Paolo Diavolo wrote:
Thats unfortunate!
It doesn't make sense to take that many pills.
I can't imagine a doctor would advise that.
Did no one know/warn of that side effect?

Nurofen is similar to Panadol, it's just a basic pain relief medication that anyone can buy without a prescription. I just thought I would mention that in case it isn't used in other countries.

I'm sure there are warning labels that mention every possible side effect ever but her dosage doesn't seem that crazy. If she was getting bad period pain it makes sense that she would take two Nurofen to stop the cramps, and if it worked for her then why wouldn't she keep using it? I haven't ever had that problem and I tend to not take medication for head aches or anything like that because I don't feel that it helps me very much.

But yeah, I have a box of period pain relief Nurofen in my room somewhere, my mum takes migraine strength Nurofen every now and then even though she doesn't think it's very effective.

Paolo Diavolo wrote:
Ooh, I read wrong about the dosage she was taking.
That doesn't seem like much.
I would imagine you'd have to take it more than that for those side effects to occur.

I agree, I think she must just have an incredibly sensitive body and digestive system over all. Three pills once a month over two years is still only 72 pills in total. I've heard of suicide attemps where people have swallowed more and survived without damaged internal organs. Still, no matter what the cause it is an absolutely horrible situation for herself and her family. The end of her status seemed very ominous. Luckily she has a huge support group of friends and family that I'm sure are there with her now.

Mary Thomson wrote:
Nurofen is similar to Panadol, it's just a basic pain relief medication that anyone can buy without a prescription. I just thought I would mention that in case it isn't used in other countries.

It isn't. Anything containing codeine is a controlled medication in the US.

This article was an eye-opener. I had no idea any products at all containing codeine were being sold over-the-counter in the UK or Australia, given the overall nanny-state atmosphere in both countries.

http://www.emed.com.au/1585

Caradoc wrote:

It isn't. Anything containing codeine is a controlled medication in the US.

This article was an eye-opener. I had no idea any products at all containing codeine were being sold over-the-counter in the UK or Australia, given the overall nanny-state atmosphere in both countries.

http://www.emed.com.au/1585

I don't think it has any codeine. It's basically Advil (Ibuprofen).

Caradoc wrote:
http://www.emed.com.au/1585

ArtisticPhotography wrote:
I don't think it has any codeine. It's basically Advil (Ibuprofen).

"Nurofen Plus, which contains 200 milligrams of ibuprofen and 12.8 milligrams of codeine, is thought to be used by about half of all adult Australians."

Caradoc wrote:

Caradoc wrote:
http://www.emed.com.au/1585

"Nurofen Plus, which contains 200 milligrams of ibuprofen and 12.8 milligrams of codeine, is thought to be used by about half of all adult Australians."

Nurofen plus is a separate product. There are many different 'types' of Nurofen that target different issues. Back pain, migraines, period pain, etc Nurofen plus is for extreme back pain and do I doubt that's what she was taking.

Caradoc wrote:

Caradoc wrote:
http://www.emed.com.au/1585

"Nurofen Plus, which contains 200 milligrams of ibuprofen and 12.8 milligrams of codeine, is thought to be used by about half of all adult Australians."

I think "Nurofen Plus" is to Nurofen what "Tylenol with Codeine" is to Tylenol.

EvaScarlet wrote:
That's really ...terrible.

I'm trying to understand (and I apologize if it's obvious and I'm missing it): are they saying that this is now fatal? Seems hard to imagine how one could go on functioning for very long with completely blocked intestines.

Awful.

I've no other information apart from this status update that appeared on my Facebook. But it doesn't look positive in any form.

Mary Thomson wrote:
A girl I went to high school with posted this on Facebook a few hours ago.

Apart from the fact that her situation is absolutely horrible and I do feel sorry for her, I just thought it would be interesting to hear if any of you have had any similar experiences with any kind of pain relief medication. It seems highly unfortunate.


