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New insights into why aspirin works so well

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Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#201
post #195
post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are other, even OTC, painkiller medications that might be worth trying. Diclofenac (Voltaren/Flector etc) or Metamizole (variously banned, prescription-only or OTC seemingly random around the world) for example, and then there some newer non-opioid painkillers maybe worth trying but those are mostly prescription only.

Also meloxicam, a higher potency anti-inflammatory tolerated by the stomach better than other options

thank you, didn't know about that one.

Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#202

I imagine different people tolerate different anti-inflammatory over-the-counter drugs differently. Side effects of overuse are significant however and include liver, kidney, and gastrointestinal damage (acetaminophen, ibuprofen and aspirin respectively I think with some crossover effects). Use judiciously, and only take regularly under a doctor's supervision as side effects can be minimized with additional drugs whi…

Ibuprofen and aspirin can both reliably produce internal gastrointestinal bleeds after a single dose in people with underlying digestive diseases. Over enough time with constant usage, they'll cause that in anybody.

I avoid both aspirin and (especially!) ibuprofen because of this. Admittedly my fault because 10+ years ago there was a period where I had a persistant nasty toothache and took too much ibuprofen over several months when I should have been trying harder to get the tooth treated (I did go to the dentist, but several expensive attempts at regular fillings didn't solve the problem and in the end I had to get a root filling). Ended up with stomach pain which lasted for months/years afterwards and even now its sometimes not 100%. Now days I feel like even taking just a few aspirins or ibuprofens can trigger it again. I reckon there should be stronger warnings about this.

Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we could reliably show that ground rhino horns and tiger penises work, we'd be using them, or finding an easily mass produced derivatives.

Same as we did with willow bark and ended up with aspirin we have today. History of aspirin: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjh.14520

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Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#204
post #193

When you say in 2023 that they have "new insights" as to why a common over the counter drug works it really doesn't instill great confidence in pharma. Seems like we're still grinding up rhino horns and tiger penis and hoping for the best outcome, just that we do it with extensive testing now so we get a statistically acceptable outcome viable for marketing.

Honestly, aspirin is really closer to "grinding up rhino horns" than to complex pharmaceuticals you have to make in a lab. It's literally "drink this tea made from willow bark" except we got better at isolating the active components and finding other ways to produce them and more reliably measuring the dosage. The difference is that empirical studies have demonstrated the effect of "willow bark tea" and the lack of a…

That's not technically true, willow has salicin in it. Aspirin is intentionally a slight modification.

Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#205

When you say in 2023 that they have "new insights" as to why a common over the counter drug works it really doesn't instill great confidence in pharma. Seems like we're still grinding up rhino horns and tiger penis and hoping for the best outcome, just that we do it with extensive testing now so we get a statistically acceptable outcome viable for marketing.

Would you say if we had new insights into how electrons behaved that it doesn't instill great confidence in our understanding of physics?

Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#206

When you say in 2023 that they have "new insights" as to why a common over the counter drug works it really doesn't instill great confidence in pharma. Seems like we're still grinding up rhino horns and tiger penis and hoping for the best outcome, just that we do it with extensive testing now so we get a statistically acceptable outcome viable for marketing.

Yes it's somewhat disheartening for those raised on illusions of our scientific supremacy to discover that we understand very little about the human body or how to correct its defects or failures. The illusion is quickly punctured once you start having any medical problems. The vast majority of the time the answer is "we don't know what it is, but it will probably get better on its own" or "we know what it is, but it's not going to get better and there's nothing we can do about it."

Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#207

Aspirin has been a life changer for long Covid. The other painkillers make symptoms 10x worse. Many people wonder if aspirin anti platelet/blood thinning capabilities is helping breakup microclots which brings relief. There’s also a thing called nattokinase that apparently has similar properties to aspirin and is being studied for heart disease. It has been shown to break down blood clots and even degrade the spike p…

Do you have any good literature on Aspirin and LC? Not a doubter, actually I have LC myself.

Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#208

"it can cause detrimental side effects such as internal bleeding and organ damage" NSAIDs are also ototoxic, meaning that they cause hearing damage.

Yeah, I once managed to foolishly induce this while taking too much aspirin over a too long period to deal with tooth pain. I'll never forget the sensation: out of nowhere it sounded like someone was crinkling paper inside my head for about a second, and then quite loud and constant tinnitus with regular sounds becoming muffled. Was quite frightening.

It thankfully went away after a day or so after I (immediately) stopped and I don't seem to have suffered any permanent damage that I know of, but it taught me to not fuck around with NSAIDs.

Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#209
post #207

Aspirin has been a life changer for long Covid. The other painkillers make symptoms 10x worse. Many people wonder if aspirin anti platelet/blood thinning capabilities is helping breakup microclots which brings relief. There’s also a thing called nattokinase that apparently has similar properties to aspirin and is being studied for heart disease. It has been shown to break down blood clots and even degrade the spike p…

Do you have any good literature on Aspirin and LC? Not a doubter, actually I have LC myself.

I do not. I have my personal anecdote and experiences with common painkillers and LC. I've had it since January 2021 so there wasn't really anything known when I started taking aspirin outside of the many years of research as mentioned in OP's article. Here's my experience so far.

https://jondouglas.dev/long-covid/

I've swapped aspirin about a year in for nattokinase and have noticed much better management. I still take aspirin here and there, but NK is doing its job.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36080170/

https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20221207/microclots-may-exp...

https://pharmd.substack.com/p/frequency-asked-questions-natt...

Hope that helps you.

EDIT: I heard about triple anticoagulant therapy but never realized aspirin is included in it. Check out this study here: https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-2697680/v1

Re: New insights into why aspirin works so well

#210

"it can cause detrimental side effects such as internal bleeding and organ damage" NSAIDs are also ototoxic, meaning that they cause hearing damage.

Yeah, for all the hype about opioids being bad, these 'safe' drugs are way more dangerous than commonly purported. Acetaminophen is especially bad because the toxicity threshold is only slightly above the therapeutic dose. That is why they have to put so many warnings on this 'safe' drug. Yet let's blame opioids. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_index

Acetaminophen is simply an analgesic. It isn't considered to be an nsaid.
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