Benefits of popping a pill before a race don't outweigh risks, experts say
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comCommon pain meds can put you in a world of hurt
Seeded on Sun Oct 17, 2010 1:18 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
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I'm surprised that so many athletes, who should know better and have excellent nutritional and medical counseling do this. Take a natural enzyme (Wobenzyme has been proven in studies to be an effective anti-inflammatory). Clearly that would seem to be healthier.
I fail to see how a "natural enzyme" would be healthier by virtue of it being more "natural". Aspirin is simply the active ingredient in the plants that people had used as pain relief for centuries. Perhaps this Wobenenzyme you speak of would be better but I think this article illustrates how one should be careful ingesting any drug while simultaneously putting your body through extreme stress. Furthermore, I am more comfortable taking drugs that have a known mechanism and have been shown to be safe for most people, most of the time when used correctly.
I have high cholesterol and tried statins, several Rx types and they all gave me severe muscle pain. My Doc suggested Red Yeast Rice which has natural statins...ouch, they were worse than the Rx types. I also can't take Lopid for triglycerides. I did't know about the myalgia until an FDA warning for Zocor and Lopid and a not too common but fatal reaction. I was well in the danger zone at the dosages I was taking. So I got a prescription for Lovaza. $164.00 for a months supply of fish oil. I should have looked at the price and the EPA and DHA amounts. I now buy Sam's Club triple strength fish oil at $18.84 for a months supply.
Anyway, my point is that "NATURAL" can be worse than Rx.
Emily, actually Aspirin is Salycylic acid, and comes from the bark of willow trees. Plato wrote about people chewing on willow bark for the relief of aches and pains.
The natural can be more harmful than prescription, simply because of regulated dosage. We know that 10mg is 10mg, whereas not much research has been done into how much is in a teaspoon of milk thistle. Further, a medical doctor has undergone much training regarding medicines, whereas herbal practitioners may have not, and are largely unregulated by the FDA. In addition, there are reactions. There is a field test for plant-intolerance and reactions that can be done at home. Get some of the herb, wet it, and rub it on your wrist. Wait a few hours and if it raises welts, or turns the skin red (not plant dye, but reaction red), don't take it. This is not all-inclusive, so if you still aren't sure, begin using the herb in tiny amounts, and see how you do. First, place some on your tongue, and bite it. If your tongue turns numb, or blisters, or you feel pain, discontinue use. If no ill effects, you may increase in small amounts until you reach the desired quantity. HOWEVER....
In that natural, plant-based supplements ARE largely unregulated by the FDA, and there is no government oversight, there is good chance what you are paying for has all the benefit of dirt. Dateline does studies on the industry, and has produced some signifigant, uncontested findings.
Levi - Actually, considerable research has been done into the amount of various chemicals in natural herbs and other plant products. In many cases the natural is better for you because it contains a host of other elements that help the main active ingredient work better or help offset negative aspects. A prime example of this is in the use of marijuana for pain as opposed to chemical manufactured THC. The natural product contains numerous things beside the main THC component that makes the natural product far more effective. The same holds true for many other natural products. The key is to buy the products from well regarded, reliable sources that control not only what herbs they use, but the source as well. The same herb from different suppliers can have widely varying effects. An example is algae products. algae that is sourced from natural, cold, deep water sources is far better than the cheaper mass produced versions. Another example is in the currently popular fish oils. The cheap fish oils do not contain anywhere near the health benefits of the higher end brands that use better sources for their fish oils. Generally, the lower down the food chain that the oil is sourced, the better it is for you from a health perspective. Of course the source location is also important as you want it t come from natural sources that are not subject to high levels of pollution. The cheaper versions of the natural products that you find in a lot of supermarkets and large health food chains are not as effective as the premium brands that use the higher quality sources. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for.
There is currently a push to regulate the supplement market and I think it s only a matter of time before that happens. One thing to watch for when looking at the advertisements for health food products is where the web site is based. If the site is based in the US, any claims they make as to the benefits of the product are regulated by the FDA. If the site is offshore (many in places like Costa Rica) are not regulated and will make claims that can not be substantiated.