-----------------------------------



"HERE'S THE SITUATION GUYS:
I took Nurofen for 2 years, roughly 2 times a month; 1 for period pain and 2 for headaches.
In 2011 i had chest pain and everyday i thought i was having a heart attack. I went to my specialist and had a camera put down my throat. We discovered i had peptic ulcers all through my stomach and at the start of my small intestines. The good news about that was i could take nexium and after 1 year and 3 months, they were all gone.
This brings me to 2012. In March 2012 i took my last nexium and had another camera down my throat and everything looked healthy and fixed.
2 months later i experienced excruciating abdomen pain that would slowly build up over time and stop me eating for weeks at a time because of how sick i would get. The pain mimicked appendicitis, coming and going over the period of the year and after 17 visits to Maitland hospital, 1 visit to John Hunter hospital, 4 ultra sounds, 2 ct scans, 4 x rays, 24 blood tests, 18 urine samples and 22 doctors, i finally had a laproscopy in December of 2012 in which my appendix was removed and a growth and cyst were discovered, however they were not causing my pain.
1 month after my operation the initial pain came back and i went and had a colonoscopy and another gastroscopy and both came up clear.
2 weeks ago i swallowed a camera and the results today were as follows:

It took 6 and a 1/2 hours for the camera to pass through my small intestines - it's suppose to take 2 maximum. That was the first indication that something was wrong.
Because of the nurofen 2 years ago i had developed adhesions through the entire 6 meters of my small intestines and only this past year have they been healing.
When adhesions heal, they develop into scar tissue.
The camera shows that the scar tissue is blocking my small intestines for the entire 6 meters and my intestines are slowly closing, allowing nothing to pass.
The problem is by unblocking this scar tissue, you create adhesions and than the cycle starts all over again.
In some cases, parts of the small intestines can be removed, however i have partial blockages for the entire 6 meters and no surgery will help my condition, it can only worsen it.
There is no medication in the entire world that can help me now, no surgeries, no nothing.
I've been told i have to deal with my intestines closing up and being blocked as best as possible.
If anyone has ever experienced me being in the pain it causes, you'll understand that i would rather not be here than go through this for the rest of my life."


-----------------------


Thoughts or opinions?

If anyone would like to send thoughts or prayers I'm sure they will be well recieved. I'm not religious myself but I can appreciate the kind act of thinking of others in need.

While I feel bad for your friend, I think you need to have a talk with her re cause and effect. There's really no evidence that a small amount of that medicine two years earlier, did this. There is stronger evidence that the Nexium did it, but I doubt that, too.

One day my wife feeling a bit ill. So she went to the store and got a pregnancy test. It said she was pregnant. A friend of hers wasn't feeling bad and didn't have a pregnancy test. It turned out, the friend wasn't pregnant. Look at the correlation. Clearly, if my wife hadn't have had that test she wouldn't have gotten pregnant.

ArtisticPhotography wrote:

While I feel bad for your friend, I think you need to have a talk with her re cause and effect. There's really no evidence that a small amount of that medicine two years earlier, did this. There is stronger evidence that the Nexium did it, but I doubt that, too.

One day my wife feeling a bit ill. So she went to the store and got a pregnancy test. It said she was pregnant. A friend of hers wasn't feeling bad and didn't have a pregnancy test. It turned out, the friend wasn't pregnant. Look at the correlation. Clearly, if my wife hadn't have had that test she wouldn't have gotten pregnant.

I'm not her doctor or advisor in anyway. It seems highly unfortunate if this basic medication was the cause but seeing as I'm simply a girl who graduated with her I wouldn't be so rude as to say any form of 'I think you're wrong' on a comment stream full of 'I love you, stay strong'.

DougBPhoto wrote:
that is really terrible...

I don't know why it seems like so many people are having serious medical conditions earlier in life, granted I am normally hearing of these via models, so it seems like it is a happening to a fairly high percentage of young women.

Regardless, health problems are not things people under 25 should have to deal with, especially ones so severe. 

She's the same age as me, it's very sad. My dad is a breast cancer surgeon and has removed cancers from 16 year old girls. Mid last year my partners best friend died of an embryonic cancer, he was 21. Luckily he got to marry his high school sweetheart about a month before he passed..

ArtisticPhotography wrote:

I think "Nurofen Plus" is to Nurofen what "Tylenol with Codeine" is to Tylenol.

It's still OTC Down Under, as opposed to controlled here in the States.

AndyD10 wrote:
Ibuprofen (and aspirin for that matter) cam rip your digestive system to shreds.  This has always been known and is clearly documented on packs.

