yeah a muesli bar should be fine! it just has to be something. like sometimes I’ll just take it with two crackers, or a half a glass of milk, or a slice of plain toast…so a whole muesli bar is more than enough as far as I’m aware 💛

long time use of ibuprofen isn’t ideal, and docs are always going to try and get you off of it at some point. if you have access to a doc and can ask them about slow release …it’s called mobic or meloxicam here, that is an antinflamatory you can take once a day for full time coverage. it’s still hard on the gut, but at least you know you’re not taking several pills a day. I don’t know if you need to have chronic pain to get the prescription but I feel like if you’re going to be taking ibuprofin for a while, it might be worth asking?

osteopanadol (or osteoparacetamol, which you get over the counter here, and I feel like that might be the case everywhere) is also great, because that’s slow release as well. these slow release painkillers are great because it means you aren’t having peaks and troughs throughout the day and have a more even pain coverage. you also have to take them less often (I take the mobic once a day and the osteopanadol three times a day)

the other thing my medications specialist advises is to give yourself two days off once in a while, which I end up doing maybe once every month or two months? but I should probably do it more often

honestly I only have ever had any real gut issues with ibuprofin when I was young and stupid and drinking a huge amount of coke and taking ibuprofen dry back in the day when chronic headaches were my biggest issue. I ended up getting a brutal ulcer and it was awful, which is why I go on about taking it properly so often haha. but since taking it right, I haven’t had any visible issues yet, thankfully.