Sitting here recovering from a cold, one of the wonderful symptoms of which was an earache that still hurt like the deepest depths of gehenna after both 3 aspirin AND 3 tylenol (but at least after those, my fever was only 100!) Throughout the duration I didn’t go over the recommended doses again, but constantly stayed on the maximum dose of both painkillers (for several days.)
Now, sitting here at my computer, with no pain or fever, and there’s something that I lack. Narcotic pain medication? Well, that would be nice, but that’s not quite it. Caffiene? Admittedly I’m trying to quit, but there must be some other reason for my headache? Aha, that’s it! And I pop a couple acetaminophen.
I looooove the way it makes my limbs all numb, so much that I wonder if there isn’t some sort of basal impulse that nociceptors generate into the brain, which acetaminophen takes away. Perhaps when you take away a constant dose of acetaminophen you are less tolerant to that and it is perceived as pain?
I’m not going to start a daily Tylenol habit, since I know it can lead to long-term liver problems (as well as possibly hearing loss,) even though I enjoy the numbness, but I wonder if I did, if long-term use of it will create less tolerance in the brain for any pain signals generated, thus leading to greater pain when not taking Acetaminophen and perhaps even leading to the perception of pain when there is no actual trauma?
How long does this tolerance last?