Is taking 3 Ibuprofen twice a day bad?

Talk to your doctor but if you take it with food, it should be fine. If my sciatica is acting up I’ll take two in the morning and two at night. For some people, it can cause stomach problems but it never has for me.

When I had cancer, I was taking prescription doses of Advil every day, and I did for months. Eventually, they lost their efficacy and I was just SOL. I hadn’t heard of that happening, but I must have built up a tolerance. If you are planning to take it regularly for prophylactic purposes, be aware that that can happen. Chat with a pharmacist or a physician.

It’s 20+ years later, and ibu is still almost useless for me.

Maybe I’m just weird.

Careful with NSAIDs Tylenol eats up your liver and Advil your kidneys if you take too much. Just talk to your doc or at minimum follow the directions on the bottle. I personally don’t go near either.

My instincts say no. No pill should be taken in large doses, at least not consistently.

Try a marijuana edible…

Prescription strength ibu is 600 or 800 mil so three 200 would be in that realm if you can tolerate it. Again, take with food.

I would be wary of taking OTC NSAIDs on a daily basis to treat a chronic condition. It’s one thing to take the dosage on the bottle for the occasional headache or pain, but if it’s become part of your daily regimen, you really should be consulting with your primary care physician. Despite being OTC, there are real risks—especially if you’re maxing out the dosage on a daily basis. I’m pretty sure the bottle even says not to take it for more than x days in a row without consulting a physician.

I would agree not to take it every day for a long time. I didn’t think she meant to take it continuously.

Since she has mentioned that her neuropathy is ongoing, I assumed she meant that she wanted to take it continuously for an extended period.
@Dutchess_III, please let us know!

Can you alternate Advil and Tylenol ?

@Dutchess_III: Have you seen a doctor to discuss the neuropathy and any recommendations they may have?

My first response would be similar to all the answers above which say “Ask your primary care provider!”

When pain from my arthritis started becoming more than just an occasional inconvenience, my doc’s advice was use acetaminophen rather than ibuprofen. I got the impression from him that the acetaminophen is less harmful than ibuprofen.

(P.S. I’m not a medical professional.)

It says it was deleted due to poor writing @vimead1.

Yes, it’s due to the neuropathy. I want my life back. I want to be able to teach. I want to take walks with my grandkids.

Yes, I’ve spoken to my Dr. She put me on gabipentin (sp) once a day for a month. It did absolutely nothing.
I called to tell her (it’s $100 an office visit so she’s good at working with me over the phone) and she increased it to 3 times a day. Still nothing.
So I gave up.

Acetaminophen is like Tylenol, right @Strauss?

It’s supposed to be bad for your liver and kidneys. Yet my doc gives me a script that’s 4 time stronger than OTC and tells me take 4 times a day. When I inquired, he said “you’ll be fine”

Ibuprofen could be tough on your stomach. For a while I was taking 2x several times a day for my back, sometimes even 3x occasionally. No prob. Still, talk to your doctor.

My doctor had me try gabapentin – no effect except depression-ish thoughts, so I stopped taking them.

Acetaminophen is like Tylenol. Could be tough on your liver. Talk to your doctor to see if that could help.

I put in a call to her.

That’s a lot. I have a little cyst in my kidney which is not problematic, but my kidney doctor just old me last week not to take any ibuprofen. My internist told me the same thing in January. I don’t know if something changed. I do know that Tylenol and Advil will both bring down a fever, but Tylenol does not help pain at all….for me. I rarely take anything but I have for years reached for the Advil for a headache or joint/muscular soreness.

@RocketGuy I have never heard a good thing about gabapentin.

A few years ago, per doc recommendation, I tried naproxen (generic name for Aleve©). It did the trick for my arthritis, but my ulcer didn’t like it at all.

I think it depends a lot on circumstances. I can’t take it because it thins the blood and I have had a heart condition in the past as well as brain surgery. My daughter is in the medical field and she always chews me out if she hears I have taken that stuff. YOU CANT HAVE THAT DADDY STUBBORN OLD COOT! I take Tylenol instead.