Trixieindixie & Y'all,
I agree with Michael -- all replies are basically correct. (And I am a MD doctor as well as a donor, Nicki.)
BTW, it is not necessary to
*never* take
*any* non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Some of use are old enough that we should take a baby aspirin (= 81 mg) a day to help prevent a stroke & heart attack.
However, certainly do not take a NSAID pain medicine for a prolonged period; limit to 3 days at a low dose sounds reasonable. Acetaminophen ("Tylenol") usually does as well as a NSAID for musculoskeletal pain and fever, but not for inflammation -- and does not cause the occasional kidney damage than prolonged NSAID use can do. (Because we have only 1 kidney, we need to protect it more than when we had 2.) Sometimes the best thing to do is simply to "grin-n-bear it."
BTW 2, many people who are born with one kidney (and do not know it) have close to the expected amount of functioning kidney mass as do people with 2 kidneys -- but their pre-kidney tissue in the early fetus did not split into 2 kidneys. It is not the number of kidneys, but the total amount of functioning kidney tissue, that is important.
BTW 3, I do not take decongestants because they tend to raise blood pressure. When I have a cold, I just "sneeze-n-wipe-n-bear it!"
Bill