Recently, I’ve been taking Tylenol for an extended period of time. In another thread, I discussed how much I was taking, and learned that I was OD’ing on Tylenol on a daily basis. Thankfully, nothing harmful seems to have come from that, and I’ve since reduced my intake drastically.
Today, I’m looking for information on differences between the various formulations of Tylenol. They’ve got regular Tylenol, Extra Strength Tylenol, 8-Hour Tylenol, and other versions as well.
My understanding about regular Tylenol and Extra Strength Tylenol is that the ES version just has more milligrams of the medicine (500mg per tablet versus 325 mg per tablet).
8-Hour Tylenol has even more mg per tablet, although it doesn’t match up correspondingly with ES Tylenol. I believe there’s 650mg per tablet in the 8-Hour variety.
What I’m wondering is, is there something special in the 8-hour variety that makes it “last” longer in your system, or is the only difference the additional mg of medicine? I’m asking this because I normally take the generic version of Tylenol (which can be bought in a 500 tablet bottle pretty cheaply), but the 8-Hour version doesn’t have a generic version, and thus is much more pricey. I’m wondering if I can substitute 2 ES generic Tylenol and 1 regular generic Tylenol (approximately the same dosage as 2 8-Hour Tylenol) and have it work the same?
Extended-Release formulations are made by including coatings and/or binders in the tablet or capsule or caplet or-what-the-frickin’-ever shape they’re making drugs these days. These ingredients cause the pill to resist brekdown in the stomach, and instead slowly disintegrate in the gut, producing a low, slow blood concentration. Taking extra-large doses of generic acetaminophen is NOT the same, and puts your liver under needless strain. From the Tylenol Website:
The effects of tylenol 8-hour are best simulated by taking regular-strength generics at the intervals recommended on the label.
Ok, well, I was hoping to avoid that. The whole point of the 8-Hour tabs was to have to take them less often. I’m taking Advil at the same time (but that’s every 6-8 hrs) so taking normal Tylenol every 4 hours isn’t “in sync” with when I take the Advil, so sometimes I forget until the pain starts again.
Oh, well, I guess I’ll have to spend the extra $$$ for the 8-Hour tabs…
The critical word in nametag’s post is generics. Tylenol (acetaminofen) has been available as a generic for a long time, and the drug’s the same in a house-brand bottle, but much cheaper.
I had some fillings done in January. The dentist at the time remarked that the decay had been quite extensive in both teeth he worked on, but he hoped he had gotten everything and the fillings would be all that was needed to restore them to health. I continued to have pain, and inquired at my next appointment (to deal with a cap that had come loose). They commented that my jaw might still be sore from the extensive work done on the fillings and to give it a bit more time. Well, things still didn’t improve, so I went back to the dentist and he determined that one of the two teeth needed a root canal, and proceeded to do said root canal. He said the other tooth might also need one, but hopefully this root canal was all that was needed. Again, I was told to give things some time to settle down. Well, I’m still in pain, and it’s been several weeks, so I know when I next visit the dentist (next week) he’ll probably tell me the other tooth needs a root canal also. Hopefully that will end my ordeal with tooth pain.
I don’t forsee my knees improving any time soon, so I’ll probably be on the Advil at the very least for quite some time. Whether I’ll need to be taking the Tylenol also once the tooth pain is gone will remain to be seen. Here’s hoping not.
I remember this. Have you considered talking about stronger pain-control methods with your physician? It seems to be that a low-dose of a stronger drug, like an opioid, would potentially be better than high doses of OTC pain relievers. I’m not a doctor or anything, so don’t, like, assume I know what I’m talking about, but it just seems like you’re taking enough drugs here that a trip to the doctor is in order.
I’ve been visiting the doctor regularly, and did tell her the last time about my discovery that I had been OD’ing on OTC pain meds before my discovery here about what dangerous dosage amounts would be. She was quite pleased that I was now following the label directions for dosage. She did give me a prescription for Vicodin when we first discussed the problem, but it was only a short term prescription, with no refills. At our last appointment, she said I should stick with the OTC meds as long as they were handling the pain. She (as well as the Ortho MD she referred me to) believe the ultimate issue is being overweight, and we are persuing weight reduction to aleviate the stress on the knee joints. She suggests that a 10% weight loss will result in considerable relief. I do have quite a bit of weight to lose.
Ok, here’s another question… what’s the difference between the 8-Hour tylenol and Tylenol Arthritis?
According to the Tylenol website, both have 650mg of Acetaminophen as the only active ingredient. Tylenol Arthritis contains the following inactive ingredients:
Whereas Tyleno 8-Hour contains:
Now, I know that some of the differences are just dyes and such. But since the rest are still “inactive ingredients”, do they make any difference? Are these really just the same medicine being marketed 2 different ways? Or would one of these work better for my knee pain than the other?