How much advil/Ibuprofen do you take to stay healthy?

jimmy jack wrote:

I was once told by a nurse don't bother with any less than 4 pills (800mg).

I don't use it often, but when I do, I take 800mg at a time.

This sounds like a take-off on "the most interesting man in the world" -- but that's not why I am responding. My nurse, who is my spouse and a dedicated athlete and really smart (and good looking, too -- sorry no pics!) says pretty much the same thing, 600-800mg. And she concurs with most of what is said above in this thread -- use these pain-relievers/anti-inflammatories sparingly.

As for the other dietary and supplement advice given here, the reports on the details vary, but the basic logic is sound: take care of your diet/nutrition, your sleep, and your recovery, and you'll have a better chance of realizing your athletic potential.

When I was much younger and (somehow) even stupider than I am now, I took lots of advil, etc. to maintain my training? Why? Because all the guys in my training group were doing that. And why did I listen to them and model my practices on theirs? Because they were older and faster than me. They also, pretty much to a person, were more talented than me, so it never occurred to me in my young and dumb condition that someone much more talented than me might be making a lot of training mistakes, and thus not realizing her or his athletic potential, and that I might do well to figure out the best way to do things for me, rather than aping whatever anyone faster than me was doing.

But that is the way of youth and stupidity. I have at least conquered one of those obstacles. And I now take very little ibuprofen, etc.

0

Ibuprofen can be bad for you.

Consider this.... wrote:

ibuprofen in no way, shape or form keeps you healthy. Quite the contrary, in fact. In addtion to the potential issue with delaying healing, it masks the symptoms that should be warning signals for you to discontinue whatever it is you are doing wrong to damage yourself, thus allowing further damage. Also, it can cause serious damage to the stomach lining as well as mess with kidney function.

It's also bad for your connective tissue, so when you end out with knee pain, don't say you weren't warned.

A running friend suggested I try Tart Cherry Extract in lieu of ibuprofen. She and her daughter love the stuff.

I tried it and it seems to work better than ibuprofen. I take one capsule a day for a minor pain and one in the morning plusone at night if I have a major pain.

It's worth trying.

Guppy wrote:

How much do I take to stay healthy? Zero. That's what I do to stay healthy. I eat right, ice, get enough sleep, and do what I can to keep myself strong and flexible. Taking ibuprofen is generally not good for you.

this

None taken here.

lots of people say ibuprofen is bad for tendons and inflammation related injuries - that it inhibits the body's ability to repair itself. i use as a last resort - if you;re injured, you need to heal yourself, and anti-inflammatories are only a temp. solution until something bad and bigger happens. bad for your liver like you said.try to be patient and fix the problem, or something worsee will happen.think about it, why would you think that a little pill that helps with pain and inflammation fix an over-use injury? your body fixes the injury, the advil just removes the discomfortdo the little stuff like form drills, strides, strengthening exercises, icing baths, icing, core strength, and general flexibility.for me, when i ran competitively in college and had the most success after, I find that the more time i spend doing those things, the faster i run. 35 minute run, do 30 minutes of that stuff if possible. you'll be a better runner, promise. i know it sucks to do, but it's worth it. watch tv, eat snacks, talk to your family and friends on the phone when you're doing it. http://runnersconnect.net/running-injury-prevention/anti-inflammatories-effective/

Questioning collegiate wrote:

I am a sophomore division one cross country and track runner. I have had a good number of injuries. I find myself taking advil (often 3 at a time) at least twice a week and sometimes a lot more to keep little nagging things at bay. Is this a lot? Do other people take just as much/more? Should I worry about my liver?