Ibuprofen. Works like a charm on me.
After my hysterectomy they prescribed Hydrocodone with Tylenol. As I had suspected, it did diddly squat - opioids don’t tend to work on me. Switched to OTC ibuprofen. So much less pain.
I can only take acetaminophen. The others cause potential problems.
Me too, but because I’m on a blood thinner and can’t take aspirin and the like. It’s always worked fine for me.
I take acetaminophen for generic headaches. But the last time I felt severe pain (an agonizing headache that lasted 24+ hours when I had Covid), I supplemented it with ibuprofen because I was afraid to go over the recommended dosage.
Are folk who take acetaminophen and ibuprofen concerned about the potential liver/kidney issues?
I don’t have any in the house now, but aspirin is my usual go-to and seems to work best on me. Then my next choice is any other NSAID, then Tylenol. If it’s really painful I will sometimes stack or alternate an NSAID and Tylenol, but I very rarely need to take pain killers at all. (Like maybe once every couple of months.)
When I was a heavy drinker, I absolutely avoided Tylenol for the liver reasons. When I ended up in detox at the hospital, I was a little surprised that both times they prescribed me acetominophen, not ibuprofen or something else.
Yeah, I know. It’s an NSAID that’s supposedly easier on your stomach, but I’ve heard that even Meloxicam can do a number on you if you’re not careful. So I take care to eat a bite or two of food first, then take the Meloxicam with milk, and then eat another bite of food on top of it. I’m hoping that medical science will come up with something even better so that us old folks with dodgy stomachs can take it freely without worries about gastrointestinal bleeding.
Today I’m trying naproxen.
Was figuring, if all seem to work w/ no apparent side effects/sensitivity, I may rotate among the “Big 4.” In my ignorance, that strikes me as a possible way to minimize potential negative effects of longtime use. But maybe that is misguided…
Yeah, I think about the effects on my liver. Had a relative die from cirrhosis. Although I’m not at the same risk of that, it did put liver health more on my mind. Rather than taking two pills at once, I usually take just one pill. If that’s not providing enough relief, then I’ll take a second. Frequently, one pill is sufficient.
Yeah - my wife had a grandmother die of cirrhosis. Not a drinker. I used to drink heavily, but not for 20+ years. One reason I (perhaps stupidly) choose to tolerate pain I consider not too bad.
With pain, my general concern is “will the pain get worse?” or “am I worsening the underlying condtion.” W/ my sorts of musculoskeletal aches and pains various care providers have consistently told me variations of “motion is lotion.”
I’m more aware of it these days. I make sure that I don’t take acetaminophen any more frequently than every six hours, and I am a light drinker.
I don’t take ibuprofen (or aspirin) often, and am reasonable about the dosage, and have never had a problem from either. And my liver and kidneys are tested occasionally and always check out fine. So given all of that: no, not at all.
Panadol daily, then panadol with codeine rarely ( 15 or 30 mg ) version
Celebrex - wunder drug 
100 or 200 mg makes aging things go away for a while
Robaxin when I stiffen up. 
Hydrocodone when all else fails - tiny little pill that packs a very fast punch.
Sumatriptan anti-migraine
Only 2x500 mg Panadol is daily - every 8 hours.
I’ve had moderate kidney issues for decades. As I result, I haven’t taken ibuprofen in years.
Other: I take one Aspirin and one Acetaminophen. Aspirin works well for most pain for me, and APAP works well for almost all pain, and I share others’ fears of the safety of acetaminophen.
Beer .
I rarely have anything I need pain reliever for. When I do I take a full dose of each of the 4. So I have no way of knowing which one did the trick or if the combo itself did it.
I am fortunate to not often experience pain bad enough to require medication, except for self-induced migraines which I can reliably trigger by going too long between breakfast and lunch or mid-day snack. My go-to is Teva-Lenoltec which contains acetaminophen, caffeine and codeine phosphate. Unfortunately, because too many other people have (or are perceived to have) abused codeine containing OTC medicines, it is becoming harder to find this product here in Ontario.
Metamizole is legal in my country (where it’s known as Optalgin), and it’s my go-to painkiller, often mixed with paracetamol - the two are a potent combo. Optalgin is also the only OTC painkiller available in drops, for serious relief.
My second choice is usually ibuprofen.