Ibuprofen is a common pain reliever used for everything from headaches to strained muscles. While it might seem like a good idea to relieve pain with ibuprofen and relax with a glass of wine or a cold beer, it’s best to keep alcohol and ibuprofen separate.
That’s because mixing ibuprofen and alcohol can increase your risk for side effects like an upset stomach or drowsiness.
Here’s more on what may happen if you mix ibuprofen and alcohol and how long you should wait to safely take one after the other.
5 effects of mixing ibuprofen and alcohol
1. Stomach upset
Ibuprofen and alcohol can both inflame the lining of the stomach, which leads to an upset stomach known as gastritis. Therefore, using both at once may amplify this effect.
2. Stomach ulcers
Ibuprofen and other NSAID medications can increase the risk for stomach ulcers and stomach bleeding. The risk of this is higher for people who have at least three drinks a day.
If you drink daily and are taking NSAIDs, it’s likely both substances are in your system at the same time, which may increase the risk for stomach ulcers.
3. Drowsiness
Alcohol can cause drowsiness and, in rare cases, ibuprofen can too.
When taking both at the same time it is possible that the drowsiness would be worse,” says Conroy.
Drunk driving and drowsy driving are already major causes of traffic accidents. It’s possible that adding ibuprofen to the mix could increase your risk.
4. Heart attack and stroke
People who take ibuprofen and other NSAIDs regularly are more likely to experience heart attack and stroke, compared with people who don’t take these medications.
The risk is even greater for people who drink more than three drinks a day while also taking ibuprofen.
5. Kidney dysfunction
Ibuprofen, and other NSAIDs, reduce the production of prostaglandins, which help control blood flow to the kidney. As a result, there’s a decrease in blood flow to the kidneys, which can affect how they filter out other substances, including alcohol.
How long after drinking alcohol can I take ibuprofen?
Alcohol can stay in your system for about 25 hours. Because of that, recommends waiting at least 24 hours after drinking before you take ibuprofen.
However, if you binge drink often or have a condition like liver disease that causes you to process alcohol more slowly, alcohol can stay in your system even longer.
Moreover, women and people over the age of 65 metabolize alcohol more slowly, so it will stay in their system for longer.
So, it’s best to talk to your doctor about your specific situation and how soon after drinking it would be safe to take ibuprofen.
How long after taking ibuprofen can I drink alcohol?
The pain relief from ibuprofen only lasts 4-6 hours. However, its half-life is 1.8-2 hours, meaning it will take your body roughly 10 hours to break the drug down to a miniscule amount. During that time, you should avoid alcohol.
You don’t want to risk any gastrointestinal distress or other issues, so it’s best to let your body remove the ibuprofen from your system entirely before having a few drinks.
Post time: Sep-23-2022