Dunbar Plumbing
Master Plumber
The Dangers of Ibuprofen and NSAIDS
I would like to post a public service announcement as both a forum member, plumber, professional and someone that needs to spread this message, using my reach across the internet to educate others about the situation.
In recent months, I've been self medicating with ibruprofen and it was in respect to an arthritis issue that hasn't been identified/corrected due to many variables.
So, I started self medicating with over the counter non-prescription medications.
Given I felt that since the medication is over the counter, easy access, just don't overdo it, I felt compelled to use the drug as an ability to allow me to work not without pain, but manageable pain.
Over time, I started to ignore the warnings, the amount of intake and the amounts I am allowed to take in 24 hour periods. I did this not out of stupidity but out of the notion that my pain had became very severe, and figured that since the match of pain and intake were measured equally (most times, even the ibruprofen didn't do enough) even though that's a terrible analyzation of the situation.
On tuesday June 16th I woke up feeling very sick, had stomach problems the few days before that felt like hard burning pains in the bottom of my stomach.
I went to the bathroom, still felt sick which led to vomiting in a garbage can in my bedroom that revealed blood instantly. When I sat up in my bed, I felt this gushing feeling of what I knew to be blood entering my stomach, and a lot of it.
I could of died within minutes of that event, It happens, a lot. People never get that luxury to sit and think about that situation and for some reason I never panicked. I proceeded to call 911 and the ambulance arrived. Given many financial reasons, I declined the ride via ambulance and felt that since I didn't 'feel' anymore bleeding, I would proceed to remove the blood that entered into my stomach over the next day, take it easy and recover.
That's not how it went.
I proceeded to go back to bed, lay there thinking all would change. People, mainly in the medical profession would of been out of their skin with my symptoms demanding I go to the ER immediately. I didn't have that situation at all, and I didn't even reach out to others until later that evening.
So, I went to bed, thinking I got this whipped even though I was making trips to my toilet unloading massive amounts of blood. In a nutshell,
I should be dead right now. A 'former' member on this forum. A memory. My chance for survival with the bleed I had is less than 10%. And to carve that 10% down to a smaller number,
I waited a day, over a day before I couldn't trust my judgement anymore in my situation.
The next day when I woke up, I went through the commands, knowing what was to expect in the toilet. I wouldn't even look as I knew what was there. It was not until I started having my heart race very hard in the simple physical tasks I was taking (going to my fridge) for a drink is what had the worry start.
And then, it happened.
I knew when I made my trip to the toilet "this time" that it would be a very hard physical event. I am so glad I grabbed my iPhone before I left my office to go to the bathroom, otherwise I'd be expired right now.
When I reached my toilet, I instantly became overwhelmed with my heart pounding at such a force that my furthest extremities instantly went numb and cold, all skin color completely void and white. I was certainly dying.
My hearing instantly left me with the sounds in the room changing to a very high pitched, almost angled sound, and my eyesight disappeared with the exception of the very outer edges of my vision. And I had my iPhone right there at my reach. There is a phone in that bathroom I was in, but it is 6 feet up on the wall. My position was from the toilet to a chair in this large bathroom of mine, just feet apart.
I called 911.
"I'm at *** ******XX road, I'm bleeding to death internally, I'm in my bathroom in the basement under the house, the door to inside is open."
~click~
Within 4 minutes, EMT's were there to save me. <<< That is an amazing response time.
They found me, and even though I had to stand up to get on the gourney sp? I was then brought out to the ambulance in my driveway where they instantly got me on oxygen with an iv feed to keep me from dying.
Fast Forward
When I arrived at the hospital, tests revealed I had lost over 5 units of blood.
Within hours, I received 5 units of blood.
By that next morning, wednesday, I had lost those 5 units through transfusion.
The upper endoscopy was scheduled the night I arrived, to which a doctor visited and explained that I was first on the list for in the morning.
That procedure in the morning revealed a 1" ulcer laceration inside my stomach that had hit an artery, a 'live bleed' that had the staff boggled that I went over a day before arrival with such a bleed.
I should be dead, right now. Not typing and telling you my story.
Over the course of 6 days I lost in total, 12 units of blood. I'm a statistic that should not be on the side of the living. But, I made it.
It was caused by the overuse of ibruprofen. Please read my words and understand that I could be just like you; taking what you think is harmless OTC pain killers that with time and the normal design that everything needs more intake the longer you take it, and you just ignore it.
If you are taking ibruprofen and getting stomach cramps as a result, I promise you this; you are taking a serious gamble like I did and no one can tell you if you'll be harmed or not. If you are a chronic user of ibruprofen, I hope these words reach you soon and deliver an impact message.
It took my near death to understand the seriousness of this complication I created for myself, and I want to say that even though I've been on the internet for years,
I never once searched for any information relating to ibruprofen or its hazards. I've never even seen a topic discussing it. It's so common that it hides itself well on the idea that everyone knows it exists and don't overdo it.
Well, people don't take massive amounts of medications unless they have a reason to, and mine was the ability to continue working. My pain management involving narcotics do not address what inflammatory issues create, so those methods are not the answer.
That's like throwing an oil spill on a gas fire; it might knock the flames down, but it is coming back with a furor that will be even worse than before.
I hope the powers of the internet carry my words far and wide. I'll never know if I've helped anyone in writing this but I'll tell you that my words WILL be read and someone will consider how serious the dangers are.
I've probably heard about ibruprofen and its dangers and ignored them all. Shouldn't of taken my near death experience to make me understand.
Please, to all of you: If you have stomach pain associated with ibruprofen, you are taking a chance that can leave you in serious danger.
I went a long time, and then it was too late. I'm just one of the lucky ones that survived.