JS, I'm confused. Okay, if research has been done, who did the research? Was it independant? Was it conducted by a reputable lab? Is there oversight to ensure that the high end, closer-to-the-source variety of a substance is being used, and not what's left on the factory floor? Just because the literature and the talking heads say it's true, is it really? And what if we find out that claims were embellished? The supplement industry has some serious problems. If a company touts it's product as coming from the higher, best quality source, the product is priced out of reach for the typical consumer, and the Walmart brand supplements are priced low enough for the poor and ignorant among us. Natural selection in action? How many months at $90 a month must someone take a supplement before they know if it actually works, or not? And the fact is, if it doesn't, or there's some nasty side-effect, there's no recourse, no refund.
You're saying that claims made on the bottle have to be true, if the product is processed in the US. Would it be safe to say that the adverstisements make the claims for, say, a weightloss supplement, but on the bottle the only words are "antioxidant"? I think the whole thing is chasing after a youth that's slipping away, and supplement companies are getting rich off of it. Their distributors convince us we need it, can't live without it, and scare us into buying their stuff when what we really need to do is put down the Twinkie, turn off the tv, and go play outside. I take a B-multi pill, and it turns my pee yellow. Did I buy a bottle full of yellow dye? Is the fact that I feel stronger when I take it faithfully due largely to me thinking I must feel stronger and have more energy because I'm taking the pill? I can do research to see what helps me, and wend my way through the countless "snake-oil" ads, and educate myself. This doesn't mean that, after all that, I'll get what I pay for. Or I won't get what I think I'm paying for, but something else. Besides, who wants to live forever? At least not here.
By the way, did you watch the documentary on GE Foods, and Monsanto, the makers of RoundUp herbicide, and how they are suing farmers for exhorbitant sums, with the court's approval? Say for example, a truck rolls by on a roadway, carrying Genetically Engineered wheat seeds, manufactured by Monsanto. Some of the wheat falls out of the truck, and blows into a wheat field owned by a local farmer. The wheat grows. If Monsanto learns that there is their brand of GE wheat growing on a field, they go into that field and take samples. If they find it to be true, the farmer must pay Monsanto for the wheat in the field. All of it. The only way around it is to test EACH PLANT to determine if it is Monsanto's wheat or not. Farmer's are settling out of court for tens of thousands of dollars. We saw the documentary on HBO. It is absolutely outrageous, and we aren't buying Monsanto products any longer.
I take hydrocodone on a fairly regular basis for pain. It contains acetomenophen and an opiate. I also take Tylenol Arthritis strength. I am carefule to take no more then the 1 gram at a time in a 4 hour span and no more than 4 grams a day. I take the Tylenol in the morning and then 8 hours later. I never start the day with hydrocodone regardless of how much pain I have. I can often work through the pain once I get started. When I have stopped work for the day, I will consider taking the hydrocodone but I prefer to wait until bedtime. Getting to sleep with a lot of pain is very difficult if not impossible. I usually wait 20 minutes after laying down to see if relaxing relieves the pain, if not, I take the hydrocodone. If I go to sleep without pain, I usually wake without pain; at least until I get up.
I would never consider taking hydrocodone so I could work harder. What would I do for the pain after I finished working? I have also been taking Etodolac, an NSAID. After reading the article I think I will stop and see how I do without it. I take Plavix and aspirin for a stent I got and I don't think I should be mixing them with the Etodolac either. I have been having some gastric trouble.
Bottom line is to take the least amount of pills I can get away with. The body usually does best on its own.
Hmm, good to know. :)
(lawyer muttering softly in background) Follow label directions.
Your doctor will thank you. Your undertaker, not so much ...
Pain is important. It tells your body to stop or you will be hurt more. To mask it in cases where you are pushing your body so hard is very stupid.
Imagine if you don't feel pain, but put your hand into a fire.
Usually that's true. It's not always true if the pain is caused by nerve damage. Of course you want to make sure you know what caused the nerve damage in the first place and fix that if you can, but sometimes you are left with pain that you simply can't get rid of.
I can see how it makes people want to over take medication. I can also see how someone of what I would call an overly determined sense to succeed could be tempted to over medicate themselves. That doesn't mean they should. This story is a very good reason why you shouldn't.
