Be careful when you take painkillers with aspirin

Taking aspirin and ibuprofen together will affect the ability of the aspirin to work in your body. — dpa

Aspirin is a blood-thinning medicine that is taken in low doses on a permanent basis by many people with cardiovascular or heart disease.

If you also need the painkiller ibuprofen from time to time, you need to take aspirin half an hour before or eight hours after the ibuprofen, pharmacists say.

Otherwise, the aspirin may not work.

However, there are also aspirin preparations that only dissolve later in the body, meaning the time interval won’t work in the same way if you are on this type of aspirin.

So if you need small amounts of aspirin for long-term therapy, always seek advice from a doctor when buying other medicines.

Generally speaking, painkillers are not harmless, even though many of them are available without a prescription over the counter.

If taken in large quantities or over a long period of time, they can cause permanent headaches or damage the liver and kidneys, Germany’s association of pharmacists (BAK) warns.

These include drugs with active ingredients such as aspirin, ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen and paracetamol.

They should therefore not be taken more than 10 times a month without medical advice and for no longer than three consecutive days. – dpa