[pct-l] Ibuprofen (Mountaingoat Fraser)

[dave encisco]

Hi Mistermountaingoat,

Just wanted to point out that bilateral stress fractures is very rare unless you're jumping from planes. You may want to get a blood calcium as well as an intact PTH (Parathyroid Hormone) test. Most people don't realize they have a parathyroid issue until they get kidney stones. Long distance backpackers and runners tend to discover it when they start to get stress fractures. Bilateral fractures can be an early sign of osteopenia or worse, osteoporosis.

I can tell you from experience. The same thing happened to me while doing a long trail from Slovenia to Austria. I never made it to Switzerland.

Wish you luck!
Dave

> ------------------------------
> Date: Sun, 4 Oct 2009 21:46:19 +1000
> From: Mountaingoat Fraser <mistermountaingoat at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Ibuprofen

> Very, very interesting. I was on 12 Vitamin I a day on my
> first ill-fated
> shot at the AT. Breakfast began with four of the buggers...
> I was later
> diagnosed as having stress fractures in both legs, and I'd
> been limping
> bravely on for about 200 miles until I bailed in mid-PA. I
> read on Ray
> Jardine's blog that on his latest AT thru-hike (this year)
> his total
> ibuprofin intake for the whole walk was...zero. I'm hoping
> to avoid the
> stuff as well next year, replacing it with an old folk
> remedy called
> Lightweight Hiking.