Mixing Ibuprofen (Advil) and Lithium
Unsafe
Ibuprofen can push lithium to toxic levels within days. Avoid this combination unless a prescriber is monitoring your levels.
NSAIDs reduce renal clearance of lithium and can push blood levels into the toxic range within days. Lithium has a narrow therapeutic window, so this combination should not be used without prescriber supervision and level monitoring.
The risk here is to the body — breathing, heart, temperature or organs. Set limits before you start, because this kind of harm does not announce itself in time to react.
Headspace vs physical riskWhat to do
- Say what was taken and how much.Responders need it, and in most US states Good Samaritan laws protect both of you from drug possession charges when you call for an overdose.
- Unresponsive: put them on their side, tilt the head back, and stay until help arrives.Never leave someone alone to “sleep it off”.
- Never Use Alone 1-800-484-3731Stays on the line and sends help if you stop responding.
- Full steps: what to do if it is already happeningOverdose signs, the recovery position, what to say on the call, and whether you can be charged for making it.
- Poison Control 1-800-222-1222Free and 24/7, for “is this bad?” before it becomes an emergency.
Can you mix Ibuprofen (Advil) and Lithium?
MixSafe rates mixing Ibuprofen and Lithium as "Unsafe" — risk of serious physical or psychological harm. Not recommended under any circumstances. Source: MixSafe research. Educational information, not medical advice.
- Ibuprofen also called
- advil, motrin, nurofen, nsaid, nsaids, naproxen
- Lithium also called
- lithium carbonate, lithobid, mood stabilizer
- Ibuprofen and Alcohol: Is it Safe to Mix NSAIDs and Alcohol? https://alcohol.org/mixing-with/nonsteroidal-anti-inflammatory/
- Mixing NSAIDs with alcohol. GoodRx. https://www.goodrx.com/classes/nsaids/mixing-with-alcohol
- Ibuprofen interactions to avoid. SingleCare. https://www.singlecare.com/blog/ibuprofen-interactions/
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Checking more than two?
Combinations of three or more carry risks that no pair-by-pair chart can show. The checker rates every pair at once and flags the whole-mix ones on top.
Open this in the checkerRelated combinations
All combinations →Rated unsafe. Educational information only, not medical advice. Absence of a documented interaction is not evidence of safety.