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Comment by aiCeivi9 | Hacker News Reader

Nope, that is literally the dosage mentioned in leaflet inside my box of pills: 2x200mg, up to 3 times a day, do not exceed 6 weeks.

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I'm not saying it's an overdose (and their tests of renal and hepatic function corroborate that)

But it's not a dose people will commonly take in their "day to day" activities and ideally not something that is done without medical supervision

It's one of the features of Ibuprofen that you can take it at those levels without killing yourself. Most people don't, but some people do - sometimes because doctors tell them to.

This makes it different to Paracetamol, where you only have to double or triple the standard dose to cause temporary liver damage, and increasing it only slightly further puts you in danger of death.

I went through a period of heavy physical activity without good equipment, which caused quite bad shin splints. My doctor prescribed precisely this dose, along with some physiotherapy. I think it's quite common for inflammatory problems like that.

I disagree. People regularily take 800mg of ibuprophen for regular/tension/miagrane headaches. These can be quite regular and chronic occurances.

> it's not a dose people will commonly take in their "day to day" activities

A lot of people who exercise multiple times a week take "Vitamin I" every day. So do people who have frequent headaches, back or joint pain, etc. I probably came close to these levels during a bout of plantar fasciitis, though I've since switched to naproxen in such cases. It might not be common in your immediate circle, but in the broader world it's not rare enough to raise any eyebrows.

When I would visit military doctors, they would prescribe 1g pills like they were a panacea.

Wow, all the ones I have (and I don't remember seeing any different in Australia) all say do not take for more than three days at a time (except with a doctor's advice).

6 weeks is a long time to be popping 1200mg/d!

Are you sure it didn't have codine in it? In the UK, the only (AFAIK) non-prescription medication with that sort of warning is anything containing codine.

I'm in Australia and looking at a box of plain Ibuprofen. It also recommends limiting to a few days at a time unless told otherwise by a doctor.

And I believe the max dose is even higher - 3200mg per day (800mg 4 times per day).

Yep. a good friend is a doctor who does triage in an ER (amongst other things) - he said 'We start at 1500mg doses'.

Correct. Adults can take up to 800mg q6hrs and I routinely prescribe that dosing after ankle sprains, etc for a few days. 6 wks duration would be way out of my comfort zone.

I don't have the PDR handy but I thought it was 2400 mg/day-- 800mg * 3. It's based on kg/body weight IIRC, but that was the indicated qu amount

I don't have the PDR handy but I thought it was 2400 mg/day-- 800mg * 3. (It's based on kg/body weight IIRC, but that was the indicated quantity.)

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