Took crushed ibuprofen, am I safe? Panicking.

[LostinThought]

Hi guys, I'm back again =/

I am currently ill and have a phobia of swallowing pills. My relative told me to can ibuprofen tablet and eat it with yoghurt. I ate 2 mouthfuls and then started to panick that it would make me sick, so I stopped. The taste was awful too.

Now I am scared and panicking that I am going to be sick or overdose. It was only a 200mg pill, and I only had a couple mouthfuls of the stuff. Am I okay?

[cpe1978]

Do you think that if a broken tablet was dangerous that they would have been allowed to license the tablet in the first place?

[LostinThought]

That's a good point, but you could argue that they still license tobacco despite it's obvious health destroying effects.

You really think i will be okay then?

[cpe1978]

You could also argue that they build cars in spite of the fact that you can drive them into walls? Unfortunately as far as tobacco is concerned there is no compensating for people who willingly damage their health. Also when tobacco was first produced, health was not a concern in terms of consequences.

If Public Health England and NHS England could ban smoking completely I dare say they would as it would certainly make saving the NHS £30billion a damn site easier.

[LostinThought]

Well argued, and point taken. I just checked your profile and it appears you are a health care manager. So I trust your judgment. Powered ibuprofen isn't going to cause me much harm?

---------- Post added at 16:33 ---------- Previous post was at 16:32 ----------

If not a complete ban, they should at least up the tax on tobacco products. It seems though that the tax gained for the government is one reason they won't coompletely outlaw it. Whether it covers the cost of the NHS care for smoking related illnesses, I doubt it...

[katesa]

I don't think it's fair to put that much pressure on someone just because they work for the nhs (and not as a doctor)

[cpe1978]

Was just about to say.....wouldnt trust my judgment lol my judgment is based on what I think is common sense and objective logic. I commission services for the NHS (basically spend a bit of the £120billion budget ;) know nothing about drugs.

Now if you want to know about services for disabled children then i can help you there :)

[Annie0904]

One of my friends always crushes her headache tablets as she has trouble swallowing them and they have never harmed her.

[yenool]

If Public Health England and NHS England could ban smoking completely I dare say they would as it would certainly make saving the NHS £30billion a damn site easier.




[/COLOR]If not a complete ban, they should at least up the tax on tobacco products. It seems though that the tax gained for the government is one reason they won't coompletely outlaw it. Whether it covers the cost of the NHS care for smoking related illnesses, I doubt it...

I'm a non-smoker and I don't support smoking. However I get a bit miffed with statements like the two above. From what I have read smoking costs the NHS about 3bn a year.... which is a lot but isn't going to put much of a dent in the NHS budget which I think is about 100bn?

Tax on tobacco already makes up a huge % of the cost and more than 3bn a year. Keep pushing up the tax and people will just do more duty free runs to France or whatever.

If you are going to ban tobacco then why not alcohol and junk foods as well..... and then fast cars, dangerous sports and hobbies... etc, etc.

Oh and to answer the original question.......... I highly doubt crushed ibuprofen would harm anyone. You could probably chew the whole packet with no side effects.

[LostinThought]

Pardon my ignorance, didn't mean to start an argument over the NHS and smoking :shrug:

Nor did I mean to 'put pressure' on cpe1978. I'm sorry if I made a faux pass there. I guess I was just trying to reassure myself. Forgive me, my mind is a complete mess lately and having the flu isn't helping matters.

Annie, thank you. That is also reassuring to know :)

[Pipkin]

To get back to the question, I believe some tablets come with an enteric coating which enables the drug to be released in the right part of the intestines. If the tablets have this (and some ibuprofen do), they shouldn't be crushed or chewed. It should tell you on the box.

If the tablets you've taken do have the coating, you might get some heartburn or indigestion. If done regularly, it could lead to ulcers. Having said all of that, I've done it myself and I'm still here to tell the tale!

Pip

[LostinThought]

Thank you, Pipkin. I thought that would be the case. On my box, it doesn't explicitly state anywhere that they should NOT be crushed or chewed. It just tells me to take them with food. And I only took a portion of the powder from a 200mg tablet.

Your signature cheered me up!

[Fishmanpa]

I consumed all my nourishment through a PEG tube for over a month after my cancer treatment because I couldn't swallow anything but sips of water. All my medications were crushed, mixed with warm water and put directly into my stomach through the tube. Unless the label says "Don't Crush" it's perfectly fine I assure you.

Positive thoughts

[LostinThought]

Thank you, Mark. I'm very sorry to hear about your cancer but I'm glad you managed to get it treated :)

[Pipkin]

What I should also have asked is whether you're getting help for your anxiety. It's fine to ask for reassurance about certain things now and then but, in the long run, it only feeds the anxiety. If your anxiety is true to form, your mind will now be busy looking for something else to worry about. Time to stop it..?

And thank you, I'm glad you like my signature. I like the poem but thought turning it around suited my optimistic nature a bit better!

Take care

Pip

[LostinThought]

Oh yes, I absolutely know full well what you mean. I am currently stuck in the whole asking for reassurance on everything stage, when I know really it will only make things worse as reassurance does not last very long.

I am going to book in some counseling at my university. They have a very respected psychotherapy school and I am optimistic that they will be able to help me. I don't think I could ever take anti-anxiety medication, as I mentioned, for the past few months I have been unable to take pills. I used to take a multivitamin every single day without fail, but then one day out of the blue I found that I couldn't. Very odd. My anxiety must have gotten the better of me and rewired my brain overnight. I'm just scared that one of my worst fears since childhood is going to come true: that I choke and cannot breathe.

[Pipkin]

Sounds like a good plan. One thing I would suggest is not to avoid taking pills altogether. I understand why you feel like you do but avoiding things can lead to anxiety getting stuck in a vicious circle. Your fears end up growing and you avoid more and more.

I'm not necessarily talking about anxiety meds, it applies to all tablets. Why not try pushing yourself and start taking your multivitamins again? Small steps and keep pushing yourself a little at time - you'll be surprised at what you can achieve when you put your mind to it.

Take care

Pip

[Daisy Sue]

You can get brufen in syrup form, much easier to cope with if you have a problem with tablets/capsules. It's orange flavour (probably made for kids) and I've taken it & it works just as well as tabs... you just have to take a bit more to get the adult dose.

Also there are various chewable vitamin tablets out there now... our family takes the Bassetts ones, just like jelly sweets :)