I get awe-inspiring tension headaches from time to time, and have been on a quest for meds that work with out incapacitating me for quite a while now. One day one of my co-workers offered me a pain killer from Mexico (I know, it sounds horrible. Read on.). It is sold OTC, and you only take one at a time. I was desperate, so I took one. Thirty minutes later I was pain free and clear headed.
Now when I am in a lot of pain I will go to immense lengths to end it as I am a complete pussy when it comes to things that hurt, but I do not like the idea of taking medicine when I don’t know what is in it. As the pills are from Mexico, the wrapper with the ingredient deck is in Spanish. I do not read nor speak Spanish, so this is not helpful to me.
The name on the pill itself is Nordin. I Googled the name and came up with nothing.
Ingredients:
Acido Acetilsalicllico - 400 mg
Fenacetina - 150 mg
Acetanilida - 100 mg
Cafina (this I can figure out) 50mg.
By the ingredients, it looks like it may be Fentanyl. Many of the webpages about it seem to be in Spanish, so with Google translation, it says (in broken English) that the main ingredient of Fentanyl is a narcotic analgesic 75-125 times more powerful than morphine.
The other ingredients are acetylsalasilic acid (aspirin), and the other similar word has to be a derivative of some kind, plus caffeine.
Stops headache: good. Narcotic: bad. That’s probably why the webpages are in Spanish - you’d likely have a hard time getting it here.
I am not a pharmacist or chemist so this is a shot in the dark.
Your first ingredient, “Acido Acetilsalicllico” looks like acetyl salicylic acid, which is aspirin.
“Fenacetina” is a synonym for p - Acetophenetidide, (commonly sold as Pamprin) – another pain killer product. fishbicycle could be right about the narcotic effects. I just got this off the CDC.
“Acetanilida” (Acetanilide?) is interesting and may be your “magical ingredient.” From the CDC website, it looks like a solvent used by or exposed to machinery workers and hairstylists (which doesn’t make me feel that great about ingesting it), BUT it could also be a broader class of chemicals. A further google of acetanilide brought up derivatives of the chemical in herbicides. Again, not comforting.
BUT! according to http://www.nancywest.net/tylenol.html (which I don’t know about its reliability but the chemical is mentioned about halfway down the page), acetanilide is metabolized to become acetaminophen in the body, so it’s yet another pain killer.
So, you either have a mixture of 3 pain killers, or 2 pain killers and something questionable.
I have a fairly recent bottle of Pamprin here and that’s not one of the ingredients listed. It has acetominophen (Tylenol), pamabrom (a diuretic, I believe), and pyrilamine maleate (an antihistimine that is probably supposed to make you feel less tense or something.)
I’ve done some more Googling, and I could be very wrong about your pills being Fentanyl. That’s a heavy-duty painkiller that comes in a patch and is also injectable. There doesn’t seem to be any information about it being available in pill form. So don’t mind me, I was going on the premise that it was powerful enough to wipe out an “awe-inspiring” headache in 30 minutes, and that one of the ingredients was similar in a way to the word Fentanyl.
However, there are several doctors on this board. You may wish to ask Qadgop the Mercotan. He would certainly be able to give you the correct information, and people like me can just go back to lurking. I hope you understand that I was trying to be helpful - but those of us who aren’t doctors should not offer advice or information when we don’t know what we’re talking about.
“Fenacetina” metabolizes into paracetamol/acetaminophen as well, although overdose is highly toxic to the kidneys. It doesn’t have a narcotic effect.
Acetanilide was the original compound that led to the discovery of paracetamol as an analgesic, but is much more toxic than the paracetamol derivative. Not indicated for human consumption in many countries. Use with caution, if at all!
So in essence you’re taking nearly an extra strength Anacin (aspirin + caffeine) and a regular strength Tylenol. To avoid the risk of liver failure and renal necrosis, I suppose you could try taking those two together, or an Excedrin Migraine which already combines the three components.
If the headaches persist, see a doctor. Migraine medication like Epival/Depakote might be a big help.
Fenacetina (Phenacetin): related to APAP (Tylenol) only much more dangerous. Felt to carcinogenic in humans. Toxic to kidneys in the wrong dose. Avoid.
Acetanilida (Acetanilide): related to APAP (Tylenol) only much more dangerous. Metabolized into APAP and aniline, the latter of which is toxic. Used in nail polishes and herbicides. Avoid.
Acido Acetilsalicilico (aspirin, essentially): A fair pain killer and fever reducer. Can be used to reduce inflammation if taken regularly. Inhibits platelets from aggregating. Watch for GI side-effects. Generally regarded as safe for select patients; use with caution. Take with food.
No narcotics in your mix, tho. Fentanyl does not come in an oral form.
Thank you very much for your time…it seems that my quest for the perfect pain med must go on. I am not comfortable putting an ingredient for weed killer into my body.
BTW, I’ve tried Exedrine Migrane and it dosent even scratch the surface of the headache when it is bad. I have gone to doctors; the last one gave me a script for enough vicodin to kill myself with if I had wanted to. With an additional 8 refills. After thinking about it for a while I did not fill the script.
I think the main trick is learning how to deal with my stress in a more proactive way, which I have been working on through meditation and punching pillows. But that only goes so far, and the headaches still happen.
If you’re getting severe tension headaches, it might be worth it to find out why. I get headaches that severe and went through a neurological and neurosurgical work-up to find out that I’ve got a congenitally narrow spinal column, which means pinched nerves. Now that I know what the problem is, I can treat the pain effectively.
Talk to your doctor about a more thorough evaluation.
As well as investigating the cause of your headaches further, it may be worthwhile to seek a referral to a specialist pain clinic.
If your headaches aren’t too frequent, a good narcotic analgaesic could be your best bet. Something like codeine+acetominophen/ibuprofen or propoxyphene+aspirin might be appropriate, although I’m sure you have tried them.
If you find that narcotics make you very out of it, your options are really down to the NSAIDs, and you should be speaking to your doctor about getting tablets that are as kind as possible to your stomach and kidneys.