Hello all. I wanted to reach out to you to ask if any of you have started taking ibuprofen for headaches or whatever, after a year post OP. Initially, my surgeon said no to taking it because it can be rough on our stomach in general. However, I kept forgetting to ask him at each of my 3 month post OP visits if it is okay to take on occasion. Now I won't see him for 6 months because he is happy with my progress so my forgetfulness has caught up with me. I have been able to take children's tylenol and it actually works most times, (where prior to my surgery, I might as well have been taking a sugar pill) but I know it can be tough on our liver. I don't want to take either of them regularly. I was thinking about trying children's ibuprofen because I feel like I am getting a headcold and feel a bit yucky all over. Ibuprofen has always been my go to for that kind of discomfort but I'm kind of scared to try it and I don't want to cause any stomach problems.

Anyway, sorry so long. I just thought I'd reach out to my fellow 1+ yr post OP friends to get some feedback.

I hope everyone is doing well!

I don't know which surgery you had, but it's more of an issue with bypass than it is with sleeve (although my surgeon forbids it for either surgery). Although the PA at my clinic once told me that I could take it on a VERY OCCASIONAL basis...like if I have a terrible headache that Tylenol is doing nothing for. But again, only very occasionally. After eight plus years, though, I still haven't taken any. I take Tylenol for headaches. It doesn't do as good of a job as ibuprofen, but it does help.

I'm 4 months out from gastric sleeve and I asked my doc about it. She said try not to take it,but if I have to , take a prilosec before taking it. Sometimes I just can't get the relief I need with tylenol. I'm glad to be able to rely on ibuprofen once in a while.

Catwoman, my apologies. I had gastric sleeve.

Thank you both so much! I have only taken Tylenol since surgery, and it's always been children's version of it and thankfully it does really well in most cases. I may try some children's ibuprofen and maybe just half a dose to see how I respond to it. I do take prescription prilosec (20mg) once a day. Should I take an additional one before trying children's ibuprofen?

Edited September 23, 20232 yr by ShianRaineDrop

My surgeon had no rules against any medications. All medications have side effects, both good and bad. It's up to you and your medical team to evaluate your needs against the risks of the downside against the benefits of the up side. Then, if you choose to take the medication you monitor for the downside and take appropriate action when necessary.

Sometimes the definite benefit outweighs a possible negative side effect.

Good luck,

Tek

Edited September 23, 20232 yr by The Greater Fool

I initially had the sleeve and was told I could maybe try it at 18 months out, but it was very heavily discouraged. I had a revision to bypass and was told absolutely no forever.

I have a sleeve & my surgeon did allow me to start taking NSAIDs after he removed my gall at 2 years. Though he did give me rules to follow. Half a dose only, one a day, not on consecutive days & only take after eating a meal. I rarely have need to take pain relief, but I find paracetamols do nothing for any pain I may have. I’ve probably had five NSAIDs in the last two years. It has to be real pain (like back pain from my oozing discs) to take one. Actually had to throw out a box as it had expired!

If it is just a head cold I’d stick with a paracetamol/acetaminophen like Tylenol which will help with any fever & general flu like aches. If your surgeon allows you to take NSAIDs, keep them for more severe pain. But give your surgeon a call or send an email asking if you can take NSAIDs & how best to take them. They might have totally different advice.

Definitely ask your surgeon. My book from the clinic says I can never have it again. I spoke with my surgeon and I told him I really only take it about 4 times a year and he said it would be fine for me to take it then, he told me if I was taking it every day or a few times a week then it would not be okay. So I think how often a person takes it is a factor.

I’m just about seven months out, and I take it on occasion, but only when needed for short periods of time. I also use liquid gel and take it with food.

I’m currently recovering from kidney stones from taking my calcium supplements (that’s a whole other story) and took a few. Tylenol just didn’t do anything for me and the Oxy they prescribed loops me out and constipate me.

