Thanks! Now I don’t feel so stupid. I thought I mispronounced it in front of the doc.
IAAD but I’m not sure it helps, despite having treated a hundred thousand patients or so. On average in medicine, when issues remain soft it means there isn’t a clear-cut case for one practice or another.
There isn’t a clear front runner for over-the-counter NSAIDS (Non-Steroidal AntiInflammatory Drugs) when trying to relieve pain. For most types of pain there isn’t even a clear difference between acetaminophen, which is not an NSAID but is often used for pain, and NSAIDS.
Pain is hard to measure objectively. Ditto side effects, actually. Pull up any drug profile and notice how many people who took placebo had side effects…but I digress. Pharmaceutical companies promoting their products tend to emphasize minute differences where their product comes out ahead while overlooking negatives (duh). And the passionate testimonials of individuals about their favorite stir up the mud as well.
In reasonable doses, whether you use ibuprofen (Advil, e.g.) or naproxen (Naprosyn, e.g.), or acetaminophen (Tylenol, e.g.), it’s pretty hard to prove a difference. There are times when NSAIDS seem much more effective for pain than acetaminophen; renal colic is one example. The explanation is probably beyond the scope of a brief post.
I’ve been fighting with hip displasia for around 8 years now and the only thing that really touches the pain I have is Aleve. I buy the store branded Naproxen whenever I can though. When I’m having a bad week or month, and have to take it every day, I take it with OTC pepcid. Makes all the difference. Hope this helps.
and my disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one of TV, nor do I wish to be one, or play one. So, like everyone else is saying, see a doc.
Don’t mention it. Doctor’s offices can be funny sometimes. I have Vicodin for chronic pain (I get the generic hydrocodone because it’s dirt cheap). But the folks at his office only refer to it as Darvocet. So, if I call and say “I need a refill on my Vicodin” his nurse (who seems fairly bright) says 
Then I have to think “Oh, what does she call it? Oh, yeah. I need a refill on my Darvocet”.
That’s wierd!
Vicodin is hydrocodone and acetaminophen
Darvocet is propoxyphene and acetaminophen
Similar perhaps, (they’re both narcotics similar to codeine) but defintely not the same.
I am not a doctor. I am not giving medical advice here. I am speaking from opinions formed from personal experience and observation. Trust any of the M.D.'s who have posted instead of my comments, OK? I’m not handy, I do not want to be him, I do not want to lead anyone astray on medical matters in any way whatsoever.
That said, here are my impressions from listening to and reading other people’s comments, and from my own and my wife’s experiences:
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Aspirin is the strongest OTC pain reliever there is, milligram to milligram. The problem is that it also has the lowest “safe dose” cap before it starts causing other problems than the one it’s trying to cure – and these are alleviated only to a small degree by buffering and/or heterodyning it with other drugs. People’s reactions to aspirins vary significantly; some people can safely exceed the recommended “safe dose” with no evident problems; others have a personal threshold well below the standard. (For my wife, the maximum safe dose before stomach upset is one child’s-strength aspirin, once a day – which does diddley-squat for pain relief.) Note also that aspirin is (AFAIK) the only one of the lot proven to have anti-cardiac problem effects. Aspirin is also somewhat (marginally, in my experience) more effective at fever reduction than the others.
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Naproxen (Aleve) is the one most effective against chronic-condition muscle and arthritic pain. This appears to be a therapeutic standard, based on what I’ve seen recommended by MDs and clinics; it seems true for most people in my experience. And I’m like Norinew in responding most effectively to it – to the point that if you offered me four Tylenol or one Aleve for my arthritic shoulder, I’d choose the Aleve. For other forms of pain, it appears about on a par with the other drugs, and has a relatively low “safe dose” cap.
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Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) is the most effective painkiller for many people. It permits a higher safe dose than do aspirin or naproxen, and has a wider “probably safe but watch out” range above the recommended maximum safe dose for self-medication.
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Acetamenophen (Tylenol) is not a NSAID like the other drugs, but has many of their same effects. It is probably the weakest of the painkillers (mg:mg) for most people, but this is more than counteracted by its having an enormous “safe zone” and an almost-as-large “yellow zone.” TTBOMK it is least effective against arthritis, swelling, reducing inflammation, and cutting fever – it will do any of that, to be sure, but with (sometimes far) less effectiveness than one of the NSAIDs. If you are self-medicating and (a) “eating painkillers” for a chronic problem, or (b) inclined to take risks and exceed the maximum safe dose, tylenol, with ibuprofen a distant second, is what you should be using. (Note that neither the SDMB/Chicago Reader, any medical professional, nor I recommends doing either of the last; the sentence is intended as a warning regarding what’s safest if you choose to do either of them despite warnings.)
