Grim consequences man suffered after taking 1,176 ibuprofen tablets in a month
It's easy to stifle your aches and pains with some good old ibuprofen, but they're only supposed to be used in moderation.
Taking too many can cause even more damage to your health and has some pretty dangerous consequences, like this bloke found out after taking a whopping 1,176 tablets in just one month.
You may be thinking that's enough ibuprofen to ease the pain of a herd of elephants, and you'd be just about right.
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The man, known only as SB, found out the hard way that the over-the-counter painkiller can be just as hazardous as any drug if taken in excess.
The 34-year-old was a keen runner, which obviously took a physical toll on his body and left him in a fair bit of pain.
He did what most people would do and took a few tablets to get rid of his soreness, but drastically misunderstood the guidance which explained what dose he should take.
SB began by popping seven ibuprofens over a 24-hour period and he felt like a new man - but he began relying on the medication far too much, seeing him swallowing numerous pills in one go.
He continued dosing himself but began to forget when he initially had taken the tablets, meaning he was sometimes consuming as many as 28 in a single day.
This continued for a couple of weeks until he swallowed another handful of ibuprofen and realised they didn't seem to go all the way down, as he complained that they felt 'stuck in his chest'.
SB brushed off his initial concerns despite then experiencing sharp chest pains and instead consumed even more tablets to remedy the new discomfort he was feeling.
By this point, he was tasting blood, vomiting blood, his stools were worryingly dark and he was barely able to urinate.
The bloke eventually took himself to hospital complaining of these symptoms on top of dizziness, aches and fatigue, but he still hadn't made the connection between his health woes and his high ibuprofen intake.
Doctors noticed he was incredibly pale, his blood pressure would drop when he stood up and that his heart rate was through the roof, before coming to the conclusion that he was experiencing haematemesis, which suggests a patient is bleeding internally and vomiting blood as a result.
Further tests revealed his excessive ibuprofen use had caused ulcers in his oesophagus and his stomach which had began to bleed, on top of the fact that his kidneys were failing.
In total, he'd scoffed down 1,176 in a single month, which left him needed urgent dialysis treatment to fix his kidneys as well as cauterisation to stop the bleeding - which thankfully, managed to work.
The exact damage to his body remains unknown, but SB did make a full recovery after his ibuprofen scare, which serves as a cautionary tale to the rest of us.
According to the NHS, you should always follow your doctor or pharmacist's advice and the instructions that come with your medicine.
Olivia Burke