Ibuprofen-A Cautionary Tale

[lisafrommassachusetts 319]

Wow! What a mistake I made! I had my surgery in February of 2020, and have by and large had a successful and unremarkable experience. Recently I had to go through some significant and painful dental procedures. I have not taken any Ibuprofen (Motrin), Alleve or the like since my surgery, but my dentist prescribed it and seemed to suggest he thought it would not be a problem since I had the surgery over a year ago and had no issues. HE WAS WRONG! I blame myself, because I knew better. I took the prescription strength for a couple of days, and then switched to non prescription dose for another 5 or so days. Simultaneously I could not really eat (dental surgery), and was surviving on Protein Drinks, pudding and mashed potatoes basically. My stomach was not feeling great, but overall ok. Then I started getting some burning and pain in my stomach, radiating into my back and shoulder. These episodes would last a half hour to an hour and then pass. I of course stopped the ibuprofen, and googled stomach lining irritation. I went on a bland diet, and was using mylanta and tums. I thought it was getting better. I WAS WRONG! I had a major attack, and was on the floor of the bathroom, vomiting bile and with severe diarrhea. My blood pressure dropped to the point I could not even sit on the toilet, but had to curl up on the floor while being this sick. I was this acutely ill for over an hour. Foolishly (ok, everything I did in this story was foolish, so continuing my bad choices...) I would not let my husband call an ambulance nor would I go to an urgent care facility because "what can they do? It's a stomach bug). Finally spoke with my PCP's office, who had me call my surgeon's office. They diagnosed an ulcer and started me on 2 medications, one for the symptoms and one to heal my stomach. It could take months to heal. I am on a bland diet, no coffee, alcohol, spicy foods, etc. It has been a week and I have not had any other attacks. I was an IDIOT, but also got lucky that it had not progressed to where it was bleeding or worse.

Non WLS practitioners do not understand what really happens with WLS. If you have had the sleeve, and MUST use N-saids for any purpose, talk with your surgeon's office; they can prescribe a course of treatment to minimize the impact on your stomach. I don't know about bi-pass. I have been advised to never use them again at this point due to the damage already done.

[catwoman7 10,922]

so sorry to hear about that. Wow - what an awful experience. To respond to your last remark, bypass patients aren't supposed to take NSAIDs, either. In fact, they've been telling us this for years. More and more surgeons are starting to recommend that sleeve patients don't take them, either.

[PolkSDA 115]

Yikes! It must really very from person to person. I had been told that NSAIDs were off the list after surgery as a general rule. I had expressed concern up front as I am prone to sinus headaches and the only medication that helps is extra-strength Excedrin. They said that on rare occasions, if needed, I could take it sparingly, and if there was discomfort to take it with pepto or something similar to buffer the potential impact.

I've been taking Excedrin as needed since shortly after surgery, albeit at a much lower frequency than before surgery, with zero side effects. While I take Tylenol on a much more regular basis, I would say I have Excedrin once every week or two, if that.

As with any of these things, YMMV.

[kristieshannon 1,558]

I chose the sleeve rather than RNY in part so I could continue to use NSAIDS as needed. I take ibuprofen a couple times a month with no issues. I guess it varies from person to person!

[NovaLuna 710]

I'm iffy on NSAIDS since the one time I took ibuprofen since my surgery I ended up in the ER due to chronic chest pain that made me feel like I was having a heart attack. I used a topical NSAID for my arthritis and ended up getting hives on my neck even though I used it on my knees. Recently my doctor prescribed me another NSAID called Meloxicam for my arthritis because I've been dealing with almost constant flares since the beginning of April and nothing is working and she said it's pretty mild as far as NSAIDS go and she had the sleeve several years ago and she takes it and is fine. I've only taken it once and I ended up with chest pain, but when I took some Valium the chest pain went away and the Meloxicam did work on relieving quite a bit of the pain so now I'm keeping it for when my arthritis is so bad that I can't stand it and then just take it with maybe half a Valium. Until I get desperate though I'll just stick with taking Tumeric and Ginger Root for the inflammation.

Edited July 8, 2021 by NovaLuna
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