As noted, this is speaking from layman’s experience of the four chief OTC painkillers’ effects on the average random assortment of people. Anything a MD or other professional or a pharmaceutical expert says that contradicts it should be listened to instead of what I have to say.
And any more disclaimers I or any mod. can think of, too!
No!
Tylenol is safe only when used as directed. The other pain-killers, if use to mild excess, might cause some stomach bleeding. However, acetaminophen can cause acute liver failure- which will either kill you or fuck up your life. And, acetaminophen is hidden in many OTC remedies, such as cold medicines, which makes over-dosing very easy. “I have a killer cold, so I’ll take these Tylenol and a dose of Nyquil”.
"It is also a very safe drug as long as the recommended dosage is not exceeded. … however, taking too much Tylenol (an overdose) can also cause liver failure…
…As mentioned above, the labels usually will say acetaminophen rather than Tylenol. For example, each tablespoon of the common nighttime cold remedy, Nyquil, contains 500 milligrams (mg) of acetaminophen. Similarly, each tablet of Vicodin, a popular, potent painkiller that contains a narcotic, has also either 500, 650, or 750 mg of acetaminophen, depending on the formulation…
As already mentioned, an overdose of acetaminophen can cause liver damage. This damage occurs in a dose-related manner…
In other words, liver injury from acetaminophen occurs only when someone takes more than a certain amount of the drug. Likewise, the higher the dose, the greater is the likelihood of the damage. What is more, this liver injury from an overdose of acetaminophen is a serious matter because the damage can be severe and result in liver failure and death. In fact, acetaminophen overdose is the leading cause of acute (rapid onset) liver failure in the U.S. and the United Kingdom…
For the average healthy adult, the recommended maximum dose of acetaminophen over a 24 hour period is four grams (4000 mg) or eight extra-strength pills. (Each extra-strength pill contains 500 mg and each regular strength pill contains 325 mg.) A person who drinks more than two alcoholic beverages per day, however, should not take more than two grams of acetaminophen over 24 hours, as discussed below…
On the other hand, a single dose of 7 to 10 grams of acetaminophen (14 to 20 extra-strength tablets) can cause liver injury in the average healthy adult. Note that this amount is about twice the recommended maximum dose for a 24 hour period. In children, a single dose of 140 mg/kg (body weight) of acetaminophen can result in liver injury. Amounts of acetaminophen, however, as low as 3 to 4 grams in a single dose or 4 to 6 grams over 24 hours have been reported to cause severe liver injury in some people, sometimes even resulting in death. It seems that certain individuals, for example, those who regularly drink alcohol, are more prone than others to developing acetaminophen-induced liver damage…
Three clinical stages (phases) of acetaminophen-induced liver injury have been described. During the first phase, that is, the initial 12 to 24 hours or so after ingestion, the patient experiences nausea and vomiting. For the next perhaps 12 to 24 hours, which is the second phase or the so-called inactive (latent) phase, the patient feels well. In the third phase, which begins about 48 to as late as 72 hours after the ingestion of acetaminophen, liver blood test abnormalities begin to appear. Most notably, extremely high (abnormal) levels of the liver blood tests, AST and ALT, are common with this type of liver injury. The outcome (prognosis) of the liver injury can be predicted fairly accurately on the basis of the patient’s clinical exam and blood tests. For example, at one extreme, if the patient develops severe acid buildup in the blood, kidney failure, bleeding disorders, or coma, then death is almost certain. Only a liver transplant can possibly save such a patient."
Do not, for fuck’s sake- exceed the Maximum dose with acetaminophen/Tylenol.
I suggest you don’t even get close.
To be clear, I wasn’t looking specifically for pain-killing properties. I can deal with the pain and it’s not a big deal. I was mostly interested in the most effective inflammation reducer, to aid in healing. Cause I already know for pain, Aleve works for me best. (Way back when I was working out several hours every day, I popped them like candy and ended up getting an ulcer that would hurt so bad I once passed out from the pain. Fun. I didn’t exceed the recommended dose, but I pretty much used it at the maximum recommended dose every day for months.)
Or is that how the pain relief works, by relieving inflammation? I always thought those were two seperate properties of the drugs, and one might relieve pain the best while another relieves inflammation the best.
Icing, even without accompanying medication, has had a dramatic effect on the feel of it so far, I was surprised. Now I feel stupid for not having started a month ago, but I didn’t think it would make such a big difference. I don’t know, though, how much it’s aiding in healing, and how much it’s just making it feel better.