
This is part of laws to prevent suicide. Paracetamol is easier to suicide with and limited; Ibuprofen is not easy to take a fatal dose on but can cause serious side effect, and people are often ignorant about how deadly a drug is.
So to stop people taking ibuprofen instead of paracetamol, they're all limited to a certain amount per transaction.
And for someone with an arthritis they'd probably be getting the meds on prescription and for free rather than expected to go to a pharmacy and buy 1000 off the shelf.
My stepdad has arthritis, he gets prescribed packs of 600mg ibu, with like 5x20 blister packs in a pack or something around that number. It's mainly that at least in germany pill bottles don't exist, and probably some other EU countries too. Might be illegal for safety reasons or something, all I ever see in bottles are supplements and such. Medication is always in blister packs. I kind of dislike how wasteful that seems.
I have also never seen 200mg ibu though, only 400 and 600.