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Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

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Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#361

Post by hilbert42 »

Melatonic wrote: post #177

Why are COX-2 drugs like Celebrex still prescription only ? Seems like it would theoretically be a lot safer to offer a medium low dose of it over the counter vs other NSAIDs That being said I weirdly find Naproxen the most effective of all of these. Everyone is different though

"Why are COX-2 drugs like Celebrex still prescription only ?"

Why? Because Celebrex (celecoxib) is a dangerous drug which can cause irreparable harm (heart attacks and related) if taken for long periods. In fact, its sister drug Vioxx (rofecoxib) was banned and Merck had to pay billions in damages. There's more here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47835635#47862704

Whilst Celebrex is safer than Vioxx it still has the same side effects profile as the latter.

I'd also recommended you watch the YouTube video in the link on Vioxx, it demonstrates the dangers of COX-2 drugs shouldn't be underestimated.

Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#362

Post by MisterTea »

brightball wrote: post #357
vanderZwan wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like this is one of those things where Europe and the US are very different, culturally speaking - I've lived in the Netherlands, Germany and now Sweden, and the amount of painkillers used and prescribed here seems much lower than what Americans tell me is normal in the US. Pain a warning signal from the body. It's something one should listen to, not just try to ignore and overrule. If I sprain my ankle it onl…

I've taken so much Advil/Ibuprofen in my life it would be impossible to count at this point. I always got headaches when I was younger and it didn't really stop until I went to college at a higher altitude. When I go back to my hometown, after a couple of days they come back. Some headaches will go away on their own with water or rest, but others that seem to go from one side of my forehead all the way down the same…

Have you tried to have this diagnosed?

Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#363

Post by lapcat »

Supermancho wrote: post #352
lapcat wrote: post #331

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Neither is a car, but I still take it to get checked out when a warning light is on. I can't believe I need to say this, but cars did not evolve by natural selection. Cars are intelligently designed (by humans, not by God) to show a warning light when there is a problem you should get checked out. So cars are actually rational in that respect. Hacker News comments never fail to depress me.

> I can't believe I need to say this, but cars did not evolve by natural selection. You didn't need to say that because that's not relevant. The issue was about signal to noise. The logical stance is to assume signal is signal, until you know otherwise. > Hacker News comments never fail to depress me. That's also a signal.

> The issue was about signal to noise. The logical stance is to assume signal is signal, until you know otherwise.

I know otherwise. I have a lifetime of experience—lifetimes of experience, counting the experiences of other people—to know that pain is often just noise.

Pain is ancient. It predates rationality by millions of years, perhaps billions. The dumbest animal experiences pain. It's not a finely tuned system with documented diagnositic codes.

Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#364

Post by hilbert42 »

AshamedBadger56 wrote: post #355
vanderZwan wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like this is one of those things where Europe and the US are very different, culturally speaking - I've lived in the Netherlands, Germany and now Sweden, and the amount of painkillers used and prescribed here seems much lower than what Americans tell me is normal in the US. Pain a warning signal from the body. It's something one should listen to, not just try to ignore and overrule. If I sprain my ankle it onl…

You're forgetting that when you're sick and hurt yourself in the US you very likely still have to go to work. Doing some quick research, roughly 25% of the US workers don't have any sick time whatsoever, so you gotta take some painkillers and get back to work. If you need to take time off to go to the doctor, you're no longer getting paid, so...a lot of people don't do that and instead hide the pain with painkillers.

Reckon you've just summed up the US health care system to a tee.

Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#365

Post by rekoil »

nbaugh1 wrote: post #310
vanderZwan wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like this is one of those things where Europe and the US are very different, culturally speaking - I've lived in the Netherlands, Germany and now Sweden, and the amount of painkillers used and prescribed here seems much lower than what Americans tell me is normal in the US. Pain a warning signal from the body. It's something one should listen to, not just try to ignore and overrule. If I sprain my ankle it onl…

Well for one thing, in America, you gotta get back to work. Work a manual labor job or one where you're on your feet all day and sprained your ankle? Would you rather miss a week of pay (or worse lose your job) or take some pain killers and work through it?

