Random pharmeceutical question: Is it bad that I take one aleve and/or 2-4 advil pretty much every day?

Ibuprofen were not good for my stomach, so I had to stop taking them entirely.

I take Tylenol PM every night to sleep since I've been on the Wellbutrin.

Do you need the Tylenol part for pain (or other Tylenol-related needs)? If not, you can just take a benadryl (or the store-brand equivalent; diphenhydramine) and skip the unnecessary tylenol, since acetaminophen can be hard on the liver, and I know you're a beer-drinker, so liver health is KEY.

Oh, it's just usually a vague headache or something, no big deal.

Um, just as an FYI, *supposedly* you can get semi-addicted to the stuff and get rebound headaches where you then need to take it to stop the headache you've got because you haven't taken your daily one. IJS.

what meara said. i was taking a good 4-6 ibuprofens a day for months for pretty much daily headaches a while back and he* told me a)ibuprofen is proven to cause rebound headaches and b)i needed to not take ibuprofen anymore if i didn't want to permanently damage my liver and kidneys.

for headaches these days i go for excedrin extra strength. if it's a mild one, i'll just take one, but if it's bad i'll take 2 and repeat in four hours if it still hasn't gone away. (it usually has.) i would swear by excedrin.

[*edited to clarify that he = my doctor]

i needed to not take ibuprofen anymore if i didn't want to permanently damage my liver and kidneys.

Do you have liver or kidney disease? Because that's a pretty vague statement (re: damage). Doctors routinely prescribe ibuprofen in doses of 800-1000 mg 3 times a day, and I can't see as how they'd do that if it was going to create an epidemic of liver/kidney failure.

Ibuprofen is known to exacerbate stomach problems, but liver damage is generally caused by acetaminophen.

Do you have liver or kidney disease? Because that's a pretty vague statement (re: damage).

no. no history of it in the family either.

Doctors routinely prescribe ibuprofen in doses of 800-1000 mg 3 times a day, and I can't see as how they'd do that if it was going to create an epidemic of liver/kidney failure.

but they don't expect the patient to do that for an extended period of time. i would have continued to take that amount on a daily basis for the rest of my life if he hadn't told me that.

I'll switch back to Benadryl, Tep. You're right.

I'm not trying to be a bitch, but according to the FDA, it's acetaminophen, not ibuprofen, that causes liver damage.

I'll switch back to Benadryl, Tep. You're right.

My whole family, being big drinkers, dropped Tylenol like a hot potato when the news about its potential for liver damage came out, back in the day. We gotta have our priorities in order.

I don't think you're being bitchy. i'm not at all surprised to find out that my PCP was wrong. i knew acetaminophen caused liver damage, which was why i'd been taking the ibuprofen. so i was surprised when he told me that, but didn't think any more of it. especially when i found my One True Headache Medicine.

tiggy, it doesn't sound like you take a lot of excedrin, though. The amount you take -- unless you wash it down with a keg o'beer -- isn't enough to damage your liver. It's just high levels of acetaminophen, or combining acetaminophen with alcohol, that can whammy the liver.