I have generally taken Ibuprofen for things like a headache or back pain, as needed. Recently I tried Aleve because it’s good for 12 hours. But I don’t feel like it does as good as job as Ibuprofen which I take 2 tablets for 4 hours. I’ve not tried Aleve more than a few times, perhaps the headache and back pain wouldn’t have been helped any better from Ibuprofen?
Anyone have personal experience with Aleve and Ibuprofen, and which do you prefer for pain relief.
NB: Aleve is a brand name, and ibuprofen is the generic drug name. If you did the SAT before the removed analogies, it’s ibuprofen:Advil::naproxen:Aleve. Tylenol is acetaminophen aka paracetamol, and Aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, although Aspirin is allowed to be a generic name in the US, UK, France, and others, thanks to WWI.
Three of the above are NSAIDS (Tylenol is not) and work similarly. The main answer is that YMMV, and different people might find one better than another. I normally reach for ibuprofen, but not for any particular reason except that I have a bunch of it and normally don’t have naproxen. So I don’t have a big cause for comparison.
A few years ago I was diagnosed with Stage 3 kidney disease (not so serious; Stage 1 means no disease). I had been taking lots of ibuprofen for various pains, and my nephrologist suggested that I switch to Aleve, because ibuprofen damages the kidneys. So I’ve been taking 4 Aleve per day. Now, however, I’m finding out the Aleve is also bad for the kidneys. I have an appointment coming up with the nephrologist, to discuss this with her.
The Aleve does lessen the pain. If I wait too long between dosages, the pain increases.
I’ve never had any luck with naproxen sodium (Aleve) because it upsets my stomach so I can’t really speak for its efficacy. My doctor did tell me that Aleve gives you a small hit of medicine repeatedly over a long period of time, rather like the old time release capsules. Ibuprofen delivers the dose up front, which is why you have to take more pills, sooner.
It probably ultimately depends on what type of pain you are experiencing - non-acute, but relentless, you probably want Aleve; acute pain that needs an upfront hit of medicine, you probably want Advil.
Studies have shown no consistent difference between NSAIDs in terms of pain relief.
But many people find that while one type such as ibuprofen works for them, another type such as naproxen or sulindac does not.
But there’s no real consistency to these variations. Just as many people report the reverse: Naproxen works for them and ibuprofen does not.
And higher doses don’t always mean more relief either. High dosing is necessary for attaining full anti-inflammatory effect, and it may take 3 or more weeks of regular, consistent dosing to achieve that, not just a single dose or two.
I find it doesn’t but it’s far better at relieving inflammation. So for back pain or arthritis (my MD has me taking 3-6 Naproxen a day for my RA) it can actually help relieve the cause of the pain.
For headaches, the best is aspirin, acetaminophen*, and caffeine. aka Excedrin, but there are much cheaper and just as effective generics.
NSAIDS are generally recognized as also bad to mix with alcohol, but IIRC they’re hard on the stomach whereas Tylenol is even worse for the liver. I have entered the word of pediatric Tylenol so those warnings become very familiar. I consider Tylenol a “kid drug” (Reye syndrome). I can probably count on one hand the number of times I have popped a Tylenol as an adult, not counting when mixed with Codeine or cold medicine and I can’t separate them.
Tylenol (acetaminophen) has nothing to do with Reye Syndrome. Aspirin is involved there.
Acetaminophen is found to be just as effective a pain reliever as the NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen, aspirin, others) are.
I’m guessing that thelurkinghorror meant that Tylenol is a “kid drug” because you don’t want to give your small child aspirin because of the risk of Reyes Syndrome.
I’m a relatively new parent and I’ve read up on this stuff (and understand about as much as you’d expect from an artsy liberal arts major). It’s terrifying and confusing. I hate, hate giving my daughter medication and won’t unless our pediatrician absolutely insists (and I like our pediatrician – she’s very common sensical and recommends medication only when really necessary).
Except for vaccines, of course. My daughter has gotten every single one she should have, right on schedule. I live in brownstone Brooklyn, which is a hive of anti-vaxxer loons, so sometimes I’m a bit of a pariah among the other parents.
Yet, Tylenol is much more dangerous because it doesn’t take much to overdose. And it’s easy to overdose.
For a while, they sold Tylenol in both “Childrens” strength and “Infants” strength, and the latter was more potent. Use the Childrens dosing with Infants Tylenol and you could put your kid at serious risk. I believe that both formulas are now the same strength.
Yes, that’s covered in the link, but aspirin is avoided for that reason. But why don’t kids (tend to) take ibuprofen or naproxen though?
FWIW: I have two bottles of infant acetaminophen (one Cherry and CVS, the other grape and ?). Both are 160 mg/5 mL. No children’s handy to cross-reference.
THIS.
And only this.
I can’t legitimately come on here and claim Tylenol sucks because it’s never done a thing for me. It may work perfectly for someone else.
Success rate for me is pretty much a tie: naproxen, ibuprofen, and then aspirin. But aspirin may be last but it is not least. All this publicity how it’s a wonder drug for stroke, heart attack, hangnails, etc., people have forgotten it’s a terrific pain reliever. Minus the stomach upset some folk get it works great to relieve head and tooth aches. It really does.
What he said … I do ibuprofin, naproxen is like eating blue M&Ms without the chocolate. My roomie is the opposite. She also prefers codeine, while it does nothing except after a while I get constipated. <shrug> The wonderful world of metabolism, screwing up pharmacy for 150 years.
I am an odd duck,'cause Tylenol gives me involuntary movements – Right arm and leg.
Aleve works for me,as does aspirin…
My rule of thumb was always aspirin/acetemenophin for my headache’s/sports related injuries, and NSAIDS like Aleve for muscle pains
Seems to work for me but YMMV
I went years of suffering agony due to menstrual cramps, for which ibuprofin did nothing. If I managed to take them within minutes of starting to feel cramps, they would reduce the pain but not eliminate them. If the cramps were in full bloom, ibuprofin was completely useless.
Then [cue angelic choir] I discovered naproxen. Not only does it prevent cramps from starting if you take them before they start, but I can be in the throes of full-on cramp torture, take two naproxen pills, and within 1/2 hour the pain is completely gone. As I type, I am pain-free thanks to naproxen. It is the stuff of miracles, IMO.
I have damaged my knees so much over the years that I can barely crawl up the stairs for the pain. Two alleve - one in the morning and one at night - make it so I don’t even remember about my knees. I can definitely feel the difference if I run out of alleve or forget to take it.
Ibuprofen works great for me, too, but I’d rather take 2 naproxen a day than a dozen ibuprofens. If I manage to do myself an injury (and it’s spring, which means I should be falling down the stairs again any day now) I bring the ibuprofen out for that.
Tylenol is a waste of money, for me.
But that’s just me. There’s never any telling how a medicine will work for a different individual. It’s probably worth a try, though.
I hate to disagree with a doctor on this, but this article claims that Tylenol is no better than a placebo for back pain:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/23/acetaminophen-no-better-than-placebo-for-back-pain/
Aspirin is an NSAID, so it’s weird how you group those.
Anyway, Tylenol at best dulls a headache, but often does nothing. When I have to go a few weeks without aspirin or Advil, I always dread the possibility of getting a bad headache and not being able to do anything about it.
That’s the new strength, according to this article.
The old Infants strength was either 80mg/mL or 100mg/mL. So the old highest concentration was 3x stronger.
If that’s the only mistake made, you’re probably ok. But combined with double dosing (say, both mom and dad give the kid the medicine), failure to carefully measure, or another treatment (all kinds of multi-drugs include acetaminophen along with other active ingredients), and it can be really dangerous.