Here’s an interesting study I found https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33353863/

It’s from 2020 but they didn’t find any correlation to issues. I’m not sure if there are more recent studies, but I tend to think, in my opinion only, that it is overhyped, and they are simply airing on the side of caution, which makes sense. Since every persons system and surgery behave differently, it would be too hard to tell who could tolerate and who couldn’t. If someone then shows up with an ulcer, and their doctor didn’t warn them, lawsuits could happen. Again, just my opinion.

17 hours ago, Fred in Pa said:

I’m just about seven months out, and I take it on occasion, but only when needed for short periods of time. I also use liquid gel and take it with food.

I’m currently recovering from kidney stones from taking my Calcium supplements (that’s a whole other story) and took a few. Tylenol just didn’t do anything for me and the Oxy they prescribed loops me out and constipate me.

Here’s an interesting study I found https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33353863/

It’s from 2020 but they didn’t find any correlation to issues. I’m not sure if there are more recent studies, but I tend to think, in my opinion only, that it is overhyped, and they are simply airing on the side of caution, which makes sense. Since every persons system and surgery behave differently, it would be too hard to tell who could tolerate and who couldn’t. If someone then shows up with an ulcer, and their doctor didn’t warn them, lawsuits could happen. Again, just my opinion.

I saw this Swedish study linked to the one you posted: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35595650/

They found that continuous use of NSAIDs in bypass patients for 30+ days was a significant risk for ulcers, but temporary use was not. Additionally, they found no association between NSAID exposure and peptic ulcers in sleeve patients. So it seems you might be right about the extreme use of caution (to avoid being sued). Not to say anyone should disregard medical advice, but it does help to put the risk into perspective.

NickelChip,

Thank you for that follow up study.

Taking ibuprofen for 30 days would be significant. It also refers to taking a defined daily dose which I’m sure is the prescribed amount over 24 hours, again, a significant amount.

I feel confident that taking some ibuprofen for some muscle pain after a long day in the yard or for a terribly bad headache will not be detrimental to my health.

I hope these studies as evidence provide comfort to others as well who have occasional pain and are deeply concerned about damaging their body.

The issue at hand here is that NSAIDs are a big NO-NO for bypass patients, owing to quirks of the bypass anatomy, specifically that the anastomosis where the stomach pouch is tied to the intestines (the stoma) is at a downstream part of the intestine that is not acid tolerant, as the duodenum is (the part of the intestine immediately downstream of the normal stomach.) Consequently, that stoma is easily irritated by the acid from the pouch, and doesn't need any additional stress from stomach irritating medications such as NSAIDs. The most common place for ulcers in a bypass patient is at the stoma. The sleeve based procedures like the VSG or DS don't have that problem as the normal anatomy is preserved in that respect. It still pays to be cautious as the stomach has been cut and reduced, but all the suture lines are amongst normal acid resistant stomach tissues, so there isn't nearly the sensitivity that there is in the bypass.

Many practices simply carry over their bypass experience and advice to their sleeve patients owing to an (over)abundance of caution, simplicity, and their lack of direct experience with the sleeve and NSAIDs. When I had my sleeve around twelve years ago, our surgeon's advice was to use them as needed post op as soon as the narcotic pain relievers were no longer appropriate (so, within a week or two,) though when I talked to him more recently he was more of a mind of within a few months post op.

Bypass patients, is it the same for gastric sleeve patients?

All, thank you soooooo sooo much for your feedback and assistance! I cherish you all so very much. I did get some children's ibuprofen but haven't taken it yet. I just wondered if it would be okay to take in a pinch of tylenol didn't do its thing. I also worry about liver health.

I hope you are all doing awesome!

I have a sleeve; I take ibuprofen occasionally when the particular type of pain I am dealing with isn't helped by ibuprofen (I have a lot of joint/back pain just because of the weirdness of sleeping/moving around these days). I try to avoid taking it more than once a week.

You're right, Tylenol just doesn't work on certain things and it's got its own set of problems if you take it too often. One way I avoid taking more pain medicine than I need in general is using non-pharmaceutical pain relief methods like hot baths with epsom salts, pain patches like IcyHot Advanced, ThermaCare wraps, and heating pads. I also use CBD as a supplement sometimes and it takes the edge off my pain.