# Drinking and pain medication **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-and-pain-medication/301726 "2005-04-29T15:57:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlippyFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FlippyFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlippyFly)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-and-pain-medication/301726/1 "2005-04-29T15:57:20Z")
What is my safest option to take care of a headache AND drink beer? Beer + Acetametaphine Beer + Ibuprofen Beer + Aspirin I seem to remember that one (if not all) of these combo’s are bad, but I don’t remember which one. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-and-pain-medication/301726/2 "2005-04-29T16:10:08Z")
Acetametaphine is the one you are thinking of - it is widely said that because both alcohol and Acetametaphine (paracetamol in the UK) are bad for the liver, then the combination is not a Good Thing. Odd thing is, I jsut googled for a link, and the link I found seems to cast some doubt on this. > **[Paracetamol, alcohol and the liver - PubMed](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10759684/?dopt=Abstract)** > > It is claimed that chronic alcoholics are at increased risk of paracetamol (acetaminophen) hepatotoxicity not only following overdosage but also with its therapeutic use. Increased susceptibility is supposed to be due to induction of liver microsomal... However, I think I’ll continue to avoid that combination. I simply do not have anything like the knowledge needed to assess differing reports. Enjoy your beer! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-and-pain-medication/301726/3 "2005-04-29T16:58:32Z")
Well, your best option is not to drink while taking meds. Acetametaphine and alcohol can do serious damage to your liver, ibuprofen and aspirin (and other NSAID) can cause bleeding, more so with aspirine since it’s also a blood thinner. Oddsa re a beer or two with a few pills won’t do any harm, but why take that chance\> Is having a beer really that important to you? And if it is, then you might have a problem more serious than just a headache… ---
**Author:** ![FlippyFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FlippyFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlippyFly)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-and-pain-medication/301726/4 "2005-04-29T17:03:04Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Well, your best option is not to drink while taking meds. Acetametaphine and alcohol can do serious damage to your liver, ibuprofen and aspirin (and other NSAID) can cause bleeding, more so with aspirine since it’s also a blood thinner. Oddsa re a beer or two with a few pills won’t do any harm, but why take that chance\> Is having a beer really that important to you? And if it is, then you might have a problem more serious than just a headache… I appreciate your concern. I think that I will probably just not take the pain medication, but I figured it was something good to know anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Nunavut\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e95f7d/32.png) [@Nunavut\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunavut_Boy)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-and-pain-medication/301726/5 "2005-04-29T21:25:31Z")
Dude! Enough booze IS pain medication! ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-and-pain-medication/301726/6 "2005-04-30T04:37:25Z")
You might try liquid vitamin B complex. It’s sold under the brand name “Sublingual B” or GNC has their own brand. It works really well with most headaches. I’ve even used it with migraines before. It doesn’t completely take away a migraine, mind you, but it takes the edge off and makes it more bearable. It also has the benefit of working faster than aspirin. I take a couple eyedroppersful and within a minute or two, most headaches go away. Plus, I don’t think it would interfere with your beer-drinking plans. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-and-pain-medication/301726/7 "2005-04-30T05:38:04Z")
Acetaminophen (Tylenol, paracetamol) is metabolized largely by the liver; NSAIDs more so by the kidney. Healthy people tend to need a fair amount fo regular alcohol and/or an extended period of pain medicines to cause problems. That said, not always – and these problems are avoidable. But once in a while, the risks are not large and in my opinion have been over-emphasized.