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topham 4 days ago

The right tool for the right job. When it comes to medication, in the right dosage.

I'm aware of acetaminophen's down sides, and yet recently I was taking it combined with 2 other medications at the time.

Why? Because all three medications are recommended for dealing with the issue I had. (Alone and in combination)

The moment it wasn't helping further? Done.

There is this broken idea, particularly apparent in North America, but in western society that more is better for many things. It's not.

More pain killers don't do anything if they max out the relief they can give you, overloading their mechanism doesn't reduce anything, but taxing your liver or your kidneys.

All medications are potentially toxic, your body wants to dispose of them. In appropriate dosages they will benefit you, but more isn't inherently better.

Even water can kill you in sufficient quantity.

We do the same with diet; where someone declares one ingredient in a meal healthier than another; it isn't. A single ingredient isn't better or worse for you in a meal. Your diet however can be good or bad; over time that matters.

teiferer 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

I agree with your overall sentiment. But allow me some objections:

> There is this broken idea, particularly apparent in North America, but in western society that more is better for many things. It's not.

But it is. The faster I go, the earlier I arrive at a destination. The more I eat, the later I'll be hungry again. The more I pay, the more I can buy. The more I smile, the more people smile back. It's all-pervasive in life, and "more is better for many things" is just obviously true. Not for all things and there are limits of course.

> More pain killers don't do anything if they max out the relief they can give you, overloading their mechanism doesn't reduce anything, but taxing your liver or your kidneys.

A higher dose gets broken down slower, as in, the threshold below which the effect is reduced is reached later. Not a reason to damage your kidneys and better take smaller doses more often, but it's not fully accurate to say there is a limit and anything above has zero effect.

wouldbecouldbe 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Try dealing with a herniated disc, more ibu is definitely better. Too little wont do anything, proper dose and you feel healed

SirMaster 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

I had a herniated disc and severe nerve pain. I took 16 ibuprofen a day, 4 200mg pills every 6 hours, it did nothing that I could tell. I also used a methylprednisolone dose pack, also didn't seem to help. I also tried prescribed opioid (tramadol), didn't seem to help much.

Acetaminophen worked far, far better than all these. It worked so well, but i wanted to be careful to limit myself to 3000mg a day, so I took 1 500mg pill every 4 hours for a few days while awaiting surgery. It's the only thing that got me through it. Even a epidural lumbar steroid injection didn't help...

shankr 4 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Yeah can confirm. I try to keep it low but then pain lingers for days and cumulatively over the days most probably I took as much as I should have taken in stating few days already.

wouldbecouldbe 4 days ago | parent [-]

yeah tried to reserve ibu for sleep and during the day walking as much as possible. I know not everyone feels better while walking, luckily I did.

shankr 3 days ago | parent [-]

No, moving definitely works. I can almost predict when my sciatica pain will be coming - usually when I work long hours sitting and don't do enough movement. I struggle to be more active than just going to the gym. I think we - those who suffer from herniated disc and sciatica, need to move much more than those who don't.

wouldbecouldbe 2 days ago | parent [-]

desk treadmill really helped me

e40 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Spine issues are the single thing that pish me to ibuprofen or naproxen over acetaminophen. The latter does nothing for my issues.

wouldbecouldbe 4 days ago | parent | next [-]

yeah, its the inflammation going down that reliefs the nerve.

Took me 3 months, out of 2 i wasn't able to sit. Luckily I could walk and that give me great relief. So walked for hours.

Keeping the habit, will mostly being coding from my phone & walking from now on.

e40 4 days ago | parent [-]

Really nice you found a workaround. I am constantly trying different ways to alleviate my pain without drugs.

SirMaster 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Anecdotally: ibuprofen, methylprednisolone, epidural lumbar steroid injection all did little to nothing for my herniated disc nerve pain.

Acetaminophen worked wonders, even better than an opioid.