I don’t see an illegal or prescription only (depending state) and pricier alternative to remarkably safe and cheap nsaids as all that feasible. Especially of your talking about something usually used for chronic cancer pain.
Just follow the directions on the label. It was already known that you shouldn’t take large doses of ibuprofen for long periods of time due to the risk of gi damage. Which is lower than the risk of the same from aspirin and naproxen. And lower than the risk of liver damage from acetomenophen. These things aren’t typically strong enough to used to treat chronic pain to begin with. And they’re anti-inflatories rather than true pain killers.
I get the concern about legality. But I personally side strongly with CBD over NSAIDs with respect to safety: there’s a long and well-documented list of contraindications and side effects with the latter that range from annoying to lethal. Not so much for CBD (jail time and police encounters aside, naturally ).
It’s not that women’s hormonal systems are easily damaged. It’s that it’s fluctuation make testing take longer and controlling for variables more difficult.
Heavy and/or long-term NSAID usage can play havoc with the kidneys as well, causing chronic kidney disease - which can become part of a hypertension and congestive heart failure death spiral.
The impression I get is that it’s large doses of ibuprofen over long periods of time that are bad for the boys. Taking it once in a while for a headache shouldn’t be a problem.
My last trip to India I asked the hotel for melatonin. They mentioned they had a doctor on staff who would proscribe whatever to get it from the Indian Healthcare system. They asked me about 5 times if I wanted anything else–anything, wink wink–but I said no thank you just Melatonin.
Later I asked someone there where most guests come from. 80% from the USA.
I do take extra vitamin D, as my doctor friend thinks its the one vitamin that people actually don’t get enough of and actually seems to have some positive health effects.
Come to think of it, the large use of painkillers in the USA may be linked to the more widespread practice of violent sports in high school. The omly European I know who uses Ibuprofen routinely was a rugby player in high school. He learn to use it at the time.
For the record: I am writing this with a bad case of back pain and I find that heat and massages are more effective than generic painkillers. But maybe that is just me.
).