Image description: A bottle of Ibuprofen containing 1000 tablets.
(Originally published earlier today on mastodon.social)
this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
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You can’t buy more than 10 at a time here unless you have a prescription… On the plus side, you can almost get them for free if you do have a prescription
Why?
I hope nobody over there has regular headaches, or works construction.
You can get them if you have a prescription so if the doctor seems a good reason, there is no problem. Note that its free to visit the doctor and free to get a prescription. Also prescribed medication is cheaper than over the counter medication even if it is the same medication. The state helps cover the cost of prescribed medications.
That said, it's better to fight the cause of the pain instead of the pain, You can also get physiotherapy prescribed or other treatment that will help against whatever is hurting.
Also construction work is often very safe and protected both by education and insurance due to unions. Although its hard work it is often strongly regulated and controlled to follow rules that will protect workers from getting hurt or worn out
You sound like you are from some kind of ultra based future society
It’s sad isn’t it?
Yeah
Damn, so do women get automatic prescriptions then? Period cramps are no joke! It would suck to have to keep buying those at 10 at a time endlessly. How often do you have to see the doctor to renew the script? Because that’s also a time suck.
No automatic prescriptions based on gender. Only if there is a need for them. If the doctor deems painkillers necessary though, then yes. Often they will work on finding a solution that helps minimize pain instead of treating the pain. That said, most people do just fine with 10 pieces at a time. You can buy them everywhere so it’s not difficult to get some of you need them.
Prescriptions can be “chronic” so they don’t run out or limited. You can have it renewed when it expires though. You can do this on an app (or phone call) and your doctor will evaluate and my extend the prescription.
In fact, they pretty much do, yes. Just got to ask the doctor during a regular visit. Do not that I’m Brazilian, not European, but Brazil is essentially a fusion of Portugal and Italy.
Most women I know (including myself) aren’t in excruciating agony for the entire time they’re bleeding. But admittedly there’s always the occasional one that’s way worse than usual, and sometimes I’ll go through a whole box of 16 ibuprofen during the week.
In which case we just…add a new box onto the shopping delivery for a few pence? It’s not like it’s some kind of major hassle, it’s just one more click on the weekly shop, and we tend to always keep a spare box around just in case of emergencies.
In the UK you get them in boxes of 16 and you can buy 2 boxes at a time.
I assume the amount required to overdose and die is quite a bit higher than that.
Please do not overdose on Ibuprofen. It'll take a week and it's going to hurt 9/10 the whole time.
Or longer. My aunt was diagnosed with failing kidneys, but the doc's were having difficulty understanding why. She'd never had a problem with diabetes or the usual causes. Then she explained how she'd been covering up her back pain for years using pain meds.
Now she's having dialysis sessions a couple times a week. Doc gives her a few more years of this, unless some miracle occurs and she finds a replacement kidney. Miserable way to go.
What kind of doses was she taking?
Ask her, and she’d shrug. Whatever was enough to make the pain go away. She’d had back problems for years, too. It’s gotta add up over time.
Damn. That sucks. I’m taking it as a cautionary tale as I have a tendency to take more ibuprofen than I should. Thanks for sharing
That sounds more like a paracetamol O/D. NSAIDs hit your stomach something harsh.
At least you won't have a headache
I don’t think the concern is due to the risk of death but to prevent addiction and overuse.
Ibuprofen is not good for kidneys and can also affect bone growth and regeneration (if remember right)
No the limitation on how much you can buy is very much to prevent deliberate overdose or attempted overdose.
Ibuprofen is hard to overdose to the point of fatality, but other drugs are already limited (like Paracetamol) and if Ibuprofen wasn’t limited people could try that and end up causing huge damage to their bodies even if they don’t kill themselves.
The law limits how many packets people can buy in one transaction. There is no way to stop people going multiple stores to stockpile or to keep buying them every two weeks. It’s not effective at combating dependence.
It’s really not really aimed to preventing people overusing the medications. It’s just a way to try and prevent impulsive mass purchase with the aim of suicide attempts. And it does work on a population scale at reducing harm.
For example the classic ED attender of a young girl who impulsively take 2 packets of paracetamol as a cry for help is well served by this law.
Edit: worth emphasising too - you can get many more in one go on prescription. This is very much about over the counter purchasing.
Ibuprofen is habit forming?
Any painkiller can be.
I never really thought about it like that but it makes sense if the pain is chronic.
In that not being in pain is habit forming, I suppose, but ibuprofen does not cause dependence like opioids.
It works by reducing inflammation to control pain, not blocking us from feeling it.
Also liver damage and platelet dysfunction (stops blood clotting)!