Am I supposed to swear off ibuprofen entirely?

[NickelChip 698]

There was a Scandinavian study published in 2022 that looked at the medical records of 41k patients, both bypass and sleeve, over a period of several years. They compared patients with no known NSAID use with those who had been prescribed NSAIDs (in other words, not just over the counter use but a set dosage daily for a trackable amount of time). The total rate of ulcers was 1.9% of patients, nearly all from the gastric bypass group. They found no increase in the risk of ulcers in the sleeve patients who took NSAIDs. They did, however, find an increase in the likelihood of ulcers in bypass patients who took NSAIDs for 30+ days, but not in patients with temporary use of less than 30 days. Do with that information what you will the next time you have a headache. (But remember, I am not a medical professional! I am a romance writer!). Doctors, however, will generally tell you not to do something, (not ever, never, ever!!!), knowing how few patients actually listen to a word they say. (Of course, trusting what they say would also be easier if it matched the peer reviewed literature. But that's an issue for another day.)

Edited November 23, 2023 by NickelChip

[eggplantMan 3]

While some doctors will tell you that you can never have NSAIDS again with a bypass. It's important to not just trust doctors because they are doctors. They too have biases, likely in the sense of being overly cautious for their patients. That may serve them to feel good but it's not necessarily pragmatic/

The most recent study [1] on this topic confirms that you essentially need continuous use of NSAIDS for around 30 days to create significant risk of ulceration for the post operation bypass patient. Non continuous use does not indicate significant risk. Sleeve doesn't have the same issues.

[1] - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35595650/


I can share that I did ask my surgeon about this and he said it's OK to take NSAIDS very sparingly. I took that to mean as little as possible.

Edited December 3, 2023 by eggplantMan