...popped 400 mg Ibuprofens just in case. It was a normal day so far. The next 30 min after that a tidal wave of pain started building from the foot, shin, hamstring and into the hip. It became unbearable until I found an awkward sideways, 45 deg slouched sitting position on my bed with my head leaning against the headboard. Any attempt to move a few inches or get flat on my side was met with a lot more pain. So I stayed crunched up there for 2 hours. I called a nurse hot line offered by our state's health care system. The RN didn't tell me anything I didn't know. She said give the Ibu's 48 hrs to do their job and I'd be ok. .....I sat around my ER room for over an hour before they finally gave me a Valium pill (I don't think it was Vicodin). Within 20-30 min of being medicated they took me in for hip Xrays without the med having done much yet. That was pretty painful, they got me to tears again for those 15 min. At about the 60-90 min point my hip was no longer in pain. They couldn't have waited another 15 min on those Xrays? The ER techs did their job, I can't fault them. That one pill they gave me allowed me to walk to the car, and go home 3-1/2 hrs after arrival. No further spasms or over-the-top pain.
What I can fault is why couldn't I get a single muscle relaxing/spasm killing pill from my doctor?
Welcome to the effects of Obozo-care. Remember that one? Costs will go down? You can keep your doctor? Better care? They're still changing the rules....years after that DISASTER was passed. Point made...moving on.
Re: Nurse...400mg and wait 48 HOURS for it to take effect???? That's insane. Even the OTC label says to take another dose "every four hours". How'd that standard, safe govn't answer work for you while you're in a lot of pain?
OTC ibuprofen is 200mg/pill. So you took 2. (Can't remember what Motrin used to be when it was prescription....600? or 800mg?) I've had my own issues with pain shooting down my leg, lower back spasms, hip pain, etc. over the years. What I learned and discussed with my doc., is that for some people it takes A LOT more mg. to have an effect. For me, I start with 6. That's 1200mg....every 4 hours. Further, I crush the tablets into a powder, dump it into my mouth, and wash it down with 10oz of water at least. Pulverizing it means it's absorbed MUCH FASTER.
You won't feel any results if you're undermedicating...period. I'm 6'4, 252#'s. Two may work for someone else, with a headache, but not for me. Alieve is the same. Taking the label dose did nothing. I started out a 2x and went up. For some people it just takes more.
One last thing, for some, non-steriodal anti-inflamatories (NSAID) like aspirin, ibuprofen, alieve cause stomach upset. If so, you're already out of luck. Luckily for me, they don't.
Next time you're in for a visit, ask your doctor about increasing the dose. Worked for me....