Top Ten Reasons Not to Buy Motrin

Reason Number Ten: Motrin is expensive. It all depends on where you live and where you shop, but I have found that Motrin costs between $8.00 and $9.00 for 100 of the 200 mg tablets. And to be quite honest, I don’t see why it needs to cost so much. It only has one active ingredient, not a magic blend.

Reason Number Nine: Motrin is an NSAID (Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory drug) which can cause stomach bleeding. The carton and the insert are both covered with warnings about how it can cause severe stomach bleeding, especially in older people (who often have need of pain relievers). Your risk is higher if you take blood thinners. It is also higher if you have three or more alcoholic drinks a day. And it is higher if you take any other NSAID product, such as aspirin, naproxen, or ibuprofen, according to the label.

Reason Number Eight: Motrin can cause severe allergic reactions such as asthma hives, and shock. You are also supposed to be carefully monitored if you have any of a whole host of medical conditions including poorly controlled diabetes, dehydration, serious heart problems, swelling of the hands, feet, or ankles, high blood pressure, history of stroke, blood clotting problems, stomach or bowel problems (such as bleeding or ulcers), history of tobacco use or alcohol use, kidney problems, liver problems, blood or bleeding problems, asthma, nasal polyps, any allergies (especially history of angioedema with symptoms of lip, tongue, throat swelling), pregnancy, or breast-feeding. That’s a bunch!

Reason Number Seven: It can cause serious stomach upset, which seems reasonable if you consider that persons taking Motrin are at increased risk for bleeding stomach ulcers, also other kinds of bleeding in the stomach and bowel. The pharmacist I spoke to suggested taking Motrin with food or milk if it has caused any digestive upset, a common side effect. But he also said that even if the food prevents stomach upset, it may not prevent stomach bleeding. Sounds pretty upsetting to me . . .

Reason Number Six: Long term use of it can increase the risk of heart attack or stroke. And apparently this is not a casual risk, but a fairly significant one, especially in people already at risk for these conditions. That’s enough to give me a headache, not cure one!

Reason Number Five: Motrin can cause problems with delivery if taken during the last three months of pregnancy. Things like bleeding to death during delivery, for one. Ouch!

Reason Number Four: It can also cause problems with the unborn baby if taken during the last three months of pregnancy. One warning found on an online pharmacy’s Motrin/Ibuprofen page says this product has been linked to fetal and newborn death! They don’t tell you THAT in the commercials.

Reason Number Three: It does not do a good job of relieving some types of pain, at least for some people. I have tried Motrin more than once to relieve a headache and was never able to tell I had even taken it. The pain went on and on, until I took some Tylenol.

Reason Number Two: Motrin has a whole bunch of additives that don’t do anything to help with your pain – they call them Inactive Ingredients, just there to make the tablet look and feel better. Things like Carnauba wax, corn starch, FD&C Yellow #6, hypromellose, iron oxide, polydextrose, polyethylene glycol, silicon dioxide, stearic acid, titanium dioxide. Do you really need all that stuff?

Reason Number One: If you really MUST use ibuprofen, the only active ingredient in Motrin, why not just buy the generic version? You get the same active ingredient for far less than the cost of the brand name stuff. I have gotten generic ibuprofen at my local super center store for under $5.00 for 200 tablets. That’s almost a quarter of the cost of the Motrin. If you do decide to use ibuprofen, go for the generic. The only difference with Motrin is the advertising. Who needs it? Your pain won’t know the difference!