The manufacturer's recommended dosage level for pain relief with ibuprofen is 800 mgm every eight hours. They reduced the dosage to get it approved OTC, and as soon as their patent ran out the race was on (no pun intended).
NSAIDS have been touted for the relief of every pain known to man, pretty much regardless of its origin. Now that they are OTC, they are treated with little/no respect, with people popping them like Tic Tacs. The truth is, they are effective for the inflammation of ACUTE injuries caused by the trauma to the tissue, at least to some degree. It's debatable whether the benefit outweighs the risk, even at less than "therapeutic" dosages.
They are not and never were intended to be used for the long term, despite the fact that some docs, even in the face of overwhelming proof that they are in fact dangerous drugs, prescribe them like, well, Tic Tacs. I'd laugh if it weren't so sad. They also prescribe them inappropriately, in an effort to never prescribe narcotics because of the negative press (not to mention the negative effect on their practice if the DEA thinks they are a bit too generous) of prescribing them.
The sad reality is, we live longer. As we age, things wear out. When they do, it hurts. That's our body's signal to us that all is not right with our world. The logical progression is that there are more and more people every day who are in legitimate pain, need legitimate treatment, and are being denied it. Further, they are being denied it for longer periods, because they live longer.
NSAIDS are not legitimate treatment for long term pain. Are not, never have been, probably never will be. Further, I can pull up thirty studies, legitimate, double blind, well conducted studies, that demonstrate that Synvisc, vertebroplasty, and other invasive treatments DO NOT give any better relief than a sham procedure, or, in the case of Synvisc, if they do, it is equal only to the relief provided by NSAIDS. Synvisc is around $700. That will buy a very large pile of ibuprofen tablets....and in 4-6 months, you're going to have to get another dose of the Synvisc at ANOTHER $700 pop, which even with Medicare is still going to cost you at least $210 over and above the office visit, procedure cost, etc. (For clarification, I'm using Synvisc specifically because it is the best known of a group of like products, to which the same info applies. This is not a condemnation of a specific drug but rather a realistic look at how and how well they work.)
Honestly, my genetic background is that I will probably not live to 70. I am 61, and knowing what I do, I'm fine with that. It's quality of life that, in the final analysis, makes the effort of breathing worth the trouble. I cannot and never have seen the logic in living to 90 when you're pretty much guaranteed to be in some degree of frequent if not constant pain the last 20 or 30 of those years.
And before you ask, no, I'm not depressed, I'm simply realistic.
Well said and to the point. I couldn't agree more.
"After winning a 24-hour track run in record time, ..."
So how do you win a 24-hour race in record time?
I've been a runner for 40 years.
I've had pain everywhere in my body and I know that Advil should be used with extreme caution. I only use it to reduce swelling after a body part has been strained or injured from running.I take one 200 mg pill and that's all. No more.
The dangers of NSAIDS should be common knowledge among runners.
People think that just because a medicine is OTC, the sky's the limit.
Many OTC meds are extremely dangerous.
To make matters worse , the prescribing limits on Advil are way way too high for safety.
I came close to totally trashing my kidneys and I was a nurse at the time and had been one for many years. I'd given many,many doses of motrin and had never seen an MD's order to push or encourage fluids on a patient taking Motrin. An orthopedic spealist told me that I was doing "exactlywhat you need to do", taking 600 MG of Mortin a day for arthritic back pain, With no mention of fluid intake. Fortunately my PCP did labs every 6 months so I had dammage but not total loss of function. I lost a lot of Tubule Cells and they don't regenerate so now I take good care of my kidneys and tell anyone who'll listen to drink extra water if they're using that drug.
stupid is as stupid does.
Hey, if these people are using drugs, even over the counter types, should they also be disqualified?
If this individual WON a victory, while on drugs, it would seem to me, that this was an ill gotten gain, therefore not countable as a TRUE VICTORY.
I think they should remove her record as TAINTED and disqualify her from EVER competing again. She CHEATED! Pure and simple.
You should try running for 24 hours straight and then say that.
read. read the label. do not exceed recommended dosages unless on the direction of a physician.
how hard is that?
the article is excellent, however, is that acetaminophen or APAP can cause liver damaged even at recommended dosages because it can interact not only with alcohol but with other meds that may contain APAP or that compete with enzymes in the liver that detoxify ApAP etc.; pain is telling the runner not to run!! taking 12 MOTRINS , ESPECIALLY if at Rx strength is not a good idea at all. people use meds with impunity, that is especially true with athletes. As an MD I've see too many complications from drug overuse. athletes need to be told this with graphic examples repeatedly.
