Type 2 and OTC pain killers

Erich H

New Member

Joined : Apr 2006

Posts : 1

Posted 7/2/2006 4:51 AM (GMT 0)

I'm a type two that has his Blood Sugar levels under control through exercise and diet. The exercise part of my plan features walking at the local high school track and working out at the local gym (La Fitness).

The other day after a really hard workout at the gym I noticed some joint pain in my right leg. The pain was enough to prevent me from going to sleep that night. My wife suggested I take Advill which is an OTC pain killer she has used in the past. Well, I took it and it worked as advertised. The pain was reduced and I was able to get asleep. The problem is the last two days I have had *very* high overnight fasting numbers. Friday I was 144 and Saturday is was 164 ... YIKES !!

Since I've been sticking to my diet, I can only assume something in the Advill kicked my numbers up. There is nothing on the label that says people with Diabeties shouldn't take this medicine.

The two questions I have are -

Has anyone else had a spike in the Blood Sugars after taking an OTC pain killer and are there any safe OTC pain killers I can take?

At the ripe old age of 49, pain after a gym workout is an unfortunate fact of life....

Thanks in advance.

Warren

Veteran Member

Joined : Oct 2005

Posts : 534

Posted 7/2/2006 4:48 PM (GMT 0)

Hi Erich,

Ok, Im going to take a guess here. High blood pressure, especially high blood pressure that doesn't dip overnight has been shown to cause high or "higher" blood sugar fasting numbers. Now, how is this significant to you? Well, longer term use of over the counter pain killers, especially advill have been known to cause hypertension. Im guessing that you may have been particularly sensitive to the advil and it may have caused an overnight rise in your BP which shot your fasting blood sugar up! Good news! Its only temporary. Stop the Advil and your BS should fall back into line.

This does not mean you cant take painkillers for the once in awhile pains that plague all of us. Just be aware that what happened to you on a temporary basis could be much more serious if you were to do that on a long term basis.

Anyway, its a guess at best, but it seems to fit the facts.

Warren

Jeannie143

Veteran Member

Joined : Apr 2004

Posts : 6071

Posted 7/3/2006 2:22 PM (GMT 0)

Erich,
You may want to revert to the simpler forms of pain killers, ie, aspirin or acetemetophen (tylenol) for pain relief. Aspirin should always be taken with milk or a few bites of food. Tylenol can eventually cause liver damage if you take too much (too many doeses at once) and take it for a very long time. If the joint pain is in the joint itself, aspirin it the recommended product. If the pain is in the muscle/tendon/ligament part then tylenol is recommeded. Taking aspirin for a pulled muscle can actually delay the healing process because aspirin increases bleeding time and enhances the bruising effect. Advil, ibruprophen, aleve, naproxin and the other heavy-duty anti-inflamatories cause an even bigger bruise effect and should not be used for muscle strains.

My physical therapist assistant's advice for simple pulled muscles is cold packs 10 minutes at a time for the first 24 hours (Frozen peas in a bag work really well!) and warm packs after that. The cold will relieve the pain naturally without meds and the heat will hasten healing and increase circulation. Just my 2¢.

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