Anyone with an existing digestive disorder should NOT take Ibuprofen or aspirin unless directed by a doctor.

But Im surprised that the dosage described caused such trouble.  I find myself wondering if there was another pre-existing condition which was exacerbated by long term use of the drug.

Or if the dosage mentioned isn't telling the whole story. I can't imagine most of the women of my acquaintance going the whole menstrual cycle with one or two Tylenol. More like 2-3 per *day* for the cycle.

Caradoc wrote:

Or if the dosage mentioned isn't telling the whole story. I can't imagine most of the women of my acquaintance going the whole menstrual cycle with one or two Tylenol. More like 2-3 per *day* for the cycle.

Quite possibly this. But I've no further information on her condition or dosage other than what she has written herself.

AndyD10 wrote:
Edited to add that Panadol and Neurofen are NOTHING like each other. Panadol (paracetemol) is the safest of all OTC pain relief provided you dont OD on it. Then it will kill your liver and you may die!

Panadol = paracetamol = acetaminophen = Tylenol, here in the States.

Nurofen's primary ingredient is ibuprofen, which is what we get in Motrin and Advil in the States.

You are correct in that they're different formulations, as acetaminophen isn't in the NSAID grouping because it generally has a much lower anti-inflammatory effect.

Toxic reactions are pretty much the same for both, though. Alcohol will exacerbate.

(I'm not a doctor - I just spent a lot of time on various NSAIDs and other stuff for a while...)

Mary Thomson wrote:

She's the same age as me, it's very sad. My dad is a breast cancer surgeon and has removed cancers from 16 year old girls. Mid last year my partners best friend died of an embryonic cancer, he was 21. Luckily he got to marry his high school sweetheart about a month before he passed..

It is terrible, and I am surprised people are not more concerned.

Are we simply more aware of things and in the past more of these things remained secret, or is our society, our environment, and our drug use/health care causing an increased level of these severe reactions as a result of man's arrogance and corporate value of profits above health.

DougBPhoto wrote:

It is terrible, and I am surprised people are not more concerned.

Are we simply more aware of things and in the past more of these things remained secret, or is our society, our environment, and our drug use/health care causing an increased level of these severe reactions as a result of man's arrogance and corporate value of profits above health.

I can say with absolute, and total conviction that there are better ways of doing things, real healing is possible, and that's all I'm willing to say on the matter.

Mary Thomson wrote:
I haven't heard anything from her since the status, I hope she hasn't done anything to herself. We graduated together but she wasn't in any of my classes, she's very much the beautiful cheerleader type and was always extremely popular, I've no doubt she has support.

I didn't know you couldn't buy Nurofen whenever you liked in America, interesting.

The medical profession's idea of acceptable risk is different from most peoples.

Nurofen
-- Sold under different brand names depending on country.
"Originally marketed as Brufen, ibuprofen is available under a variety of popular trademarks, including Motrin, Nurofen, Advil, and Nuprin. Generic formulations are available as well."

NSAIDS -- useful info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-steroi … atory_drug


to the OP -- pass this along if you can -- condition may still be treatable

Present status and strategy of NSAIDs-induced small bowel injury
http://link.springer.com/article/10.100 … 009-0102-2

"The prevalence of NSAIDs-induced small intestinal injury is higher than had been expected. Recent studies show that more than 50% of patients taking NSAIDs have some mucosal damage in the small intestine. The gross appearance of NSAID-induced enteropathy varies, appearing variously as diaphragm-like strictures, ulcers, erosions, and mucosal redness."

"Diaphragm-like strictures and bleeding from mucosal breaks may be treatable with interventional enteroscopy. Misoprostol, metronidazole, and sulfasalazine are frequently used to treat NSAID-induced enteropathy, but have undesirable effects in some cases."

---------------------------------------------------------------
   -- an eye opener for many
Certain Antibiotics Spur Widening Reports of Severe Side Effects
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/j … 06-16.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAahaJ4SQcg

"I think that it's fairly clear that adverse drug reactions (used as prescribed) have been considered for some time to be the fourth leading cause of death in America. I think it's an accurate number. And so the number has always been bandied about between 100,000 and 200,000 a year."