Isn't Aleve (naproxen) proven to be more potent for reducing inflammation and pain?
Isn't Aleve (naproxen) proven to be more potent for reducing inflammation and pain?
No, it's not. It's just dosed differently. I guess it depends on what you mean by "potent."
This 800mg of Ibuprofen was just mentioned on the latest IronRadio podcast as well. The presenter on there (Phil Stevens) takes it once after heavy squat and powerlifting days.
I know 2 people who have a pretty strong alertly to NSAIDs so it does happen.
This is the study i saw a few years ago http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6373158
"Naproxen was superior to ibuprofen in relieving resting pain, movement pain, night pain and interference with daily activities. In the patients receiving ibuprofen first, all parameters showed a significant mean improvement after crossover to naproxen. Patients receiving naproxen first did not significantly improve further when crossed over to ibuprofen"
I can definitely anecdotally affirm these results; Aleve definitely feels more "potent" at reducing my aches and pains than Advil. But Aleve have given me more GI problems though...I thought that was the reason you withheld from recommending aleve over advil. Have you tried aleve in place of advil?
I assume the dose was adjusted to be equivalent. Individual responses to these types of medications vary considerably, so I don't know that it's possible to say with any degree of certainty that people respond better to naproxen than ibuprofen. I use naproxen very occasionally when I need an NSAID.
Naproxen is a more potent inhibitor of the COX enzymes so it can be dosed at a lower dose. It also has a longer half life so can be dosed twice a day. Roughly speaking, 2 naproxen 220 mg (200 actual mg as 20 is salt) twice a day is equal to the ibuprofen protocol of 800 mg four times a day. I don't know that any conclusive studies have been done regarding inferiority of one over the other. Naproxen is just a lot more convenient for me.