ladybuglit

Do you have arthritis?   Do you regularly take a pain reliever or anti-inflammatory over-the-counter (OTC) medication to help relieve arthritis pain and stiffness?   How often do you take the medication? 

     Many people, including myself, are not be aware of the problems that can arise from taking OTC anti-arthritic medications.   I knew that aspirin is a blood thinner and that it can be hard on a person’s stomach.   I did not know that many other common OTC pain relievers,  that are also anti-inflammatory drugs, are also blood thinners and may cause stomach irritation and gastrointestinal bleeding.    Of the following pain relievers: Tylenol, Advil, Aleve, and Aspirin—the only one that is not a blood thinner is Tylenol.   In my opinion, Tylenol, which has the main active ingredient of acetaminophen, does very little for pain or for arthritis relief.    For several years, I took Aleve (two tablets per day in the morning) to relieve arthritis pain and stiffness.  On a recent hospital stay, I had major bleeding problems due to my own ignorance in taking Aleve as often as I did.   I did not know it was an N-SAID and that it does, in fact, thin blood.

N-SAID stands for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication.

Some common OTC N-SAID’s are:

     Aleve—active ingredient is naproxen sodium

     Aspirin—active ingredient is acetylsalicylic acid

     Advil—active ingredient is ibuprofen

All of the N-SAID drugs may thin your blood and may cause gastrointestinal problems, including gastrointestinal bleeding.

***Be aware of what medications you are taking and what side effects may result from taking those medications.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 18th, 2008 at 1:17 pm and is filed under Personal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.