New ibuprofen warning as painkiller linked to hormone changes

New ibuprofen warning as painkiller linked to hormone changes Studies looked at the impact of common painkiller on men and women Anyone who regularly takes a common over-the-counter painkiller has been warned it could have serious side effects. Ibuprofen is one of the UK's most commonly taken painkillers as s ome people take it every day for weeks or months without thinking of themselves as regular medicine users. Regular ibuprofen use has been linked to changes in male reproductive hormones, while a separate study of sister NSAIDs found temporary effects on ovulation and progesterone in women. Both can be missed because the person taking the tablets may not feel an obvious change, according to Mike Kocsis, founder of Balance My Hormones. A US study found young men given the maximum daily amount of ibuprofen for six weeks saw a rise in t heir luteinising hormone (LH) while the testosterone-to-LH ratio fell, a state the paper called compensated hypogonadism. Mr Kocsis said : “Compensated hypogonadism means the testes are underperforming, but testosterone can still look normal because the brain is pushing the system harder to hold it steady. "The worrying part is not that hormone levels crashed. It is that they stayed normal because the body was masking the problem by pushing harder, which is exactly why a regular user would never feel it happening. A system forced to compensate long term has less in reserve.” A separate randomised clinical study with women tested diclofenac, naproxen and etoricoxib, painkillers from the same NSAID family, taken continuously for 10 days in the middle of the cycle. It tested sister drugs, not ibuprofen itself. Ovulation was drastically reduced, by about 93 per cent with diclofenac and about 75 per cent with naproxen. Progesterone fell significantly. Ovulation returned to normal after stopping. Mr Kocsis said: “Ovulation is a hormonal event, and blocking the prostaglandins that trigger it can scramble the cycle's hormone pattern while the drugs are being taken. Ibuprofen works through the same prostaglandin-blocking mechanism, which is why the issue is relevant to women too.” Standard NHS medicines guidance generally cautions against NSAIDs for women trying to conceive and during pregnancy, although the exact advice depends on the specific drug and stage of pregnancy. Mr Kocsis said: “An occasional dose for a headache or a strain is not the issue, and nobody should panic about normal use. Never stop a prescribed anti-inflammatory without speaking to the prescriber. Paracetamol is an alternative for many everyday aches where it is suitable. Anyone relying on ibuprofen daily should mention it to a pharmacist or GP. Anyone worried about symptoms of low testosterone or cycle problems should get hormone levels properly tested rather than guessing.”