Paracetamol and ibuprofen interaction

[Kallisti23]

It may sound like a silly question, but I am currently abroad and can't do a CWE but have paracetamol / codeine tablets, and ibuprofen / codeine tablets and was wondering if anyone knows anything about the interaction between paracetamol and ibuprofen? I know the upper limit of both drugs but can't seem to find any information about the effects of taking the upper limits of both these drugs together. Do they potentiate the negative effects of each other (liver) or are they both safe-ish to take at the same time at their respective upper dosages? If I took for example 4 15mg codeine / 500 mg paracetamol plus 2 - 4 12.8 codeine / 400 ibuprofen tablets together would the NSAID's potentate eachother negatively? Thanks for any info.

 

[Keif' Richards]

Hey there Kallisti23! It's always a pleasure to encounter a thread that is easily answerable. In the future, for your own sake, I encourage you to utilize Google to find your answer before making a thread. It has nothing to do with us not wanting to answer you, it's just that you could have had your answer instantaneously as opposed to waiting for one of us. Just some food for thought.

Now, Ibuprofen and Paracetamol are metabolized by different systems in the body. Paracetamol is metabolized primarily in the liver and then excreted by the kidneys. Ibuprofen has negligible metabolic activity in the liver. It's primarily just excreted by the kidneys without producing any of the hepatoxic metabolites that paracetamol produces.

It's actually fairly common these days for physicians to prescribe two different NSAID's when dealing with moderate to severe pain. I, personally have been told to take both Ibuprofen and Paracetamol together to help control my pain by a Harvard-educated surgeon. There should not be any kind of severe reaction, but obviously if you're taking extremely high doses of either, whether in conjunction or not, you have the potential to cause harm.

 

[BehindtheShadow]

Hi, I take a combo of both and I have no problems at all.
It in fact is quite effective for pain management IMO

 

[Kallisti23]

Thanks for the succinct and helpful answer! I tried googling but got a bit confused about the physiology of the two combined on the body. I knew that they could both be used in conjunction therapeutically but wasn't sure about if a lower dosage of each was required in that case to avoid some of the negative effects associated with them, and thought some wise person on Bluelight might be able to clarify. Thanks again Keif!

 

[Keif' Richards]

Nice, so I guess we can go ahead and close this one now. I don't think we have anywhere else to go with it. I'm glad you got the information you needed OP!

 

[Kallisti23]

Yes I think it can be closed now. I took three 15 / 500 mg codeine / paracetamol capsules and two 12.8 / 400 mg codeine / ibuprofen tablets along with some diazepam and was fine but did experience some mild stomach discomfort which is to be expected with the afformentioned NSAID's. I wouldn't recommend going much higher on those doses based on my experience, probably best to stick within the therapeutic doses unless you CWE.