Over 90% do not, especially when an artery has been ruptured and bleeding.
I would like to post a public service announcement as both a forum member, plumber, professional and someone that needs to spread this message, using my reach across the internet to educate others about the situation.
In recent months, I've been self medicating with ibruprofen and it was in respect to an arthritis issue that hasn't been identified/corrected due to many variables.
So, I started self medicating with over the counter non-prescription medications.
Given I felt that since the medication is over the counter, easy access, just don't overdo it, I felt compelled to use the drug as an ability to allow me to work not without pain, but manageable pain.
Over time, I started to ignore the warnings, the amount of intake and the amounts I am allowed to take in 24 hour periods. I did this not out of stupidity but out of the notion that my pain had became very severe, and figured that since the match of pain and intake were measured equally (most times, even the ibruprofen didn't do enough) even though that's a terrible analyzation of the situation.
On tuesday June 16th I woke up feeling very sick, had stomach problems the few days before that felt like hard burning pains in the bottom of my stomach.
I went to the bathroom, still felt sick which led to vomiting in a garbage can in my bedroom that revealed blood instantly. When I sat up in my bed, I felt this gushing feeling of what I knew to be blood entering my stomach, and a lot of it.
I could of died within minutes of that event, It happens, a lot. People never get that luxury to sit and think about that situation and for some reason I never panicked. I proceeded to call 911 and the ambulance arrived. Given many financial reasons, I declined the ride via ambulance and felt that since I didn't 'feel' anymore bleeding, I would proceed to remove the blood that entered into my stomach over the next day, take it easy and recover.
That's not how it went.
I proceeded to go back to bed, lay there thinking all would change. People, mainly in the medical profession would of been out of their skin with my symptoms demanding I go to the ER immediately. I didn't have that situation at all, and I didn't even reach out to others until later that evening.
So, I went to bed, thinking I got this whipped even though I was making trips to my toilet unloading massive amounts of blood. In a nutshell,
I should be dead right now. A 'former' member on this forum. A memory. My chance for survival with the bleed I had is less than 10%. And to carve that 10% down to a smaller number,
I waited a day, over a day before I couldn't trust my judgement anymore in my situation.
The next day when I woke up, I went through the commands, knowing what was to expect in the toilet. I wouldn't even look as I knew what was there. It was not until I started having my heart race very hard in the simple physical tasks I was taking (going to my fridge) for a drink is what had the worry start.
And then, it happened.
I knew when I made my trip to the toilet "this time" that it would be a very hard physical event. I am so glad I grabbed my iPhone before I left my office to go to the bathroom, otherwise I'd be expired right now.
When I reached my toilet, I instantly became overwhelmed with my heart pounding at such a force that my furthest extremities instantly went numb and cold, all skin color completely void and white. I was certainly dying.
My hearing instantly left me with the sounds in the room changing to a very high pitched, almost angled sound, and my eyesight disappeared with the exception of the very outer edges of my vision. And I had my iPhone right there at my reach. There is a phone in that bathroom I was in, but it is 6 feet up on the wall. My position was from the toilet to a chair in this large bathroom of mine, just feet apart.
I called 911.
"I'm at *** ******XX road, I'm bleeding to death internally, I'm in my bathroom in the basement under the house, the door to inside is open."
~click~
Within 4 minutes, EMT's were there to save me. <<< That is an amazing response time.
They found me, and even though I had to stand up to get on the gourney sp? I was then brought out to the ambulance in my driveway where they instantly got me on oxygen with an iv feed to keep me from dying.
Fast Forward
When I arrived at the hospital, tests revealed I had lost over 5 units of blood.
Within hours, I received 5 units of blood.
By that next morning, wednesday, I had lost those 5 units through transfusion.
The upper endoscopy was scheduled the night I arrived, to which a doctor visited and explained that I was first on the list for in the morning.
That procedure in the morning revealed a 1" ulcer laceration inside my stomach that had hit an artery, a 'live bleed' that had the staff boggled that I went over a day before arrival with such a bleed.
I should be dead, right now. Not typing and telling you my story.
Over the course of 6 days I lost in total, 12 units of blood. I'm a statistic that should not be on the side of the living. But, I made it.
It was caused by the overuse of ibruprofen. Please read my words and understand that I could be just like you; taking what you think is harmless OTC pain killers that with time and the normal design that everything needs more intake the longer you take it, and you just ignore it.
If you are taking ibruprofen and getting stomach cramps as a result, I promise you this; you are taking a serious gamble like I did and no one can tell you if you'll be harmed or not. If you are a chronic user of ibruprofen, I hope these words reach you soon and deliver an impact message.
It took my near death to understand the seriousness of this complication I created for myself, and I want to say that even though I've been on the internet for years,
I never once searched for any information relating to ibruprofen or its hazards. I've never even seen a topic discussing it. It's so common that it hides itself well on the idea that everyone knows it exists and don't overdo it.
Well, people don't take massive amounts of medications unless they have a reason to, and mine was the ability to continue working. My pain management involving narcotics do not address what inflammatory issues create, so those methods are not the answer.
That's like throwing an oil spill on a gas fire; it might knock the flames down, but it is coming back with a furor that will be even worse than before.
I hope the powers of the internet carry my words far and wide. I'll never know if I've helped anyone in writing this but I'll tell you that my words WILL be read and someone will consider how serious the dangers are.
I've probably heard about ibruprofen and its dangers and ignored them all. Shouldn't of taken my near death experience to make me understand.
Please, to all of you: If you have stomach pain associated with ibruprofen, you are taking a chance that can leave you in serious danger.
I went a long time, and then it was too late. I'm just one of the lucky ones that survived.
Over 90% do not, especially when an artery has been ruptured and bleeding.
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