Yeah I think this is the biggest difference. Here in Sweden if I get a headache that's bad enough I'll just take a sick day and there's not really much social stigma about that kind of behaviour unless it becomes a pattern that you don't seek medical help for.

I work in an office, but Swedish law protects blue- and white-collared jobs the same in this regard.

Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#366

Post by JTbane »

beAbU wrote: post #266
vanderZwan wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like this is one of those things where Europe and the US are very different, culturally speaking - I've lived in the Netherlands, Germany and now Sweden, and the amount of painkillers used and prescribed here seems much lower than what Americans tell me is normal in the US. Pain a warning signal from the body. It's something one should listen to, not just try to ignore and overrule. If I sprain my ankle it onl…

> the amount of painkillers used and prescribed here seems much lower than what Americans tell me is normal in the US. Americans' relationship with painkillers is absolutely unhinged.

Well, yeah, but they do help. I had a bad case of bronchitis recently and the only way I was able to get to sleep was taking OTC ibuprofen.

Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#367

Post by aeturnum »

This American Life had a good 2013 episode on the tricky dosing of acetaminophen [1]. It's also worth saying that capsaicin is used for pain relief[2]! Especially for things like muscle and joint pain.

[1] https://www.thisamericanlife.org/505/use-only-as-directed

[2] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/drugs/18080-capsaicin-...

Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#368

Post by vbarrielle »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #340
huhkerrf wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since we're talking about acetaminophen and ibuprofen, in France you're liable to end up with a medicine cabinet full of acetaminophen, because almost anytime you go to the doctor with any type of pain, they add it to the prescription.

Does acetaminophen require a prescription in France?

No but you can get it for free with a prescription.

Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#369

Post by wat10000 »

vanderZwan wrote: post #245
magicalhippo wrote: post #110

> But if acetaminophen is safer, then why don’t official sources tell you that? Guess it depends on country. Here in Norway official sources[1][2] do say acetaminophen (paracetamol here) should be the default for treating fever and pain in kids, adults, pregnant women and elderly, and have for some time. Ibuprofen they say should be used with caution. [1]: https://www.dmp.no/nyheter/behov-for-smertestillende-slik-ve.…

I feel like this is one of those things where Europe and the US are very different, culturally speaking - I've lived in the Netherlands, Germany and now Sweden, and the amount of painkillers used and prescribed here seems much lower than what Americans tell me is normal in the US. Pain a warning signal from the body. It's something one should listen to, not just try to ignore and overrule. If I sprain my ankle it onl…

If pain is a signal, then it's often a car alarm that won't shut up. Even if someone is actually trying to steal the car, I only need to be told once.

Sometimes I get headaches. I don't know why. Maybe there's a cause. I do try things to fix the underlying problem. But it's not instant. While I wait for it, why should I continue to be in pain when the pain medicine is pretty much risk free if I'm not reckless with it?

It's strange that you'll take a painkiller for the sake of others, so you don't bother them by being grumpy, but you wouldn't do the same for yourself. Surely you also don't enjoy being a grumpy asshole even when you're alone.

Re: Acetaminophen vs. ibuprofen

#370

Post by e40 »

isoprophlex wrote: post #72
justinc8687 wrote: post #66

I lived with an ICU nurse for years and one of the things he emphasized was the risk of acetaminophen overdose. He's more than once treated the liver failure (and death) from it and by his words, it's one of the worse ways to go. The positive of it is it got me in the habit of logging whenever I take it, either in a note on my phone or just a sheet of paper I place on my dresser under the bottle. This helps make sure…

I'm not disagreeing with you or trying to be disagreeable, but how do people accidentally exceed 3-4 grams daily? That's 6-8 pills!

If you're taking a lot of pills, which ill people often do (e.g., cancer patients), it's easy to forget.

Also, people with memory issues...

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