Too Much Ibuprofen Can Hurt Your Stomach, Your Heart, and Even Your Boner
It's fine in small doses, but taking ibuprofen in large amounts can hurt your stomach, your heart, and even your boner.
As far as drugs go, ibuprofen seems pretty harmless. It takes the edge off nasty hangovers or headaches and soothes sore muscles, and it's easy to find on just about every drug store shelf in America. It even comes in single-serving wrappers for moments of urgent need.
“If used sparingly, [Advil] rarely causes any major side effects,” says Nauman Tariq, M.D., an assistant professor of neurology and the director of the Headache Center at Johns Hopkins Hospital. (Tariq says a safe dosage is usually 600mg a day, or about three tablets a day, once or twice a week.)
But while drugs like Advil (otherwise known as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs) aren't going to give you compulsive, uncontrollable urges to gamble or rupture a tendon in your leg (yes, some common drugs really do have those side effects), taking a ton of ibuprofen on a long-term basis does come with health risks. “If you want my opinion, I would err toward caution and would not recommend frequent use of this drug," Tariq says.
So what can happen if you take a ton of ibuprofen over a long period of time? We asked Tariq and other health experts to outline some of the potential risks.
Your sperm might get screwed up.
In a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, taking 600 milligrams of Advil twice a day for six weeks (much more than the above recommended dose) was linked with a health issues called compensated hypogonadism, which is linked to decreased sperm development and potentially impaired fertility.
You might have problems keeping it up.
Yup — long-term ibuprofen use can lead to problems maintaining an erection. That's because Advil and other NSAIDs can result in decreased release of prostaglandin, a family of chemicals that "play an important role in erection,” says Tariq. In fact, some erectile dysfunction (ED) patients even get prostaglandin injections from their urologists as part of their treatment.
“Theoretically speaking, Advil has the potential to adversely affect erection if taken for a long time,” he notes.
But going limp isn’t a given. The science regarding sexual health and Advil is mixed: another study in BJU International found no relationship between NSAID use and ED. So don't toss all your Advil just yet.
Heartburn and stomach woes.
Post-workout muscle burn hurts so good. Post-Advil heartburn? Not so much.
If your stomach hurts after taking the pills, here’s what’s likely going on: ibuprofen blocks the release of prostaglandin, which protects the stomach against stomach acid, explains Tariq. “Frequent [Advil] use can irritate the stomach lining, hence causing heartburn and stomach pain."
The Advil website explicitly notes this, stating: “This product contains an NSAID, which may cause severe stomach bleeding.” This only relates to long-term, consistent use, though, so just remember: dose is key.
Even more headaches.
It might sound counterintuitive, but if you use ibuprofen more than three or four times a week to treat headaches, you might create a headache of your own. You could be at risk for what Tariq calls “medication overuse headaches,” a.k.a.rebound headaches.
Doctors aren’t sure why rebound headaches occur, notes Tariq, but they can be common for people who make popping NSAIDs a habit. He says it could be that chronic exposure to NSAIDs can lead to changes in hormones and inhibitory pathways that translate to constant feelings of head pain, but it's also possible that some people are just predisposed to headaches in general.
Ringing in your ears.
Some research in both humans and animals suggests that high doses of NSAIDs such as ibuprofen can lead to tinnitus (a ringing in the ears). “In animals, prolonged use has been shown to cause death of some of the hearing cells,” notes Tariq. But it’s worth noting this is often a rare side effect linked with high usage — and the problem usually fades after you stop taking the drugs.
Nasty skin reactions.
Because ibuprofen blocks many different pathways in the body, allergic reactions, including rashes, are possible as a result of overuse, explains Shanna Levine, M.D., an internist at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
That said, generally speaking, any drug has the potential to cause a skin allergic reaction. “They’re foreign chemicals introduced in the body, so the body starts to make antibodies against and this can cause an allergic reaction,” explains Tariq.
Swelling.
Feeling puffy? While it might sound counterintuitive for an anti-inflammatory to leave you, well, inflamed, prostaglandin also works to promote sodium excretion and blood flow to the kidneys, explains Levine. If your body hangs on to excess sodium instead of excreting it, you could wind up looking a little swollen.
Cassie Shortsleeve is a skilled freelance journalist with more than a decade of experience reporting for some of the nation's largest print and digital publications, including Women's Health, Parents, What to Expect, The Washington Post, and others. She is also the founder of the digital motherhood support platform Dear Sunday Motherhood and a co-founder of the newsletter Two Truths Motherhood and the maternal rights non-profit Chamber of Mothers. She is a mom to three daughters and lives in the Boston suburbs.
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