I can't believe the lady in this story took 12 ibuprofen pills. Where was her common sense, which of course, she wouldn't even have needed if she would've read the label. Twelve pills exceeds the maximum daily dosage even if each dose was taken hours apart. Twelve Pills? I have a stomach ache just thinking about it!
Actually, 12 OTC ibuprofen is exactly what the manufacturers recommend as a pain relieving dose of non-OTC ibuprofen. It's 2400 mgm. per 24 hours, either way, whether you take it in three doses in that 24 hours or some other way. Now if THAT doesn't make you stop and think, nothing will.
Aside from that, people who take them for inappropriate reasons, which is ANYTHING except for swelling and inflammation from AN ACUTE INJURY find that they really don't work worth crap and therefore tend to bump the dose up. Why not? After all, it's OTC so it must be safe. And again after all, there's no big black box ON the box, right?
I stand corrected, Retired RN-439841. Like you said, though, It needs to be taken for the right reasons, and obviously these weren't the right reasons. To take that much and then push your body so hard is asking for trouble! Also, this 2400 mg. dose would require a doctor's approval, and any doctor would've told her not to take it for the reasons that she did. The box does say not to exceed 6 tablets in 24 hours, so anything more is prescription strength. Thanks for the info!
Oh, and for those of you who think they'll stick to aspirin because, after all, it's natural LOL....not only will it eat a hole in your gut, but it will make you bleed longer when that hole springs a leak, AND if you overdo it, you may well go deaf. The deafness is transient. Bleeding out, well, that has some far reaching implications and if you're not fond of transfusions and a great big tube down your nose into your stomach I'd advise avoiding it. Of course, the transfusions and tube can happen with the other NSAIDS as well.
12 ibuprofen pills she'd taken during the 24-hour race < If you need this many pills to complete a race then you aren't in good enough condition for the race. So much for "natural talent".
Agreed!
Absolutely!!, If you have take that many before and during the race, that should of been an obvious sign to stop or never start. What was she going to do when she was done and really hurting take morphine?
I would like to see you run that long. There are many ultra-runners that take Ibuprofen when they race. It has nothing to do with being in shape, when you run 50-100 miles or for 24 hours straight it is amazing how much joint pain you can start to have. Maybe you should save your judgment for something you have experience with.
Heh, NASAIDs ruin blood flow in joint cartilage and cause the very reasons for taking them. Want your knee joints to go, take pain killers. Then you WILL know what real pain is.
I have been running competitively for 50 years, and have done many, many marathons and Ironman races. In my experience, no good comes from trying to block pain or discomfort. Either continue and deal with it or stop. Otherwise, you are NOT LISTENING TO YOUR BODY and no good can come from that. Masking pain is a bad idea, and knowing what that might do to your stomach or liver makes it even worse.
That's what she gets for not listening to her body. Sad thing is, she'll probably be back at it in 3 days. Oh well.
Um. Whoever wrote this article needs to get their facts straight. A runner has rhabdomyalisis. Duh. That comes from running the marathon. It's muscle breakdown. Yes, rhabdo can cause kidney failure. Overuse of NSAIDS can cause kidney failure too. But-The Ibuprofen didn't cause the rhabdo, the marathon did. Where's your editors folks?
Just eat some opium before you run. It's the natural pain killer.
My life insurance policy was rejected after a blood test determined that I had elevated levels of protein in my blood. My doctor diagnosed me with rhabdomyalisis. What was I doing at the time? Training for an Ultra, and taking NSAIDS for after training pain/swelling relief.
Every recent race packet I have received before a race has a warning in there that runners shouldn't be taking NSAIDs at least 24 hours prior to a race, and you should not take any until after you know your kidneys are functioning again after the race (ie: you go to the bathroom). This has been drilled in my head for as long as I've been running. It's sad that some people haven't heard of this problem yet. I'd rather run through the pain and discomfort than put my life on the line.
pain is good, it lets your body know it is still alive...